GLAAD Awards: April 2007 Archives

There were those at last Saturday's GLAAD Awards who mumbled about how ironic it was that "Grey's Anatomy" won an award for "best individual episode." They were, of course, referring to the fact that "Grey's" had so much off-screen drama surrounding Isaiah Washington who dropped the f-bomb toward his gay co-star T.R. Knight last fall then ignited an even bigger controversy when he denied ever using the word backstage at the Golden Globe Awards.
But that should take nothing away from the accomplishment of "Where the Boys Are" which featured a gay couple (pictured below) who go on a fishing trip with the male doctors of Seattle Grace. When Chief of Staff Richard doesn’t have a tent to camp in, he asks gay bartender, Joe, and his friend Walter, if he can sleep in their tent but then realizes that Joe and Walter are a couple.
While fishing, Joe tells Richard they’re thinking about having children and Richard says he and [estranged wife] Adele never did because she didn’t want raise them alone since he was always at the hospital.
I talked to an elated Mark Wilding (pictured, above) who wrote the episode. He said the GLAAD recognition was "a wonderful honor. I'm delighted, I think it's great."
"It was a fun episode to do because we got to do a couple of stories. One of them was the chief surgeon going camping and discovering that a couple of the campers were gay and how he dealt with that and his reaction to it. And we also had a little more serious story which was the transgender story when a wife is coming to terms with the fact that her husband wants to become a woman. The [episode] just sort of came together that way, that wasn't the intent in the beginning."
I then asked him if the show will have more gay characters or storylines. "Will McSteamy suddenly have a change of heart?
Wilding laughed and said: "That's for season four. Right now I'm still struggling to finish season three. But a lot of that depends on what [show creator] Shondra Rhimes would like to do, she's really the creative voice of the show so I don't know at this point."
I said: "Maybe you can lobby her?"
Wilding: "[laughs] That I'll do."

The decision by Out Magazine to feature Anderson Cooper and Jodie Foster on their cover as out celebrities remains a hot topic. Out In Hollywood spoke with several famous actors and athletes over the weekend at the GLAAD Awards and at the Q-MeCon Queer Media and Entertainment Conference. Here is what some them had to say:

MARTINA NAVRATILOVA (tennis legend): "Outing is against my religion but I think politicians that speak double-speak -who say one thing and do another - should be outed. But as far as celebrities, you cannot out people. It's not right. They need to do it in their own time and their own time frame. That's the only way to be because it changes your life too much, still. But again, the more of us who come out, the less it changes the next person's life. I don't know much about Anderson Cooper and I never read his book. If you leave [being gay] out that's one thing, but if you try to say that you are straight then that's a problem."

WILSON CRUZ (out actor): I think it defeats the purpose and I'm against it. When we start outing people, we start talking about shame because you're putting them in a position of having to defend their sexuality. So when people come out on their own, they are doing it from a position of pride. I want people to come out, but I want them to come out on their own terms and I want them to use it as an opportunity to educate people about the fact that there's nothing to be ashamed of. We have plenty of enemies and I think when we start start feeding on each other, it's a sad day."

JOHN AMAECHI (out former NBA player) : "t's innappropriate. We can't have it both ways. It can't be a personal journey that is supposed to be an enlightening and rewarding experience to come out and yet at the same time we are also going to hijack other people's personal process and turn it into something political. That's how it works. Let people do it in their own time. I understand there are people in positions of great power, and perhaps people who could make great differences for LGBT people. But it is not our place to hijack their process."

ALEC MAPA (out actor/comic): "I'm all for outing evangelical preachers who are preaching against homosexuality and keeping us from our rights. And if you are a closeted politican and you are actively campaigning against gay people, then you deserve to be outed in the most publicly humiliating way possible. I'm out for those kinds of people. But I think that whether or not you decide to come out is a very private thing, it's a very personal thing. I knew that I made that choice really early on and it was something that I had to be comfortable with. And, of course, everybody knew to begin with anyway so it was hardly a surprise.
"It is getting kind of ugly. I think it's the technology, the information is immediately available now. In the 50s, with Rock Hudson, you could keep a story buried. Now, Michael Richards gets caught with a camera phone and in one minute, it's the shot heard around the world. I think it's really indicative of the information age that we're in right now. It's instantanious."

