In the Life: Ep. 606, "In the Life's 5th Anniversary"

[Music] on this edition of In The Life Now the places the faces the stories I'm a Mormon I'm a homosexual and the history of public television's first lesbian and gay Series in the light America's information line on gay and lesbian issues and [Music] culture in the life is funded in part by the H van amaran Foundation additional support provided by Peggy and Richard daniger Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro the Gil Foundation the Michael Palm Foundation Terry watab and the Nebraska AIDS project The Advocate the national gay lesbian news magazine since 1967 and in the Life members Nationwide June 1992 before a live audience and with Kate Clinton as our host around on two on there we were the pilot episode of in the life the first series bringing the issues and culture of gay and lesbian life to television tonight a look back at 5 years of in the life [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] welcome to the fifth anniversary celebration of in the life and a look back at how we got here hi I'm Katherine Linton when in the Life debuted 5 years ago the idea that gays and lesbians should have a regular slot on National Television was new this was remember 5 years before Ellen but it didn't take long before our series on national public television came under attack during the PBS funding Wars of the early 90s in a sense we have Bob Dole to thank for letting America know we were out there it seems that the broadcasting apologists are hiding behind Big Bird Mr Rogers and Masterpiece Theater laying down their quality smoke screen while they shovel out funding for Gay and Lesbian variety shows his attack on in the life from the floor of the US Senate made headlines before we even aired Dole referred to in the life as the gay Ed Sullivan Show and in a way he was right the pilot episode was a variety show a format we stayed with for the first season well sort of as you're about to see for yourself We Begin tonight's retrospective at the beginning in the in the Life television aired its first episode in June of 1992 it began as a half hour of quality entertainment and celebrity performance for gay men and lesbians now I know a lot of you are thinking gosh not another show on gays and lesbians on television New Girl [Music] from remember we all see I'm tired of the system I'm going to people but luckily we've thought of everything and we are close caption for the homosexually challenged isn't that [Applause] wonderful spirit GL in my heart I will pra already you have seen more gay men and lesbian on television on network television than you have seen ever that pilot episode could never have happened without the help of an army of volunteers I changed tires too cut we we tried to do a lot and uh we did a lot I was struck by the number of people who thought the PBS was their constitutional right and when their local channel wouldn't put on in the life they organized and they got together in in ways that they never would have before thank you very much K Clinton went on to host two more episodes as in the life's First full season began what w you believe we want a Superman like Christopher re they said you can't be gay I said I am they said it's a phase I said I don't think so they said well even if you were gay which you are not we don't care we don't care we really don't care and I said will I do will scre us us as I said a lot of veto's letters were very funny uh and he might write me something uh as outrageous and wonderful as you know at the rally today Grace Jones Beed her tits to a thousand lesbians and saying I need a man and all hell broke loose now you can kiss those embarrassing moments goodbye forever with new gar though advertising is not allowed on public television we once speculated on what commercials might look like for a gay television series get gayar now only $49.95 not available to right-wing senators or television evangelists new gar hi I'm Garrett Blazer in Hollywood in the third episode host Garrett Glazer took in the life from Broadway to Hollywood and for the first time we left New York to go on location the picture for lesbians and gay men in the movies is getting brighter from Hollywood in the Life went country as we continued to push the envelope on the variety show format comedian Karen Williams was at the helm do you have any straight people in your band I have two straight people in the band but we're not going to out them oh I see [Applause] [Music] let me introduce the members of the band to you okay and maybe I'll just guess [Music] okay laugh at the monologue okay thank you [Music] by midseason a viewer would be hard pressed to describe in the Life as we went from Hollywood to Nashville to well we're not sure but our fifth show has become an in the Life classic as writer actor Charles bush in his many guises took a look at the state of gay and lesbian film that's right you know how much your happiness means to me what a thrill it is to be here what a thrill it is having you with us I'm such an enormous fan I even love the horror movies you made in the' 60s well I don't think i' would call them horror films they were psychological suspense [Applause] dramas you know Miss Dale this is a show devoted to Gay and Lesbian culture oh really you mean this isn't American movie Classics comedian Leah delaria kicked off our second season for a rolicking episode I mean let's face it when I put on a dress I look like a man in a dress now gay pride has been expanding we have it all over the country and Karen Williams returned for a show devoted to Gay and Lesbian youth