As part of Pride Month, local television station WTTW-11 will show the special 'Out & Proud' starting June 3 at 7:30 p.m. According to a press release, the program, which hails the start of a multiplatform initiative for WTTW and its sister stations ( including the Spanish-language station V-me ) , 'represents a new and long-term commitment to producing and presenting original content of interest to and designed for both the LGBT community and all of WTTW's viewing audience.'
Pictured: Actress Jane Lynch hosts 'Out & Proud.' Writer Dwight Okita is one of the subjects of 'Out & Proud.' 'Out & Proud' host Jane Lynch ( center ) with the program's co-producers, Alexandra Silets and Daniel Andries.
The program—co-produced by Daniel Andries and Alexandra Silets, and co-executive-produced by Jerry Liwanag and VJ McAleer—will also run June 9 at 8 p.m. and June 15 at 6 p.m.
'Out & Proud,' produced in partnership with the Chicago History Museum, profiles a number of LGBT individuals with ties to Chicago, and the persons range from the famous to the Everyman. Among the people profiled are social-activist couple Jane Addams and Mary Rozet Smith; cartoonist/activist Danny Sotomayor; Baton Show Lounge owner and gay-rights advocate Jim Flint; and African-American pianist Tony Jackson, who was openly gay during the Ragtime era ( the 1920s ) .
Adding to the local flavor of 'Out & Proud' is host Jane Lynch, the Dolton-born out actress who has been in a slew of TV and movie projects but is probably best known as the lesbian dog trainer in the film Best in Show. Lynch talked with Windy City Times about 'Out & Proud,' same-sex marriage and her own sexuality.
Windy City Times: I was wondering if you could tell me how you came to be part of this project.
Jane Lynch: Well, they asked me. I'm not sure why they asked me, but I assume it's because I am from Chicago and I am out—and I was really thrilled to do it.
WCT: What was the most surprising thing you discovered during production?
JL: I didn't know anything about Danny Sotomayor, who was one of the founders of [ the AIDS activist group ] ACT UP. He was just an amazing guy—so creative and so inventive. He was also so persistent; he was like a pit bull, and he didn't let anything go—and thank God for that persistence. And it was so sad that he died of AIDS. Also, I didn't know that he was Scott McPherson's lover; Scott was a wonderful playwright who [ wrote ] 'Marvin's Room.'
WCT: And 'Out & Proud' covers other people, such as Jim Flint and Jane Addams.
JL: Oh, yes. It was really enlightening. There's a whole story there that I had no idea was going on, and I was alive during much of it.
WCT: What are the similarities and differences between the LGBT scenes here and [ in Los Angeles ] ?
JL: I don't know. I really don't know the LGBT community in Chicago, but I will find out when I speak at an HRC [ Human Rights Campaign ] event July 19 out [ in Chicago at the '2008 Chicago Summer Chic' gala fundraiser ] . I wasn't part of the gay community when I was young. If I was part of any community, it was the theater community.
[ As for Los Angeles, ] I'm not really in a scene; I just go about my life. [ Laughs ] I speak at events, and I really like to reach people who don't have gay organizations in their towns, or they're [ shunned ] . I want to let them know that they're OK, and that there are people who will love them and accept them. I do love the acceptance of gay unions; it's almost taken off like wildfire. We now have gay marriage in California, and I'm starting to take heart. The edges of the country are starting to lead the march, and it's important to me that kids know that we're here; that we accept them for who they are; and that the world is changing.
WCT: Do you see a day when same-sex marriage will be approved nationwide?
JL: Yeah—and it'll be in our lifetime. I guarantee you.
You know what? The opposition can't get it up anymore. [ Laughs ] They just can't; they've exhausted their resources and they'll move on to bigger fish. It was pretty much a non-issue, anyway.
WCT: Some people feel that the marriage ruling in California will cause all the archconservatives to come out against it.
JL: No, they're not. Just watch. They don't have it. I will eat my words if I'm wrong, but there's such a non-reaction to that [ decision ] . For a moment, there was kind of a birth—and then, nothing. And polls suggest that a lot of people just don't care; there are bigger fish.
WCT: Did you have your own gay icons or idols before you took part in this production?
JL: No; I never looked at anyone as if they were gay or not. I've looked up to people who happened to be gay. But when I grew up, there weren't a lot of out people, and it's more common for people to be out now. I didn't know anyone who was gay when I was growing up.
WCT: I told someone that, now, there are so many gay-straight alliances and similar groups for high school students. When I came up, all we had was the drama club.
JL: [ Laughs ] Exactly—and the choir.
WCT: But the networks people have now are amazing.
JL: Yes, and gay-straight alliances are such a wonderful thing; they're great for those kids who feel all alone.
WCT: Was it easy for you to come out?
JL: Well, it's always a journey, and there are ups and downs. When I was a kid, I had fears because I didn't know anybody who was like me. I thought that I was different and that I would be ostracized if [ my sexuality ] was revealed. But as I became an adult, I slowly began coming to terms with it. My family was great, but I was 30 when I came out; it wasn't like I was 18. [ Laughs ] There was a distance between my family and myself because they couldn't know me at my core—I wouldn't let them know me at my core; now, we're much closer.
WCT: Was there anything you wanted to add about the production?
JL: I think it's a really great story, and I had never heard it told. It's interesting, and there are so many brave people who put up and wouldn't stand down. It was just very inspiring and awesome, so I was really glad to know this story.
See www.wttw.com for more information about 'Out & Proud.'
