By BetteAndTinaForever
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First of all, let me begin by saying that I always enjoy visiting
San Francisco. This city always seems cheerful and easy-going and
they have the best sourdough bread I’ve ever tasted. Though,
eating a lot of bread doesn’t help my butt get smaller, quite
the opposite but sometimes I don’t care. I just want my bread.
I arrived Saturday morning and checked into the hotel across the
street from the Marriott where the event was held. Nice hotel, by
the way, the Palomar. Not too expensive, excellent service, wine
tasting every night in the lobby, huge bathroom, comfortable bed,
flat-screen TV and a free Internet. I could’ve stayed at the
Marriott but that was one thing they didn’t offer –
free wireless service – and I’m such an Internet junkie
that I didn’t want to pay extra money for the Internet when
I could get it for free.
I had enough time to do some sightseeing and shopping in the city
so I went to Castro district and walked around. The weather was
beautiful and perfect. I had a good time. Finally it was time to
get ready for the GLAAD Award and I went to check in and get my
press pass and also my show ticket that I bought in advance.
I was first to arrive and the security took me downstairs to the
Red Carpet room. They put me in the second row of the photography
section which seemed great. When more photographers arrived, I realized
that it would be hard to take pictures with lots of people, most
of whom were much taller than me, that even the second row wasn’t
going to help on that count.
After several celebrities went through the red carpet, I finally
saw Ilene Chaiken. Ilene was getting the Davidson/Valentini Award,
which is given to an openly LGBT media professional for making a
significant difference in promoting equal rights for the LGBT community.
After I was finished taking her photos, I moved into the interview
area and waited patiently for Ilene to come towards me. She was
still busy with others so I first spoke with Alan Cumming.
B&TF: So what was it like for you to be on The L Word as one
of the few male characters among all these women?
Alan Cumming: It was great. I loved my time on the show, I had
such fun. I loved the fact – like I said to them, “I
will come on this if I get to have sex with a lesbian.” I
didn’t expect the sex I had with a lesbian to be the kind
of sex it was. I loved the fact that it was sex on television with
a strap-on; it was something of a farce.
B&TF: How was it working with people like Pam Grier, Jennifer
Beals?
AC: I had worked with Jennifer before (The Anniversary Party) and
I love her and so I was really happy. Pam, I really adore her. It
was really great, the whole thing was great.
Ilene was finally free from the others and I was able to ask her
a few questions.
B&TF: Can you share something we can expect in Season 6, some
surprises maybe?
Ilene Chaiken: Um, no! Why would I share it? I want it to be a
surprise.
B&TF: Well, people could kind of prepare themselves for whatever’s
coming.
IC: Give me a question and I’ll see if I can answer.
B&TF: Will Shane be able to settle down or will it continue
to be her Lothario ways?
IC: I can’t answer that question.
B&TF: Will Bette and Tina stay together?
IC: I can’t answer that question.
B&TF: Will Alice & Tasha stay together?
IC: I can’t answer that question.
B&TF: (laughing) Ok. Anything you can say at all?
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IC: Everybody will have a wild ride. There will be lots of drama,
lots of tumult, lots of love, lots of romance. Some people will
end happy. Some couples will stay together, some will struggle and
some will move on for the better.
B&TF: Will there be fan interaction like there was in Season
5 with the Charlie’s Angels scenes?
IC: There will be something. I’m not exactly sure what yet
but we definitely are going to have an interactive season and an
opportunity for our fans to take part in some very specific way.
We’ve really taken a lot of information from fans of the show
and their voices are very present in the stories that we tell.
B&TF: About the award that you’re going to get today
– it’s about the person who did something substantial
for the community in a political sense or is it more to do with
the media?
IC: The award that I’m getting is for an Out gay media professional;
somebody who creates media or who takes part in creating media who
is out in her or his profession. I am very honored to be getting
this award. GLAAD is who we look to, to keep up vigilance, to make
sure that our stories are being told, to make sure that we’re
telling them well.
B&TF: I hope you keep Bette & Tina together. A lot of fans
hope so too.
IC: I know you do. I know you do.
Jennifer Beals arrived very late, right before the actual event
was starting at 7 pm. I was wondering if she would do a quick photo
shoot and leave until I realized that the San Francisco ceremony
was different than the one in Los Angeles. Because it was held at
the hotel, the presentation stage was set in the big room where
the dinner was served. The auction and the ceremony were going on
at the same time as the dinner and Jennifer Beals and Sharon Stone
had enough time to pose for photos and do some interviews as they
were the last celebrity guests to arrive on the red carpet.
I took some pictures of Jennifer and it was really crazy for a
moment, because, as I explained before, I’m really short (just
a little taller than Ilene) and most of the photographers were tall,
big guys. Standing among them I felt like a dwarf or a hobbit. There
wasn’t much space for photographers and there were a lot of
us there; some had to stand on a little podium, it was a media zoo.
After I took all the pictures I could, I moved to the interview
area and was waiting my turn to talk to Jennifer. She took her time
answering questions to the “Out Spoken” cable show (it
was Tim Gaskin, the same guy who interviewed her during San Francisco
pride parade 2 years ago) and then she talked for a while with Gigi,
the reporter from OurChart. It was really interesting to watch all
the people waiting for Jennifer to finish so they could ask questions
(including myself). The photographers stopped taking pictures, all
the guests who were in the room drinking and chatting left to go
to the dining room and it was a really quiet, almost eerie atmosphere
as everybody’s eyes were on Jennifer.
She was very beautiful and graceful, answering questions and thinking
about her answers. Then Sharon Stone came onto the Red Carpet and
the spell was broken as the photographs began taking pictures again
and more interviews were held.
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