that we called schools out so are you out to your parents uh what is your what are your relationships like with your parents um it's a bit edgy as with any parent schools out inspired us to move to an issues oriented program and we decided to settle on the current news magazine format a new team of six correspondents reported from behind a desk welcome to another episode of in the life one of the new faces was mine that's co-anchor Greg Watt and me with the heavy lipstick and identity to a national audience that's when the Hawaiian Supreme Court we even s correspondent Chris Montgomery to a virtual Hawaii notice how well her hairspray holds in the wind we also attempted television's first gay weather report long-term forecast for the New York area look good in June leave those umbrellas at home it ain't going to rain on our parade most consistent in that series of studi based programs are what we fondly remember as the leather couch interviews all of which took place on our best piece of Studio Furniture during that second season we had the great pleasure of talking to among others Melissa Ethridge Tony Kushner Paul rudnik and Michelle and Dei ochello don't negate my experiences just because they may not fit in your form in the life's growth over the past 5 years in some ways mirrors the growth and visibility of the gay and lesbian in movement coming up a look at the major events of recent gay history as in the life turns back the [Music] clock my favorite memory was we had a wonderful lavender likee Gospel Choir I think was on the first show and they were on late well I've got a dinner date at 10: so we've got to be finished don't we there was two couples who got together they had a ceremony they broke up a divorce before they were actually on that's how long they waited please welcome the lavender light Gospel Choir performing every time I feel the spirit so it's like the visibility uh and the more real we look you know that's that's what it's all about actually and here's a tip for you at home never come out to your father in a moving vehicle happy anniversary in the Life 5 years you're still here way to go mle Puff one of our early shows was an in the- field report on the historic 1993 March on Washington part of in the life's Mission has always been to document the major events that affect the gay and lesbian movement more now from Tanya Barfield who joined our reporting team during our fourth season from political conventions to cultural celebrations in the life's cameras have been there to record history as it happens millions of people have been lucky enough to personally participate in these significant events and millions more have turned to end the Life As We Mark the milestones in the struggle for Gay and Lesbian civil rights our great events began in Washington in 1993 with Garrett Glazer and Karen Williams it started with a banner that read like a headline the madness the pleasure easy it was a wonderful time celebrities and parties singing and dancing communion and reunion but the heart and mind of the 1993 March on Washington was on something serious and far-reaching gay and lesbian civil rights from act Up's call to anger over AIDS funding and education to the politicians who spoke at the rally on the mall the 1993 March on Washington for lesbian gay and by equal rights and Liberation was a very loud knock on the door of Washington's power Le in 1995 lesbians from around the world were knocking on a different door that of the United Nations during the fourth world conference on women in Beijing [Music] China in the life was in Beijing covering topics you probably didn't read about in the Sunday paper namely lesbian organizing and the most unlikely structure in China the lesbian tent I was really curious you know about this lesbianism in India we don't we have I mean we don't know we don't know much about lesbianism here I learn I learned that it's something natural no lesbianism is it's a natur it's a way of life and something natural with some people the communal Spirit of the small lesbian tent in Beijing was hard to find in the big tent of the 1996 Republican convention in San Diego gay conservatives celebrated being on the inside while progressives protested Republican policies from the outside good afternoon my name is Rich taffle and I'm the executive director of the law Cabin Republicans what I say to you is the croan horse is at the gate we're here we're in the tent does the RNC hear us probably not but will we be discouraged no way and in another part of San Diego in the Life traveled to a different tent alt together a luncheon at SeaWorld where an exclusive Gathering of right to life activists celebrated their own Party politics are we all feeling tolerant and inclusive here [Music] what they did feel like was a [Music] song and a [Applause] [Music] [Applause] dance two years before that Walts and the Republican National Convention there was an event in New York City where there were no tents and everyone was welcome Stonewall 25 was the largest gathering of gay a lesbian bisexual transgender people and their friends in the history of our movement it was in fact an anniversary celebration of a shot fired from The Stonewall bar in 1969 and a special episode on this event ended our third season it's a historical moment in our time where people have stood up against the Injustice in society towards gays and lesbians and bisexuals and so it gives me a chance to be here with my partner and to hold him and give him a kiss J that's what it means to me Stonewall 25 included of course a rally today the world is watching and our message to the world