After years of speculation about Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's sexual orientation, her partner is finally speaking out about their relationship—it's all business.

Randy Bean has long been what one of her friends describes as a "pretty radical liberal." A former producer for Bill Moyers's television show, she's helped create several hard-hitting documentaries that are critical of Republican policies. And in the 1960s, she almost dropped out of college to work for Bobby Kennedy.

Considering her Democratic pedigree, many were shocked by revelations in a new book, The Confidante, by Washington Post correspondent Glenn Kessler, that Bean owns a home with Rice.

Some blogs, including Raw Story, Gist, and Queerty, were quick to speculate that the property relationship might have something to do with sex. Raw Story, for instance, quoted a D.C. journalist who believes Condi's single status and the home ownership may have something to do with her orientation—even though Kessler has said that he has no proof that either Rice or Bean is gay.

Bean tells Radar that all the murmurs are complete "blather," adding that they are "rumor-mongering at its least imaginative."

"Condi and I have been friends for 25 years," she told us. "We co-own an investment property in Palo Alto. We do not share a home."

Bean, who now works for Stanford University, told Kessler on his radio show that she was buried in medical bills, and Rice helped her buy the home along with another acquaintance, Coit Blacker, a Stanford professor who is openly gay.

"The insult to my integrity is not that I'm gay but that I'm closeted," Bean added. "For the record, I'm straight. Anyone who knows me knows how strongly connected I am to my values and political beliefs. If I were gay, I'd be out, loud, and proud."

Bean is currently producing three films, so she hasn't had much time to visit with her old friend lately. And Condi's been pretty busy, too.