Erika Slezak Interview

You can't be a soap fan without hearing great things about Erika Slezak, who plays Viki Lord Banks on One Life to Live, so long before I started tuning in to the show I'd heard that she was incredibly talented.

I quickly found this to be the truth when I started watching the show a few years back. I really wish I'd been watching during Viki's split personality storylines, because the few glimpses we've seen of her alters Niki Smith and Jean Randolph in the last couple of years in fantasy sequences have been awesome.

Even just playing the everyday stories as Viki, though, Erika Slezak demonstrates that she's probably the single most talented actress working in daytime TV. She's earned six Emmys for her work as Viki, and from what I've seen so far, every one of them must have been well deserved.

Having already admired her as an actress, it pretty much made my day when I read the new interview with her on Advocate.com. The first thing they discussed was the use of gay rights in the Mayoral election storyline, and Erika had this to say about the issue:

I thought it was brilliant how head writer Ron Carlivati used the gay vote as a pivotal part of the election!
When they introduced the gay story, and the fact that Oliver Fish was in the closet this whole time, and Kyle was a little bit, and then they bring Nick in who is working for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance of Llanview ... I thought it was brilliant! Nick forces the other two to force their hand and say, “Tell us who you are.” I watched last Friday’s episode when they started the same-sex weddings, and it was terrific! The world is populated by all kinds of people, so let’s show it. What pissed me off in Maine ... my God, what did they do up there? To repeal gay rights for same-sex marriage ... it’s idiotic! Who cares what people do together as long as they are happy? I don’t get the big difference between marriage, civil union, and living together, and I am Catholic. Marriage means you commit to each other and there is a piece of paper that says, “I want to be with you forever,” or as long as we love each other.

It’s not only the symbol of marriage but that same-sex couples should have legal domestic-partnership rights.
Marriage is the only thing that can really do that, although there are some states that will recognize civil unions and give partners the same rights and health benefits, etc. But marriage sort of seals it, and if you want to get married, you should. I am very liberal there. I was so upset when I picked up the New York Post recently and read that a cab driver had two guys who were partners in his cab around 10:30 at night. This was down in the East Village. These guys were at a friend’s house for dinner and they were going home. He went two blocks and the cab driver looked in the rearview mirror and saw the two guys hugging. And he stopped the cab and told them to get out! And he said, “There is no hugging in this cab.” They were just appalled, and thank goodness they lodged a complaint because that is so illegal, and it's just narrow-minded thinking.

It's a great interview, though there are some spoilers included, so beware! The interviewer was clearly a fan of the show, so he asked some pretty good questions.

Thank You, Bea Arthur

I just noticed that the readers of AfterElton voted the late Bea Arthur as this week's Gay of the Week. I was a bit surprised to see this at first, since as much as I loved Bea Arthur and know that she's a gay icon, the voting is usually for someone -fictional or otherwise- who has stood out that week in the gay community.

Then I found out the reason behind the nomination: it was just announced that Bea left $300,000 in her will to the Ali Forney Center, a New York shelter for homeless LGBT youth. With Bea's bequest, the Center will be able to purchase another building and shelter 12 more LGBT youths.

There are a plenty of gay icons out there, but something like this proves that Bea was more than just an icon, she was an ally.

Rob Thomas on Same Sex Marriage

I've had a really long day, but I wanted to note this piece from The Huffington Post by singer Rob Thomas. The topic is same sex marriage and he makes a lot of good points, like the following:

I believe the fact that an atheist, who doesn't believe in God at all, is allowed to enter into the holy land of marriage while a gay Christian is not, shows that this law is arbitrary. Are we to believe that anyone who doesn't live their life according to the King James Bible isn't protected by the same laws that protect those who do? Using the same argument that I've seen on the 700 Club, that would mean that Jewish, Hindu, or Muslim weddings are also null and void.

I believe that to deny this right to the gay population is to say to them, "this god is not your god and he doesn't love you." There isn't one person who is against gay marriage that can give me a reason why it shouldn't be legal without bringing God or their religion into it. Still, I'm amazed at the audacity of a small, misdirected group of the ultra-conservative Christian right wing, to spend millions of dollars, in a recession, on advertisements to stop two men or women who love each other from being able to be married, but when you present any opposition to them, they accuse you of attacking their religion. Isn't it funny that the people who are the quickest to take someone's basic rights to happiness are always the loudest to scream when someone attacks their right to do so?

You've got to respect someone like Rob, who isn't directly affected by the issue, speaking out in support. It's nice to know that the crush I had on the lead singer of Matchbox 20 a decade ago wasn't completely misguided!