from our community is that this is not business as usual no one's rights are safe until everyone has equal rights but also a cultural Festival we are a community we are a society we are everyone we are inside you remember all you are taught to forget we are part of the new world and he'll have abolutely [Music] always every is he G in addition to Stonewall 25 there was gay Games 4 [Music] gay games did you play anything this week or watch anything they did not have my events and was channel [Music] surfing I was taking pictures of riders warming up and getting in the start up to the start Finish Line and I turned around and I noticed that all these guys were lounging around in each other's arms and being paded and um it was just it was such a good feeling because it was it was so relaxed and it felt so real that I said hey wait a minute I'm not taking any more pictures of the race I'm going to take photos of you guys and so I said you don't get to I've never never seen this at a bike race before it it's really a great feeling but Stonewall 25 was more than just a celebration of life and love it was also a commemoration to those we had lost to AIDS as of 1994 over 300,000 people in the United States alone had died from that [Music] disease I'm a volunteer and we came from Atlanta to carry a sign for this man whose name is Bob I don't know him but I'm very honored to be a volunteer to do this today I see all my brothers and sister here you know and remembering all the people who have died of this incredible disease you know hello this is Ricky this is ma student at the Kashi ason and he died just a few while ago this is Dennis Raleigh he was 40 years old and I was a volunteer with him through the Buddy program and I helped him through his last year of life [Music] my name is Ed dline and this is John Perkins we were lovers for 18 years he died three days ago and I'm really very [Music] sad at the end of this incredible event of tears and celebration there was indeed lots of love everybody say love everybody say love and of Li I promise you we will win if not tomorrow then the day after that or the day after that or the day after the day [Applause] the the [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] besides having our cameras at the important gay and lesbian events of recent history in the life has also worked to explore gay and lesbian participation in all of history in December of 19 1995 host Katherine Linton visited the US Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington DC the pink triangle is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of lesbian and gay Liberation displayed with pride on t-shirts tattoos posters pins bumper stickers you name it but the triangle didn't always Proclaim our pride just over 50 years ago it could be found in only one place on a strip of cloth next to a number identifying a prisoner as homosexual in the Nazi concentration camps of World War II the history of the Ping triangle is explored here in Washington at the Holocaust Museum the world's largest testimonial to the millions of lives destroyed by bigotry and hatred in the 1920s and 30s the gay movement in Germany was the world's most advanced LED by Dr Magnus herfeld gay and lesbian culture in metropolitan areas like Berlin included bars publishing houses and gay journals but in 1933 all this changed when Adolf Hitler became the German Chancellor in the early days of the Nazi regime that gay bars were closed gay publisher houses and journals were forbidden and it became very dangerous for gay men we asked clus Mueller why gay men were viewed as such a danger to the Third Reich basically you have to do with a highly gender biased society in which one of the major goals is to uh to produce a strong Iran race homosexual men were seen as uncertain candidates and as a threat to uh this major Nazi goal lesbian women were not targeted to the same degree it's it's not logical but lesbian women were seen as still future breeders of the aan race they could give birth to children and it didn't matter if how they would feel about that while the Nazis were in power approximately 100,000 gay men were arrested and about half of them were sentenced to prison 10 to 15,000 were sent to concentration camps where they were marked with a pink triangle the death percentage of gay men in concentration camps were relatively high if you compare to other smaller um groups that were incarcerated like political prisoners or Jehovah's Witnesses um then the Des perent percentage of homosexuals was hired with 60% David mixner is one of the founding members of the Holocaust Museum's gay and lesbian campaign I visited the museum and I was very moved and was able to have lunch the next day with the director of the museum that led to the project of them being the first Museum in the world uh to officially include the gay and lesbian Community as part of the museum uh to study our history to set up a center for scholarship for the study of the uh what happened to homosexuals in the Holocaust uh it's a historical breakthrough no other Museum in the world has ever done this we very moved that they were going to do this project whether we raised in nickel for or not they were dedicated to fighting homophobia along with anti-Semitism and racism more school children more people more visitors to Washington DC go through this museum than any other Museum I think it's important that these people do see the histories of gay men who were incar ated along with uh the other victims of the Holocaust one of these gay men is Stefan K I was arrested only for this reason that I left a man Stefan Kay