Because his parents were both actors, “I grew up knowing a lot of gay men and it was never something that I even thought twice about – that some men were gay and some weren’t,” the “Harry Potter” megastar said Friday. “And then I went to school and (for) the first time … I came across homophobia. … I had never encountered it before. It shocked me.

“I have always hated anybody who is not tolerant of gay men or lesbians or bisexuals,” he added. “Now I am in the very fortunate position where I can actually help or do something about it.”

The result is a PSA that was filmed Friday at the organization’s Wall Street offices. The announcement is scheduled to air sometime this spring.

Radcliffe first became aware of The Trevor Project, founded in 1998 by three filmmakers, while he was appearing on Broadway in the 2008 revival of “Equus.” Their movie, “Trevor,” which won an Academy Award for best short film, concerned a gay teen who attempts suicide. The Trevor Project allows young people to call in for counseling or just to talk.

“I have described myself as being ‘gently eccentric’ and slightly different as a person just because I’ve had a very different set of influences growing up than anybody else in my peer group did,” the 20-year-old Radcliffe said. “I’ve always felt very lucky to have the life that I’ve had. I never had to cope with anything serious about my religion or sexual orientation or anything like that.

“I think it’s important for somebody from a big, commercial movie series like ‘Harry Potter’ and particularly because I am not gay or bisexual or transgendered. … The fact that I am straight makes not a difference, but it shows that straight people are incredibly interested and care a lot about this as well.”

Today is a “show bidness” day. First there is Daniel Radcliffe who grew up under the fame glare but from all accounts seems like a decent fellow (similar to his other Harry Potter stars). The young British actor donated money to the Trevor Project. In a press release, Radcliffe makes a point not enough young gays and lesbians hear.

“I deeply hope my support can raise the organization’s visibility so even more despondent youth become aware of The Trevor Helpline’s highly trained counselors and Trevor’s many other resources. It’s vitally important that young people understand they are not alone and, perhaps even more important, that their young lives have real value.”

I’m old enough to remember certain young stars from back in the day (Leif Garrett anyone?) and it’s hard to imagine someone on the small and big screens doing something this gay positive and not having his/her manager jump in front of the Acela. Sure some cranky fundies will yelp, but the Potter juggernaut will continue and the British actor will still get work after his wand is put away.

On this side of the pond, Queen Latifah made the gossip pages recently because she was seen at a club’s lesbian night. Apparently the Queen is a regular–been to the same club, on the same night, twice–and likes to drink the fancy bubbly with a few biscuits (old man phrase for someone who is a looker). The rapper/actress has always been silent when the topic of her love life has come. For a few this is a problem. Meh.

I understand the culture we live in. Celebrity life is a business and we participate in it daily. However, I agree with Dave Chappelle. The alms at the altar of the acclaimed are fool’s gold, and the answers we are looking for are not going to be found trying to decide if a star likes men, women, or a little bit of both.

1. When I’m out drinking, some men share their family dramas.

2. When I’m out drinking,  I wish some men would stop sharing their family dramas….unless they are cute.

3. RIP Frank McCourt.

4. You know marriage rights foes are losing the debate when they go bat-doo crazy over a small market paper printing a gay marriage announcement.

5. Anyone see the new Potter film?

6. Why didn’t I get to do the Stevie Nicks interview?

7. Does Governor Mark Sanford know when to keep his trap shut?

8. There is something priceless about a porn star going to jail for breaking into a beauty salon. Hopefully someone will turn that wackiness into a porn flick!

9. I  want to say something snarky about my day job, but in this economy it’s bad form to make the bosses upset. I love my job and everything about it. Everything.

10. Keep Army Private Bowe R. Bergdahl and his family in your thoughts.

The regal Hogwarts headmaster, Rowling said, was gay. When Gambon later saw Rowling on the set of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,” he had one question: “Is it because of the way I’m playing it?”

While Gambon acknowledges he was “cutting around” on set upon learning the wizard’s sexuality, he states clearly: “It doesn’t make any difference.”

But the 68-year-old actor, who keeps cigarettes hid under Dumbledore’s robes, has never shied from a moment of levity. Long known as something of a trickster himself, he hypothesizes that Rowling merely blurted it out to surprise people, and says he identifies with the instinct “to cause trouble or make people think or kick people off their security blanket.”

That goes for his acting, too. Gambon revels in doing the “strange, odd and unexpected,” particularly on the stage where he’s known for altering a performance from night to night.

It’s ironic that Gambon – one of the most esteemed stage actors of a generation – has become most widely identified with a wizard in a series meant for teenagers, not unlike Ian McKellen’s experience playing Gandalf in “The Lord of the Rings.”

Now, Gambon says, it’s common for a young child to anxiously spy him while sipping coffee at a cafe.

“It’s very odd,” Gambon said in an interview shortly after the film’s crazed London premiere. “I hadn’t realized before just how powerful these things are. I just do the job and go home and you forget it” – adding a snap of his finger.

Gambon inherited the role after Richard Harris, who played Dumbledore in the first two films, died in 2002. He has company in the cast, divided between young upstarts and elder statesmen of British acting: Alan Rickman, Jim Broadbent, Maggie Smith.

“They rang me up and said, ‘Will you do it?’ Like any other job I said, ‘Sure,’” recalled Gambon. “Then you find yourself in the middle of this thing.”

Gambon comes from a different generation of actors: a “working actor” eager for constant work and not as “fussy” as today’s younger crop of thespians. Born in Ireland and raised in London, Gambon was classically trained and eventually recruited by Laurence Olivier for his National Theatre Company.

He established himself on the stage with widely hailed performances of Shakespeare (“Othello,” “Macbeth,” “King Lear”) and Harold Pinter (“Betrayal,” “The Caretaker”). He was given the nickname “The Great Gambon,” praised for the physicality, nuance and unpredictability of his performances.

“I’ve played quite a lot of crooks and killers, and that’s quite interesting,” says Gambon. “Then Dumbledore is the complete opposite, isn’t he? He’s a nice old man.”

He’s amassed more than 100 film and TV credits in his career, predominantly as a character actor. Roles of note include Philip Marlow in the mid-’80s BBC series “The Singing Detective” and Fyodor Dostoyevsky in 1997’s “The Gambler.” Others include Robert Altman’s “Gosford Park,” Wes Anderson’s “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou” and Michael Mann’s “The Insider.”

Gambon will appear in the final two Potter films, which are being shot and will be released in fall 2010 and summer 2011, respectively. But fans of Rowling’s books know well that “The Half-Blood Prince” is a film of particular importance to Dumbledore and Gambon – for reasons that set off shrill sirens of “spoiler alert.”

Suffice it to say, “The Half-Blood Prince” represents a culmination of Gambon’s time in Potterville – an era he views with warmth.

“This will stick out as being a happy memory, being with a thing for so long and the worldwide love of it,” says Gambon. “You never forget that.”