The full package: Robert Gant

by Robert Ordona

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Contrary to popular belief, we queers aren't attracted just to gym bods and pretty faces. We're looking for it all -- intelligence, charm, heart, style, talent, accessibility and that unexplainable sumthin' sumthin' called the "X-factor" that makes our hearts jump.

From the worlds of entertainment, art, sports, business, politics and other realms we've plucked the very few people who fit these criteria, and we present them to you through our weekly series "The Full Package."

This week: Robert Gant.

One of the many guilty pleasures the late, lamented and unapologetically gay soap "Queer As Folk" offered us was the fantasy man of our choice: You wanted the endearingly insecure and earnest "semi-cute" blue-collar boy next door, you got Michael; you wanted the unattainable lean-and-mean bad boy, you got Brian; you wanted the precocious pretty-boy artist, you got Justin; you wanted the unsinkable and fiercely fun-loving bon vivant, you got Emmet.

But let's admit it -- we all have a soft spot for Professor Ben Bruckner, who looked as good in a wife beater on the dance floor of the mythical Babylon as he did bespectacled in front of his lecture hall.

Robert Gant, who played Ben, was drawn to the role because he saw himself in the character. "That's me," he thought when he read the initial breakdown of Ben. Like the studly professor, Gant is a hunk with heart, whose desire to build a family and his passion for positive change within the GLBT community make him beautifully human -- and all the more irresistible.

But in real life Robert is all this and more! Click on to discover what went into the former lawyer's decision to throw himself back into his youthful love of performing, his mission to give voice to the "invisible" in our community, his future in a post-"QAF" world -- and why we consider him "The Full Package."

"I'm a very spiritual person, and so is Ben, and whatever challenges he faced, he knew he was on a spiritual path."

Robert is no stranger to walking a spiritual -- and somewhat circuitous -- path that lead him back to his passion. As a child performer he was known for doing a soft-shoe routine on a USO tour with the legendary Bob Hope. Although even back then his heart was in singing, dancing and acting, Robert, the son of blue-collar parents, believed that "making a good living" was his goal in life. So he graduated from Georgetown University's prestigious school of law and began practicing as an attorney in the Los Angeles office of Baker & McKenzie, the world's largest law firm. When the office closed a mere four months after he was hired, Robert took his severance package and threw himself back into his true love -- acting.

But his rise, as he says, was not a "meteoric process." He appeared as a guest on shows such as "Friends" and "Caroline in the City" until the prospect of playing Ben on "Queer as Folk" fell into his path.

What drew him to role of the dreamy pos professor? "There was a dearth of real, quality portrayals of people living with HIV, and I saw my role as Ben as an opportunity. Rather than presenting a sense of desperation or a sense of inevitability, I wanted to portray honestly someone who was living a whole, healthy life."

He's been honored with awards from the National Stonewall Democrats, the National Lesbian and Gay Task Force and the Human Rights Campaign, to name a few accolades. But he's made his true cause that of low-income housing for the older gay community, as a supporter and spokesman for Senior Action in a Gay Environment (SAGE) and Gay and Lesbian Elder Housing (GLEH).

Decades away from partaking of the services of these organizations himself, he's admitted quite frankly to his fears of growing "old and alone," and that the cause of gay seniors might be "the least sexy kind of thing to be involved in ... because the community is often not an 'inviting place for gay people as they get older.'" One of his aims is integration. "Younger folks need to wake up to the issue ... it's the one issue we all have in common."

But his message is ultimately hopeful: "[Aging] is not something we have to run from," he's realized over the years. "In fact, it's something we can move toward."

Currently single, the 6'1" dazzlingly ripped Robert is open to dating and wants to find "that right guy." His criteria: someone who's "in good shape and who cares for his body, the way I do. I appreciate folks who take good care of themselves. But he has to be smart and spiritually interested, too, and somewhat on a growth path."

And is there a deal-breaker when it comes to dating? "Someone who absolutely has no interest in having kids," he says. "I really, really want to have a family at some point." He goes on to say, "I've had a lot of boyfriends along the way. I'm more interested in finding someone of quality that I can start a family with and start a partnership with."

So, men -- if you happen to run into Robert at your local Pollo Loco (which he admits to frequenting) and you truly think you have a shot, go ahead and approach him. "I'm tired of doing the asking," says Robert. "I just want to be asked out."

He's not one to rest on his "Queer as Folk" laurels. Robert has been on the move since the series ended -- promoting his causes, supporting causes he believes in and making the most of his talents.

What to watch out for: his starring role as a gay "Matthew Bourne-esque" spy on here! TV's "Kiss Me Deadly," debuting May 2; his turn in "Save Me," a movie coming out this summer that takes us into the depths of ex-gay America and in which he stars with fellow out hottie Chad Allen and gay fave Judith Light; and his turn in the Lifetime comedy "Special Delivery"-- the first film project since before "QAF" in which he gets to play a straight romantic lead.

Acting aside, he's traveling to politically contentious Pennsylvania, where he's going to make the most of his celebrity status and patriotic spirit to be a part of this historic time in political history.