was only 17 years old when he began a relationship with an Austrian Soldier for this he was imprisoned for 5 years they wanted to know whether I had more soldiers not only one but I was very very very ashamed young I didn't knew even the meaning of this words homosexual for the because our love was love only love the treatement was not good it was not good there was not tolerant they treated us homosexual as a something wrong but many gay prisoners were subjected to even worse Horrors some were victims of hormonal experiments others like fried Paul Von gim a local Merchant from Lubec Germany was arrested tortured and forcibly castrated by the Nazi state for many gays and lesbians today the Nazi persecution of homosexuals holds an added resonance you know I've lost over 250 friends to AIDS and and my partner of 12 Years um and I've gone to Great Lengths personally to remember their faces and their names and I uh was over in Amsterdam and I met two survivors of the Holocaust who Not only was able to get out of the camps when the Allies liberated them but were rearrested by the allies and put back in prison because they had deemed that the Nazis had justifiably arrested the gays and lesbians and it was one of the most horrifying stories I've ever heard in my life we have to know what exactly happened happened how worse it has been and otherwise we can't learn if if we can prevent it at this moment there's a strong discussion going on about the radical R in the states using propaganda that resembles NA national socialist propaganda so we have to find out if this is true where are the similarities where are the differences to analyze in which situation we are living and we can't do that if we only live in the present sometimes then even when iwake when I remember this bedtime and so many this is I smile everything everything okay but the memories too bad too set you will never forget so quick persecution of homosexuals is unfortunately not just a piece of the distant past in many parts of the world extreme oppression still exists today during our fourth season and in our continuing effort to look at gay and lesbian life from around the globe GL we told the story of chiyon cuu a young man from Romania who endured years of persecution and heartbreak after his homosexuality became known chiyon story was brought to our attention by eagle herk the international gay and lesbian Human Rights Commission one of the many vital gay and lesbian organizations that in the Life Works to bring to our viewers attention at the age of 17 chiyon and his first lover were turned into the police by Chon's own family after an argument with my family I admitted that Maran and I were lovers to prove it I showed them my diary they blamed Marion for the relationship as a result my sister then went to the police and lodged a complaint theia chiyon and his lover were arrested Maran admitted everything but when chiyon denied the allegations the police showed him his diary which had been brought to them by his own sister Maran and chiyon were both incarcerated Mar and I were separated I was taken to the preventive arrest Ward for juveniles before I came in the cell officers told the supervising inmate that a homosexual was going to be put in the room as a result he told me from the very start that I had to have sex with him if I did not want things to go very badly at first I resisted but after a few blows I was forced to give in it was the first time I was raped but not the last in February our investigator published an article in the tasara police weekly in which our case was described in detail including photographs of us with full presumption of our guilt the article was picked up by a national newspaper and came to the attention of Representatives of the international gay and lesbian Human Rights Commission in Romania as a result in May 1993 Marian was finally released awaiting trial after my release I was expelled from the last year of high school Under the pretext that I had missed too many days of school in fact teachers declared my homosexuality a danger to the other students Mar tried to find a job but no business would hire him when he finally found employment he had to give it up because of harassment from his colleagues who knew about his case we tried to continue our relationship but it eventually ended because of the pressure we encountered from people who knew our story in May of this year Maran committed suicide SES he killed himself because he could not bear the pressure of isolation and fear I had lived with the hope that one day we would stand together again I loved him tremendously and could not believe I had lost him but Destiny took away this ultimate hope if there was any hope to be found at the end of that story it's this in may of 1996 chiyon was granted Asylum here in the United States hi I'm Wesley SNES hi I'm Katherine Linton this is Pula Clark no wait a minute I'm Kate Clinton Pete Seager David Marshall Grant cron Chris Jason Alexander we're bet and you're watching you're watching you are watching in the life in the life in the life now I think that's fabulous even though in the Life moved away from the original variety show format we never lost our commitment to profiling artists and entertainers who help shape and Define gay and lesbian culture more now from Darius toaz a Broadway performer himself who has been an in thee life correspondent since 1994 the joy of a spirit once restrained Taking Flight and making leaps that was how a recent Vanity Fair article described the legacy of the late gay artist Keith Herring and this sculpture three dancers on display this summer