24

GAY PEOPLE'S CHRONICLE

NOVEMBER 11, 1994

ON THE AIR OFF THE PRESS

No American network would buy Tales sequel

by John Graves

Bad news for fans of the PBS mini-series, Tales of the City. According to the October 14 edition of Entertainment Weekly, Britain's Channel 4, which was to foot half the $8 million budget for the sequel to Tales, pulled out after no American network would fund the other half of the budget.

Although the original broadcast of the Tales mini-series got high ratings, conservatives objected to the gay theme of the program. PBS decided not to fund the sequel but denied they were bowing to conservative pressure. Other networks, including cable's Showtime had considered funding the sequel, but Channel 4 decided not to wait any longer saying, "It's clearly not a priority for American broadcasters."

Pedro Zamora and his lover Sean exchanged rings in a gay ceremony of commitment in front of the roommates on Real World, MTV's reality series which was taped last spring. According to a report in USA Today, Zamora is presently very ill with an AIDS-related brain infection and close to death. Ever since he was diagnosed at age 17, the 22-year old Zamora has been devoted to speaking out about AIDS.

Zamora received a telephone call from President Clinton a few weeks ago, thanking him for his work, but Zamora, suffering from a type of aphasia, was not able to respond to the president over the phone. Pam Ling, one of Zamora's Real World roommates, has taken a six-month leave from medical school to spend time with her friend. Ling reports that Zamora's family has been flying in from Cuba to be with him around the clock.

MTV executive vice president for programming Dave Herzog has indicated that MTV will continue to provide support for Zamora.

OPEN

Monday & Wednesday 9am-7pm

Tuesday & Friday 9am-6pm

Saturday 9-3

The September 2 edition of the National Catholic Reporter features an article on a secret meeting of anti-gay conservative Christians held in Colorado Springs, Colorado last May. The report is based on an unedited tape of the meeting. The tape revealed how the conferees were developing a national antigay agenda.

Conferees were told that conservative political candidates should hide their antigay sentiments while campaigning and even to be supportive of gay people so they could implement anti-gay initiatives when elected. It was felt that the anti-gay movement was losing ground in this country and power had to be obtained through stealth. Conferees were told to focus on the idea that being gay is a choice and not biological. Peter Labarbera of the homophobic group Accuracy in Media suggested ads with the message "Born gay is a lie."

An accompanying editorial entitled "They'll Know Us By Our Sexual Orientation" warned readers that "the anti-gay attack is ugly and dangerous, not only to gays.” In another article in this edition of the National Catholic Reporter, six Catholic lesbians and gays deeply involved in Church activities tell of their spiritual journey. Yours truly has been coming out to my priests and parishioners for the past year. Only by knowing we are part of the Church will the Church begin to understand us, care for our spiritual needs as gay people and speak up for our rights. Coming out to your church is another possibility for you to take that next step out of the closet.

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has started a new "Family" section. Editor David Hall said that "The section will contain features and commentary of interest and value to family members of all ages and to families of many definitions." Keep an eye on this section and let Hall know that lesbian and

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gay families should be included.

Nice profile of AIDS Taskforce of Cleveland executive director Chrisse France in the Plain Dealer's Sunday Magazine section by Fran Henry. In the article, France talks of her work for the Taskforce and about her divorce and coming out to her family.

Check out the new NBC sitcom Friends, which airs Thursdays at 8:30 pm. It seems that one of the characters has an ex-wife who left him when she came out of the closet as a lesbian. It seems she got pregnant before they split up and now she wants him to share

in the birth and care of the child with her lover. Looks like we may have another ongoing gay character in a network show.

The now infamous penis-amputee John Wayne Bobbitt has taken up a new career since completing his porno film. According to a report in USA Today, Bobbitt will soon begin dancing as a stripper at The District, a gay night club in Fort Lauderdale. Bobbitt will also judge a drag show where the contestants will try to impersonate his ex-wife Lorena, who did the deed after he tried to abuse her.

The greatest Cho on Earth

Continued from page 21

a huge success. And not just a commercial success, not just a mainstream hit, but something we can really be proud of. And it's not there yet--but something that hopefully will have a lot of social commentary and talk about serious issues.

First, I think we need to establish these characters, and establish this home. Establish this family. Later, we can carry out different aspects of what being an Asian American is all about.