CHARLIE DAVID (out actor): "I think the coming out process is such an individual journey for each of us and we have to respect that. I'm personally not one to rip someone out of the closet."

ROBERT GANT (out actor/producer): "I'd love to see everyone out, living their truth. But we don't know what our neighbor's journey is." When Gant told his mother he was going to come out on the cover of The Advocate Magazine, she said: "Why don't you just shoot us in the heart with a rifle first?"

DAVE KOZ (out musician): For me, I would have much preferred the way it happened. I got to choose when I wanted to do it. It's such a personal thing. But as you can tell [he motions over to Lance Bass and Neil Patrick Harris nearby on the red carpet], they seem to be OK with [being outed]. Ulitmately, the best thing is...somebody truly being who they are and being OK with it and their career goes on. Ultimately, hopefully there won't have to be this outing and everyone will say, 'Hey, this is who I am, let the cards fall where they may. That's the way it was for me. I fretted about it for years. If I could have bottled the energy that I spent thinking about coming out, it would have been a lot of bottles.When I finally did, it was the biggest non-event. Nothing changed but everything got better."

REX LEE (out actor): I'm very uncomfortable with it. I think people should come out at their own pace. I think if I had been forced to come out before I was ready, it might have been a disaster. I'm out now, and I'm proud of that. But it took me awhile ot get there."

JASON LEWIS (actor, portrayed gay on "Brothers & Sisters"): "I think if it's a person's choice to go there then great. But it's like anything where if someone isn't feeling comfortable about making that change in their life, you really shouldn't shove people in a direction they're not ready for."

CHAD ALLEN (out actor/producer): "It frustrates me to no end...i see how hurtful it can be. We are a better world when we give each other space and love to go at our own pace." But Allen says he is encouraged that "we have actors now coming out what seems like every week and they get to say, 'I'm gay, OK Perez Hilton? Let me get on with my work."

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!

It was interesting to not only attend the GLAAD Awards Saturday night, but to also pop into several parties and panels at the three-day Q-MeCon - the 2nd Annual Queer Media & Entertainment Conference over the weekend. The GLAAD Awards are given to mainstream media [like best comedy series winner "Ugly Betty" pictured above) for positive portrayals and coverage of the LGBT community and do not have competitive categories for shows that are produced on such exclusively-gay media as MTV's Logo channel or the here! network or magazines like The Advocate or Out.
Gay media outlets, led my here! and Logo, want to be included in competitive categories and have become increasingly vocal about it. The two gay networks received a special award at last year's ceremony but this year, the network's performers and executives seemed to have stayed away from the event.
I asked GLAAD President Neil Giuliano (pictured with Neil Patrick Harris and Cobie Smulders) about the policy Saturday night and asked him if things might be changed before next year's awards.
"I don't know yet," Neil said. "The GLAAD board of directors makes those decisions. The GLAAD organization actually did give awards to the gay media in the 90s and in 1999, after the gay media said, 'Who is GLAAD to be telling us which is good, better or best?' they stopped doing those. So now we have broadcast media saying we'd like to be included and the GLAAD board will probably look at that issue and talk about that issue. The challenge is that we don't lobby and don't try and influence the LGBT broadcast media outlets because that's their mission: they do fair, accurate and inclusive programming. That's what they're there for. We don't monitor them or work with them but we do certainly recognize them."
On the closing night reception of Q-MeCon, here! founder Paul Colichman gave a passionate speech about the role of gay media in society right now: "If we don't have our own media images, then we are all screwed....There has never been a more important time in history [for LGBT media] than right now, there's a little crack in the door. Are we going to trust GLAAD to do it? I don't think so. If we can't even acknowledge ourselves, how do we expect anyone else to?"

I'm sure we haven't heard the last of this!

I tell ya, it's not easy juggling three dates in one night. But when they are as handsome and sweet as Matthew Rhys, T.R. Knight and Eric Mabius, you pretty much gotta give it your best shot. OK, I'll break out of my little fantasy and simply share with you some photos I snapped at the GLAAD Awards last night with a little throwaway camera I bought at the Rite-Aid on my way to the festivities.


