At Saturday night's VIP dinner following the GLAAD Awards ceremony, I doubt that T.R. Knight had the chance to even get a bite of his meal. He was surrounded by well-wishers about 3-5 people deep at all times who wanted to congratulate him or snap a photo with him. And I was one of them! "I'm just happy to be invited," T.R. told me. Not only was he invited - and his show nominated in the best individual episode category - but T.R. was the talk of the evening. When he walked out to open the show, the standing ovation was so long and heartfelt, you could see him standing there just taking in what must have been a surreal experience for an actor who came out under some duress only last fall. He issued a statement acknowledging that he is gay after T.R.'s "Grey's Anatomy" co-star Isaiah Washington refered to him as a f****t during an on-set squirmish with Patrick Dempsey.
The awards show circuit had been a real roller coaster for T.R. in 2007 but maybe that moment, and that kind of incredible support from the audience at the Kodak Theatre, made it somehow worth it. It was at the Golden Globe Awards in January where Washington caused a scene backstage while being interviewed with his castmates by announcing: "I did not call T.R. a f****t!" Mortifying. At the SAG Awards a few weeks later, T.R. looked miserable. But after his appearance on Ellen DeGeneres' talk show, he seems to have found his footing and to be more comfortable in the spotlight as an out gay man. He gave such passionate speech Saturday that it seemed to me and others that an activist has been born!