This weekend, The Australian's Sunday Times posted an article titled "Biopic plans to take the lust out of Dusty," in which reporter John Harlow claims Universal Studios is planning to de-gay the queer legendary singer in their upcoming movie based on Springfield's experiences in Nashville in the 1960s.

"Much to the anger of some long-term fans," Harlow asserts in the article, "the film will airbrush out Springfield's affairs with women. Universal executives say mainstream filmgoers are growing weary of overt displays of homosexuality."

The author goes on to write, "Universal is also wary of offending the film's prospective star, Kristin Chenoweth, who is known from television for occasional appearances in The West Wing. In the US she is a Broadway star and best-selling Christian rock performer, famous for jazzy versions of hymns such as Abide With Me."

Lesbian and bisexual women, fans of Springfield, and proponents of historical accuracy would indeed have a right to be upset--if the claims were actually true. Unfortunately for Mr. Harlow, they're not, at least according to the woman actually writing and directing the film, Jessica Sharzer (who directed the critically acclaimed indie film Speak, about a teenager survivor of date rape).

"I spoke with my producer and no one related to the project has ever spoken to this reporter," Sharzer told AfterEllen.com when we contacted her to verify the claims.

"The biopic I'm writing is heavily fact-based and, as I mentioned before, does not shy away at all from the Dusty's lesbianism," says Sharzer, a former grant recipient of POWER UP, an organization that promotes gay women in entertainment. "In fact, my Universal executive told me specifically not to edit myself in this area."

Kristin Chenoweth also clearly has no problems playing gay. Of Dusty's sexuality, Chenoweth has so far said only that the singer "could not come to grips with her sexuality for so long," when talking about it early this year as a participant in The New York Times' on-going series in New York entitled, "Times Talks." But Chenoweth has spoken freely and excitedly about her role as Annette Bening's lover in the upcoming movie Running with Scissors (2006), telling audiences at the Times Talks that playing "Annette Bening's lesbian lover...was so fun!"

Clearly, something is amiss with Harlow's claims.

Closer examination of the article makes it clear that accuracy and objectivity are not high on Harlow's priority list. Not only does he not name any of his sources in making such a controversial claim, but he also makes the glaringly false statement that "The L Word, a television series about glamorous lesbians, has been cancelled in the US because of falling ratings."

Does Mr. Harlow know something no one else in the U.S. does? Because not only has the The L Word NOT been canceled, it's gearing up to debut its third season early next year. This is such lazy reporting--five minutes of basic fact-checking on Google would have revealed this to be untrue--that it's more believable that Harlow knew the statement was false, but put it in anyway to bolster his claim.

Also, the name of the hymn Chenoweth is famous for is "Abide In Me," not "Abide With Me," another easily verified fact. But why let the truth get in the way of a good story?

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