Jansen Panettiere: Gay-positive actor buddies with Jake T. Austin, stars in fundamentalist and "Girl of His Dreams" movies

Teenagers often find themselves pushed into heterosexist vehicles, regardless of whether they support gay inclusitivity or not. Jansen Panettiere is no exception.

The younger brother of female star Hayden Panettiere, Jansen was born in Palisades, New York in 1994, began securing guest roles on tv in 2002, at the age of eight.  He also did voice work on cartoons and appeared with his sister in the thriller Tiger Cruise (2004).

His first star vehicle was the Nickelodeon movie The Last Day of Summer (2007), in which the 12-year old Luke (Jansen) relives the same day over and over, and uses it to win the girl of his dreams.  Yawn.

At least he took his shirt off, in case any gay preteens in the audience weren't too upset by the heterosexism to look.

After the fundamentalist Secrets of Jonathan Sperry (2008), Jansen starred in The Perfect Game (2009), about a group of Mexican boys who become the first non-U.S. team to win the Little League World Series.  It's an underdog-triumphing film, with nearly every Hispanic child actor in the business, including Moises Arias (Hannah Montana), Jake T. Austin (Wizards of Waverly Place), Ryan Ochoa, Gabriel Morales, and Carlos Padilla.

No girls around, and Jansen became best friends with the gay-friendly Jake T. Austin. They uploaded a youtube video called "The Closet Chronicles," which doesn't appear to be about the gay metaphor.

Next came 8, a 2012 movie version of the play about the fight to repeal Proposition 8, the amendment that banned gay marriage in California. Many actors, gay and allied, appeared, including Kevin Bacon, Matt Bomer, George Clooney, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Brat Pitt, Martin Sheen, and George Takei.

More after the break

The Lost Medallion: Gay-Positive Actors in a Fundamentalist Movie

Want to know what gay-positive actors Billy Unger and Jansen Panettiere have been up to lately?  Making a mess.

Actually, though The Lost Medallion: The Adventures of Billy Stone was released in March 2013, it was filmed back in 2009, when Billy was 13 and Jansen 14.  They both look and act around 10. 

A boy and a girl on an archaeological dig in the South Pacific, Billy (Billy Unger) and Allie (Sammi Hanratty) find a medallion that sends them back in time 200 years.  By the way, finding the medallion is a long, torturous process involving a mysterious book and two native Goons (yes, that's how they're listed in the credits).

I don't know how they figure out that they're 200 years in the past, but it's obviously a primitive culture, led by the boy king Huko (Jansen Panettiere), who speaks English.

Enemies attack, destroy the village, and lead everyone off to slavery except for Huko and his bff Anui (William Corkery).

The plot progresses like Karate Kid mixed with The Lord of the Rings.  There's a Damsel in Distress scene, an elderly wise man who offers cryptic advice, and a climactic battle between Billy and gay-vague Head Evil Dude, Cobra (retired man-mountain Mark Dascascos) that results in the destruction of the Medallion.  Then, using the Medallion that was just destroyed (don't ask), the kids go back to the 20th century.

Even though it's a mess, there are two redeeming characteristics:
1. A complete lack of displayed heterosexual interest, from anybody.
2. Gay-subtext buddy-bonding between Billy and Huko.

After chugging around the film festival circuit with it for awhile, writer/director Bill Muir decided to re-frame it. He added opening and closing scenes in which a modern-day fundamentalist Christian is telling the story of the Lost Medallion to some kids, explaining that it illustrates God's love.

Wait -- what?  I didn't see any religious symbolism.

Bill Muir graduated from the ultra-homophobic Moody Bible Institute, and has spent twenty years working for the ultra-homophobic Youth for Christ.  I wonder how he would feel if he knew that his movie had two gay-positive actors and a big ole gay subtext.

Somebody tell him, please?

Jake T. Austin's Gay Posse

18-year old Jake T. Austin was formerly the gay-vague wizard Max on Wizards of Waverly Place,  and is now starring in ABC Family's The Fosters, about a family with two Moms. He also has upcoming movies playing Huckleberry Finn and a misfit zebra named Khumba.  He's never made any public statements about his sexual identity, but he's seen with guys all the time, and the rumor mill has linked him romantically with nearly every teen hunk he's ever met.  Most aren't gay, and some don't have any gay connection at all.

1. Christian Fortune, who has appeared in some Disney Channel teencoms and shorts, and will star in the upcoming buddy-bonding horror movie Youngville (2013).  He and Jake are doing a webseries together, The Adventures of Sebastian, about a nerd (Jake in glasses) and his cool brother (Christian).  No gay connection.

2. Moises Arias, previously the villainous Rico on Hannah Montana and Sue's wrestler boyfriend on The Middle.  He played Max's conscious on Wizards.  Gay connection: buddy-bonding on Hannah Montana, and Biaggio, the "person without a gender" who thinks he's gay in The Kings of Summer (2013).  (Nothing yet on Moises' brother Mateo).

3. Ryan Ochoa from The Perfect Game, plus recurring roles on Nickelodeon and Disney Channel teencoms, a member of the boy band The Ochoa Boyz.  On my list of Unexpected Disney Channel Teen Hunks.   He and Jake are seen together often in real life.  Androgynous.

4. Gabe Morales (left), from The Perfect Game.  Primarily a dancer, he starred in the 2013 comedy In Security with Ethan Embry.  Gay connection: well, he's a dancer.

5. Cole Sprouse, who starred in the Disney Channel's Suite Life of Zack and Cody and Suite Life on Deck (pictured: his twin brother Dylan).  He's currently attending NYU, studying archaeology.  Gay connection: two subtext series.

6. Jansen Panettiere, who also played a kid with two moms.  Another of Jake's frequent companions.  They have collaborated on a webseries called Tales of the Closet.

7.Gregg Sulkin, who played Alex's werewolf boyfriend on Wizards, and the object of Max's gay-subtext crush.  Gay connection: the gay-themed movie White Frog (2013).

8. Adam Irigoyen, who plays Deuce Martinez on Shake It Up.  Gay connection: subtext series.

9. David Henrie, Max's older brother Justin on Wizards of Waverly Place, who will be appearing in Grownups 2 later this year.  Gay connection: actually, he appears to be homophobic in real life.

So, which ones has Jake really dated?

Best bets: Christian and Ryan, but probably none.  He tweets quite often about the attractiveness of ladies, so he's probably Straight but Not Narrow, with both gay and heterosexual buds in his posse.