in New York celebrates that Spirit music art dance drama comedy in any area artists have made great contributions to the gay community and to the mainstream by challenging stereotypes celebrating difference and confronting the devastation of AIDS gay and lesbian artists and striving to see their own lives reflected in the Arts have undeniably affected American culture through their work here is just a sampling of some of the many talented individuals who have appeared on in the life during our first 5 years sa sa sa sa sa sa sa I have U identified myself as half Cuban and half lesbian uh many times and of course people are always you know really surprised sometimes you know when I come out there in the low cut dress and the and the bont they go wow she doesn't look Cuban to to Absolute much of gay art challenges stereotypes just by being public we educate the world about ourselves this strategy of course is also used to approach the enormity of AIDS I am a street drummer drag queen kind of uh Happy go-lucky thing that um is HIV positive and dying actually has AIDS and and is dying and would rather um live with it than die with it I think the AIDS is taught us something now that there's something to be said for yes we are erotic animals we are but we're also capable of great great loyalty and depth of feeling don't sit and dream something that we gay people do a lot we close the door and we dream about palaces make your palaces there behave as if you will be here Sammy was eth to my Lucy in its 5 years in the life has chronicled an increasing number of openly gay performers some very well-known actors have come out and put their Fame to use for political ends in 1991 sir Ian McKellen was the first openly gay man to be kned what a wonderful opportunity to use the kn Ood the stamp of the establishment's authority Against The Establishment and say I am a gay man you've given me a Knighthood why do you persist in having laws which discriminate against [Music] me and often the Arts are about building community in 1996 in the Life travel to Tampa Florida where nearly 200 gay and lesbian choruses gathered for a festival I one thing that's been wonderful is we've gone on tour with Portland lesbian choir and the Portland gay man's chorus around of the small towns in Oregon during the measure 9 and the measure 13 and been able to sing in small communities and I think that's really important the particular experiences of being openly gay have been a rich source of material for many artists future howl I am a one breasted menopausal Jewish bisexual lesbian mom and I am the topic of our times I have no objections to being called a gay playright I would prefer to be perceived by the world as a gay man who writes plays because my plays are for all people I'm sick of straight people tell the truth aren't you there's too goddamn many of them I was in the bank yesterday they were everything being gay have also encouraged writers to question other identities as a writer I try and ask questions I don't try and have answers to anything when I'm writing I try and just put balls up in the air and see what comes down you know in his play Robert O'Hara puts a gay man in the middle of Nat Turner's slave rebellion I I had never heard gay and and and uh and uh Slave at the same time you know and so I wanted to see what would would happen if I did that for me playwriting is to a certain extent coming up with um a a large number of seemingly uh disconnected and unrelated um events people facts I'm a Mormon I'm a homosexual oh in my church we don't believe in homosexuals in my church we don't believe in Mormons and then the process of writing the play is um to a certain degree trying to discover the hidden Subterranean connections between things but in the life also looked at the institution of the theater itself to ask why in the midst of a growing number of plays on gay life lesbians are so rare resources and it always comes down to money are still fairly unavailable to lesbian plays Tony Kushner is a gay man he has different access to the mainstream than a lesbian would at the same time many lesbians prefer the freedoms alternative venues provide my goal is not mainstream theater my aesthetic um thrives under under real life conditions not uh what you have to do in order to lose your power in order to become mainstream in similar ways artists of color have had to struggle with exclusion and I really did not like being an Asian person when I was a teenager when I was aspiring to be a younger actor I I really thought that not being a white person just kept me from getting everything that I wanted and then it was really when I was in this PL and butterfly on Broadway that I understood the Beauty and the power and the wonderfulness of being an artist of color there's so much crappy sort of racist sexist homophobic conditioning that is there without people even knowing it it's a war it's a war during culture in America in which you're not trying to affirm a European aesthetic is war that's it you must excuse me for being so rude fighting that war in their own way drag performers have primarily occupied the margins but with their increasing popularity in the Life hosted a roundt discussion with some of New York's Best Loved Queens well drag is liberating when I put on my drag I can be this over-the-top person well I do think we serve a certain function though in a rather drab world that uh I think one of the reasons drag is is so big now is I I think the public enjoys seeing a bigger than life lady and I think that the real women are not encouraged to be bigger than life that seemed they felt to