First Scotty...then Chad...then...Greg?

Look! It's Shawn Pyfrom (Andrew on "Desperate Housewives" and, of course, Mr. Neil Patrick Harris!

The funniest man at the Kodak Theater Saturday night: Alec Mapa! Love him!

Jason Lewis is even better looking in person...and look at Darryl Stephens! He sure is buffed up these days!

The three leads in "Boy Culture" worked the red carpet together with their director. I interviewed all together on the phone last month so it was nice to meet most of them face-to-face for the first time.

Neil Patrick Harris gabs with one of my [pretend] dates, Matthew Rhys. Hands off bitch!

"Brothers & Sisters" cast member Dave Annable stopped by for a chat as Patricia Wettig, Ron Rifkin and Matthew Rhys worked the red carpet as a trio...

ALEC MAPA: ROCK STAR: This guy, this brilliant guy, walks out after Martina Navratilova leaves the stage and introduces himself as Sandra Oh. Then he corrects himself: 'It's me, Alec Mapa, America's Gaysian sweetheart!" He wanted everyone to know that no, he is NOT Rex Lee: "I'm not on 'Entourage' all right? I know we all look alike but make a fricken effort!"
On his "Desperate Housewives co-star Eva Longoria: "She has more gay men working on her than George Michael in a public bathroom!" Then he adds to anyone who is offended: 'Don't boo me cuz you know you're going to tell that at the office on Monday." Mapa gave that audience a little insight into what it's like on the set of "Desperate Housewives": "It's like a circuit party with craft services! It's a REALLY gay set." Then he takes on the president: 'George Bush is going down faster than a fat kid on a corn dog!" "Don't you miss the days when presidents just screwed interns insteads of entire civilizations?"

JAKE'S REQUEST: There were those who got standing ovation then there are those the crowd simply went wild over. Jake Gyllenhaal fits into the latter category. The claps, the whistles, the screams. He was the evening's rock star. When the noise went on perhaps a little too long (he was, after all, there to present to his "The Good Girl" co-star Jennifer Aniston), the ever=charming Jake said to the crowd: "Settle down. Settle down. Settle down cowboys...[then there was a chorus of female shrieks so he added]...and cowgirls apparently."
Gyllenhaal, star of "Brokeback Mountain" then said: "People say actors are brave for taking on certain roles. I say no. What's truly brave is picking out what to wear in front of this crowd!"

ANISTON'S FRIENDS: She gave Gyllenhaal a very long and heartfelt hug then they did a little slowdance on stage. "This is quite a room," she said. "I don't know Jake, maybe we need to rethink things!" Aniston noted how just a few months ago on the same Kodak Theater stage on Oacar night, "Melissa Etheridge gets up on this stage and kisses and thanks her wife in front of 40 million people." "I've been lucky to have great friends; gay, straight, anywhere in between...you can leave THAT up to your own imagination!"

BEN'S REGRETS: Ben Affleck was introduced as "Academy Award winner Ben Affleck" when he strolled out to present the outstanding wide release movie award. He mentioned to the audience that the Oscar he won was for the screenplay he wrote with best friend Matrt Damon for "Good will Hunting." "It strikes me as unfortunate that we live in a time when it was easier for Matt and I to win an Oscar than it was for us to get married." Affleck then joked that it was probably for the best since it wouldn't have worked out anyway...

MARTINA THE COMIC: After an incredibly moving film recapping her playing career and activism followed by a thunderous standing ovationj, Martina Navratilova took to the stage and said: "That video! Those hairstyles! Sonjaya's got nothing on me! ...[But] at least I can play tennis!" Navratilova told the crowd that while her career as a tennis champion may be over [she retired last fall one month shy of her 50th birthday], "Being a champion for gay and lesbian rights is something I will never retire from until we do have full equality and that day will come." Martina said that when she came out in 1981, "It was pretty lonely" but things were better by the time she helped lead the 1993 March on Washington and when she things about where the LGBT equal rights movement is today, she said: "We have come a long, long way."