If I had something like this when I was growing up, I would have been so happy, because I never saw myself on television. I never saw anyone I identified with. When you see your own image on television, it's incredibly validating.

Tell me about your relationship with the lesbian and gay community.

I grew up on Polk Street [in San Francisco] in the '70s. The people I was put under the care of were drag queens. Growing up in Polk Gulch [was like] Tales of the CityArmistead Maupin San Francisco. I grew up not only with an acceptance or not just with an awarenessof the gay community, but a feeling of really being part of it. And being a child of it. So, it's very... gay issues are very important to me.

Many people perceive you as a lesbian. We don't know where that came from. I am being totally honest-I'm straight. The thing that makes me really angry is that I am not the kind of person who... If I was gay, I would come out completely because I am in a position of power. I have so much to offer to the lesbian and gay community. And I still do. I'm a very, very, very strong supporter of that community. And I feel just as much a part of it as the gays and lesbians. I think those rumors started because I was working here [in San Francisco], doing a lot of shows at gay clubs. I did a lot of benefits, for really random things like "Free the Russian Lesbians."

I never identified my own sexuality because my pet peeve is when straight people who do these events say, "By the way, I'm straight. Sorry ladies." Or, "Sorry, guys." That makes me so annoyed because that's still separating yourself unnecessarily. It's making a difference between yourself and this group, which I don't think is right. It made me really annoyed that people did that. So, I never did. I really felt it was not an issue. And so, these rumors started . . . It bothers me that people would think that I don't have the actual integrity to come out and say [I'm a lesbian].

You're offended by people thinking you're in the closet.

Yes. That offends me very deeply. I'm not offended that they think I'm a lesbian. That's flattering. I think that's great. But, it's not true, unfortunately. It does upset me that people don't trust me enough to say that I [am a lesbian]. It's a very serious, important thing. It's not something I would take lightly or try to cover up if I was.

Tell me about the man you call "your partner in life," your gay boyfriend, Scott Silverman.

He's

's my best friend. He's with me as much as he can be. We are total and complete soul mates, and we are together all the time. If I could marry him, I would. I mean, I may still.

Do you live together in Los Angeles? Yes.

So, you're domestic partners.

Pretty much, yes. It's a very good relationship. It's very nurturing. It's comforting to me. It's something I definitely need in my life, and I know he needs it too. We have definitely made a lot of commitments to each other. We travel together. He's very supportive, and I'm very supportive of him. It's also a good artistic relationship because we help each other write. It's very productive.

I read he may become part of the All American Girl cast.

We hope so. There's no place to fit him in yet, but he'll be around.

Might he be introduced as an openly gay character?

Definitely. But since the focus of the show is so directed at the family, I don't know what else we can do for a while. Hopefully that will be something we deal with. I know it's something I want to deal with. So [if an openly gay character is introduced], he would be the one.

How did you begin performing at Josie's years ago?

It was just a place to go.

You never differentiated between gay and non-gay clubs?

I just wanted to work. I performed at so many different types of places-biker bars and music open mikes...Everywhere I could get up, I would get up. Laundromats, anything. It was really just to get out there, to get paid, to satisfy the monster that needed to perform. I never turned anything down.

You've also performed on Olivia cruises. I did. Once. It was great. We went to Alaska. That was a few years ago. I went with Marga Gomez and a couple of other performers. It was a lot of fun.

How did you tailor your act to different audiences?

It wasn't that I tailored it. I would just perform and work as I did. I never really changed for any particular audience. With the exception of doing television, where I would not use four-letter words, which I'm very fond of using.

I've never seen you perform, but I've heard your act was fairly racy; peppered with references to sex toys, for instance.

[Laughter.] It was racy sexually, but it wasn't really about using them. Just talking about sex in general, things I knew about, and things that were very subversive and out there like S & M and leather and bondage and latex. I used to work at a [lingerie and leather] store called Stormy Leather, South of Market. I wouldn't classify it as being one of those adult bookstores, because it wasn't. It was kind of upscale, somewhat like Good Vibrations or something like that. It was a great experience. I learned about all this stuff, and I would use it in my work.

Now that you have your own TV show, will you continue doing stand-up?

I don't have time now, but I will continue touring once we break for hiatus near the end of the year, because I do want to get back to that. I am planning it slowly right now, just to see what's going to happen with the show, and just to focus on that. But I will be definitely doing some dates, if not going on a full-scale tour