be sort of grotesque or I mean people want to play Norman Desmond but they don't want to be Norman Desmond [Applause] right I think I've done more go for the life than Lucille Ball has done in her entire career then I played K Shelby who's a very serious journalist or think she's a serious journalist and that I think that was kind of my favorite one because that actually was one of the few characters I really totally created just for in the Life didn't you feel just a little bit guilty pretending to be something you're not what I find remarkable and important about in the life is that it's the only time that you see gay and lesbian characters having their lives being told by gay and lesbian journalists this is Kay Shelby this is Mary Dale in the life God bless happy fifth anniversary in the Life at the start of this season our fifth we introduced a regular feature called A Day in the Life which gave us the opportunity to follow one person from morning till night the next segment shot in Savannah Georgia aired the this past February and featured a transgender Entertainer whose own life is her richest source of material now the lady shbl a man who lives as a woman is about to play herself in the movie version of the book that made her famous when John Baron's book Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil first hit the stands in 1994 the true story about the eccentrics of beautiful Savannah quickly became a runaway bestseller now one of the most colorful characters in this narrative is the lady sh and for the Lady or the empress or the doll being ordinary is out of the question and her desire to be fabulous is a priority even if she sometimes flies in the face of the conservative South we bring you now a day in the life of the lady sh come here toi you making Mama late for her appointment at the wig store wig shop time I'm a female impersonator and it's not to make fun or to kick and poke at the females go it's my salute to women the little flip thing going on that's nice they got a big assortment in here what I'm going to do right oh I do like that one D would you bring that one over you know women got the power baby my being in touch with my feminine and my masculine side I know that the feminine side is where the power is very white girl hair valy girl I think I almost look good on anything let's try on something ugly and see if I look good at it perfect yes perfect perfect we'll take this one wo oh no no no no no no no I guess I'll take that back I guess I don't look good in every way passing to me is being able to get out in public without people staring and pointing hi lady how are you baby how you doing you looking thank you got a table ready got great the lady sh is my name that's my legal name so I think I'm one of the few people with the first name the and if you're from the south you can call me the' but the lady sh is my uh real name the doll is sort of my Fantasy character it's my fun thing when I'm dressed up for my shows to entertain then I'm the doll people would comment on the way that I looked as a female and I like that it made me comfortable on the inside and the one thing that I believe in with any human being is that if your soul and your spirit says it's the right thing then it's the right thing the right thing for the lady sh was to do a book about her life story it's appropriately titled hiding my candy here we go again for the book signed thank you huh uh I was approached to by pocket books it was an opportunity for my story to be told not only on my behalf but on behalf of people like myself here's a picture of me before I became a woman and the caption under this picture reads even at 3: I had a nice set of legs and this is my negro scolar Hara look for the new South My First Choice was going to be of me standing in a middle of a cotton field with a bunch of white folks dressed up as slaves and I'm in a beaded gwn going the new South but we thought this one would be more appropriate than that these are great John Barren and the lady sh and John is so happy could it be because his head is resting against my breast in the South and in Savannah people regard other people's lives as works of art sh is is quintessentially Southern in this respect she's made up her own life is she's the star of her own movie she's very Southern she is very Savannah she has also become very famous and international visibility poses a new challenge sometimes I have to go incog negro uh which is my term for incognito [Music] ladies and gentlemen your Hostess uh a genuine person the mother of 10 children plus one me the Lady of 6000 songs Miss Emma Kelly Emma is a very big part of my life she and I just went on a tour together and when I tell you it was like mother and daughter it it really was we had a wonderful time my s i okay you were you say or rep I love [Music] y [Applause] [Music] y i lip think because that's the part of the entertainment part but my monologues are what people like the best about me I see a lot of heterosexuals out there did y'all get lost did you get lost sa honey you know when you paid your money to get in to see the show you know you paid your homosexual dues and now you're one of us my ACT is semi xrated it is not for anybody who's into Disney movies you like chocolate you like chocolate with nut yeah yeah you are just a cute what's your name and I never know what I'm going to say until I get out there and I feed off the crowd's response every time I look out there I see somebody who's got a look on their face like girl it's me I'm for real I'm not a fictional character honey I am for real I've always been very fortunate you