STANDING OVATION SCORECARD: Coming out publicly can sometimes bring people to their feet...or not. When T.R. Knight opened the show, he walked out on stage to a heart-felt and sustained standing ovation. It was one of the evening's nicest moments. A short time later, Neil Patrick Harris took the stage, got warm applause, but no rear-ends left their seats. He noticed: "Oh sure, you stand for T.R." The crowd roared. When John Amaechi strolled out, the audience sprung to its feet again. Lance Bass follows him a bit later to present to Martina, audience stays glued to its seat.

A CLOSE CALL: So Lance Bass is doing a bunch of red carpet interviews tonight before heading into the Kodak Theater at the GLAAD Awards where he presented Martina Navratilova with a special award.
He's locked into a long interview with some cable outlet when, several yards away, flashbulbs start going off. It's Bass' ex-boyfriend, Reichen Lemkuhl and his new boyfriend, Ryan Berry. Lance may not have been aware that they were there initially because he stayed planted doing this endless interview as Reichen and boyfriend inch closer and closer to him. Bass never looks in his direction. I'm standing with a cameraman from Fox 11 and we're just waiting for the moment. It never came. Bass' publicist, who had earlier promised us an interview, whisked him away saying, "He'll be back."
Fox 11 dude looks at me and says: "No way he's coming back."
And he didn't.

NEIL GLAAD TO BE THERE: "How I Met Your Mother Star" Neil Patrick Harris seemed very at ease as he did interviews on the red carpet. When he got to me he said: "It's enjoyable. This is my first GLAAD Awards and everybody's really nice and it's representing good positivity so I'm all for that."I asked him if being out publicly has changed his life much. "Oh, not at all. But I was never really skulking around so it's all kind of interesting."
I told Neil that there was a lot of interest in how he would be when he subbed for Regis Philbin for two days last month because it was the first time he would be appearing on a show as himself since he publicly acknowledged his sexuality last fall. "I looooooooved it," he said of the two-day gig. "I've been doing talk shows since I was 14 years old, I'm pretty well-versed with that sort of format. It was fun to be on the other side of the couch and be asking the questions, it's a different kind of style. I'd love to host a show or host a game show, that's right up my alley. I'd love to be Ed Sullivan someday."

MEETING KEVIN: Knock me over with a feather. I met Mathew Rhys (Don't we look cute together? Take THAT Scotty!). When he started talking to me, I had to stop and laugh. I said, "I've never heard you talk with the accent! I've never heard your real voice." The Welsh actor, who does a superb American accent as Kevin, cracked up. We collected ourselves and I asked him what he thinks of all the attention and affection that has been aimed toward his character of Kevin: "I'm extremelyhappy about that and, you know, an enormous part of that is the writing. I'm so lucky. They bring the character to the table and I'm just lucky enough to day the words. It's very intelligent and sensitive and mature writing."
Rhys told me that his newest relationship on the show, which is with the brother of Rob Lowe's character, "gets off to a rocky start at the moment so [Kevin] is hoping there's brighter days ahead for them."
He knows that a lot of people are still mourning his break-up with Scotty (Luke MacFarlane). "Scotty. Scotty. Scotty. He is an adorable character but Kevin has to mature and recognize a winner when he has one in his hands."
Mathew walked the red carpet with co-stars Ron Rifkin and Patricia Wettig and the three of them were having a ball. That must be a fun set. i asked Ron hos thoughts on Matthew/Kevin: 'I love him. The fact that I love hom has nothing to do with the fact that he's gay [Matthew is straight, the character of Kevin is Gay]. Don't I love you?" Rifkin said to Rhys before giving him a kiss on the lips. It was like he was his real uncle.
Whettig, who won three Emmy Awards when she was on "thirtysomething," is also having a greattime on the show: "It's such a great ensemble with all these great people who like to come to work and do these great scenes. It's great. Fantastic."
So, I ask, are her and Sally Field's character of Nora or Rachel Griffith's character of Sarah ever gonna have a big, knock-out, drag-out catfight like Alexis and Krystal did on "Dynasty"?
Wetting: "Funny you should mention that. I don't think I can tell but something is coming up right in that vein. You'll see. I can't tell you what it is!"
Then a serious question for Mr. Rhys: who is a better kisser? Scotty or Chad (Jason Lewis)?
"It's like choosing between a Porche and a Mercedes. But Jason Lewis has very soft lips."

