Martina's big night...

The night finally arrived: Martina Navratilova was honored Tuesday evening at the Directors Guild Theater on Siunset Boulevard with the Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund's 14th Annual Liberty Award.

Martina took the stage after a nice video of career highlights and joked about some of her past haircuts. She told the crowd how she left her native Czechslovakia as a teenager to escape the communist rule and "so I could live a free life as a lesbian" and added that both she and Lambda "like to fight for the underdog and most of the time, we win!"
Navratilova said she is confident that same-gender marriage and other LGBT equal rights will come and believes it will happen through such family issues as second-parent adoptions. She also touted the Rainbow Card, the credit card she founded after speaking at the 1993 March on Washington in which the proceeds to to such causes as HIV/AIDS and breast cancer.
Martina concluded her remarks by saying, "My work is not done, and neither is yours."

My friend Beth and I attended and we both met Martina, chatted a bit, had some photos taken with the legend then settled in for a great evening. Also gabbed with the evening' host, comedienne Kate Clinton (pictured, below) who is so damned smart, funny and insightful.

"She is a very logical, plain-spoken person who lived under communist rule. She knows what it's like not to have rights and she doesn't want it to happen here," Clinton told me. "It's wonderful when a leader like Martina leads and is someone who is both plain-spoken and brilliant."

Clinton was a big hit with the crowd and had some real zingers for the current administration: "Ann Richards dies and Dick Cheney lives....there is no justice!" She also told a funny story of when she was hanging out with Martina in Provincetown, Mass., when one of their friends challenged Martina to a watermelon seed spitting contest. She said Navratilova, ever the competitor, actually stuck a finger in the air to check the wind before spitting her seed.

I watched Martina when Clinton was onstage and she was laughing her head off. Lambda folks told me Martina had especially asked for Clinton to be the host.
Clinton told me, "When Martina asks you to do something , you best be there." Clinton says she is happy Navratilova has retired again "so we can actually see her now!"

When Martina took the stage to accept her award, her first words were: "Kate, you are priceless."