KEVIN'S EX SPEAKS: Jason Lewis, whose character of Chad dumped Kevin in last Sunday's episode, was being whisked by but I called out to him and he came over for one question. "It better be a good one though," he kidded. I asked what he thought of his story arc as a closeted soap star who in the end, decides to come out: "I think the writing on it was fantastic because, although it was about a character coming out, I think it was universal in that it was about anybody who doesn't understand themselves and kind of destruction they do to their lives."

KEVIN'S BROTHER SPEAKS: Gabbed with Dave Annable, the adorable actor who plays Just9n Walker on "Brothers & Sisters." He's proud of his character's journey from self-destructive addict to recovering, productive member of society. "Our show is portraying a gay character just like everybody else. He's got real relationship issues, rea problems and flaws and great atrributes."

KEVIN IS NEIL'S FAVE: I asked GLAAD President Neil Guiliano who his favorite gay character on television is. His answer revealed excellent taste: "My favorite is Kevin on 'Brothers & Sisters.' I think [Matthew Rhys] has done a great job, it's just a wonderful portrayal. He's so real and authentic."
Does he want Kevin to get back with Scotty? "Uh, noooo. Chad's good but there could be someone else good coming down the road too."

SEEING THE BOYS: Since I had written a cover story for "Frontiers" about them and their movie "Boy Culture," it was a nice little reunion with Derrick Magyar, Darryl Stephens and Jonathon Trent and a real treat to mee the film's director Q. Allan Brocka! (Brocka blogged about the evening and it's terrific). I asked them what it's been like to be on all these magazines in connection with their well-received film. "It's been incredible," Magyar said. "We're really proud of the film and to be recognized. It's amazing. i kind of felt like we had made a really kind of special film. I didn't really know what was going to happen with it - I try not to think about those things - but I hoped for the best."
Said Trent: "I'm a Gemini so i'm mixed. Part of me is really shy about [the attention], ashamed of it in a way. Then the other side is a narcisist and an egomaniac who wants more and more and more. So there's a real duality there. But you know I'm really happy for the attention. I hope that any attention that I can get will help the film.
Darryl Stephens has been on plenty of magazine covers as the star of "Noah's Arc" but he is excited to be playing a character in "Boy Culture" so different from his television alter-ego. "People kind of assume that I am the character I'm playing on television so it's nice to be able to show them that I'm an actor playing characters, I can do other things. We're all very proud of the film."

HELLO UP THERE: It was great to see John Amaechi who remembered our lunch from a few months back. I asked him how life has been for him since: "It's still craxy, but good. I'm getting used to it. I'm certainly fitting into this and I'm enjoying it. It's been a blast, it really has."

LONI LOVEFEST: Readers of "Out In Hollywood" already know that I loved the series "NoTORIous" mostly because of Loni Anderson's hilarious portrayal of Tori Spelling's self-absorbed mom on the show. When I saw this still-gorgeous actress, I had to tell her how hard she made me laugh.
"It was so much fun! Tori was so darling and she was so open and I got to be whatever I wanted." I asked Loni, star of the classic "WKRP in Cincinatti," what we will seeing her in next: 'Hopefully something will come along. I seem to do a series every couple of years."

LIFE'S A BEACHES: Garry Marshall may be best known for creating "Happy Days" and "LaVerne & Shirley" but what I had forgotten is that he directed the gay fave "Beaches" starring Bette Midler who he is planning to make another film with. I asked Garry if he was aware of how much the gays love that 1988 movie which also starred Barbara Hershey. "Well, it's a heartfelt movie and when Bette sings 'Wind Beneath My Wings,' I think everybody cries. It played across the board but you know what they said: 'If you cried in 'Beaches,' then you could be gay.' It' still going strong [on DVD]. Bette still talks about it, still sings the song."

KOZ I SAID SO: There's Dave Koz! Looking so dapper. It was so good to see him and we joked about how my friend, Trevor Daley, and I were heading up the Dave Koz fan club. "I've been here many times but I've never presented so this is a very special night for me," said Dave who added that since he came out publicly a few years ago, "Everything got better."