know I have to admit I'm one of the luckiest people on earth I the luckiest as they say drag queen I'm the luckiest female impersonator and I'm definitely the luckiest lady I hope Catherine is watching this cuz she'll remember what' you say was it gay games I think in New York and we were in the Old Stone Wall in the original what had been the Stonewall and it was so hot and so humid and I'm thinking I 3,000 Mi to look horrendous I'm I'm dripping on my ear are they stay out I can't think of anything more profound than the change that uh lesbian and gay visibility has brought to the country and in the life is a big part of that I'm Garrett Glazer and I'm Katherine Linton happy birthday in the life and thanks for everything you've done in the life has had the opportunity to see firsthand how many different con of people are working in so many ways to fight Prejudice and Foster understanding some of the people we've had the honor to meet are no longer with us here now a tribute to the heroes role models and Pioneers we've interviewed who have since passed away yes I'll take my chances on this windy sea never knowing which way the wind is blowing somay it's bound to sail me free I lived what I thought was a normal life I've come to many [Music] harbors and people waiting there for me and together we would laugh away the darkest night so easily yes I will take my you make choices and you decide not to mess up other people's lives and those are the choices I made now so to live as a openly as a gay ismy Muslim yes I'll take [Music] CH but just remember this I'm still the real queen in the studio today all the broken hearts and all the foolish love love I've had myun ding ding ding where thear get back in the closet submit be quiet that's what we're being [Music] told yes by the mere Act of saying I'm a gay man I suddenly have several million new friends around the world will take my ches my chances my chanes as you've seen throughout this program our role for the past 5 years and for the future is to allow real people to tell their own stories on a regular basis here now in our final look back we bring you a few more of the people who have had an impact on us and we hope on you 's desire Light Up the Sky on fire the Lakota holy man lame deer t t mentioned that the Creator never made anyone different without giving them something extra special and we have those very very special things that we offer to everyone around us [Music] when I wrote the song I meant to both call on the works of AD Lord and hat Parker and also just you know it's it's a coming out song of s sorts when they [Music] come Spelman is uh struggling with diversity just like many other camp are around the country um and I think the Assumption here is that since we're all black women we're all going to be the same and that's not true so um we've had to deal with homophobia on all levels like racism homophobia is not always pinpoint you can't always tell when it's happening or who it's coming from you just know that there's something wrong every time someone said to me I just don't get what you are you know well maybe people don't have a right to beat you up or fire you or not hire you in the first place but it's just not natural um every time I sputtered this was what I wanted to be saying is that every single culture on this planet every society every continent including the North Pole has always had a range of gender Expressions but we haven't always been reviled and hunted and hated to me the Civil Rights Movement the feminist movement the gay lesbian and transgender movements all really are one and the same these are all movements to respect people as individuals rather than as a body type that their um genes determine for them I do things totally different I'm sure than than most in the gay community I believe that you can kill people with kindness I would like to see the gay Community Reach Out and build a bridge between themselves and the straight Community because we all have to be together we have to live together we have to work together and we have to form a community [Music] together everybody looks at us as a farm couple yeah it's a lot of hard work and it's our our life you don't ever expect that a white parents can to have a black child or vice versa I think it's a wonderful time we live in when the definition of the family is growing and expanding and changing and my family may be my partner and my blue ton hound and my two cats and my seven fish but that's my family fortunately uh we're not youngsters and and so I trust her implicitly you know you get to a certain age you only have enough energy to do so much and we that ours is generally spent in the community trying to make a difference I like to stress the point that this was really a validated love and that I think that our story will help to make people aware that such a thing can happen happen looking back at over 5 years of in the Life perhaps what stands out most to us is the courage compassion and passion of the people we've met their willingness to tell their stories and voice their beliefs to a national television audience in a country still grappling with acceptance of homosexuality truly demonstrates a unique kind of commitment and bravery we've been inspired by their ins it as well as by the help of our many in the Life supporters and volunteers we'd also like to thank the nearly 100 public television stations that continue to carry this series and from all of us at in the life thank you for watching and we'll see you next [Music] time alive but alive I feel try and and manic calm and collected and choking with panic but alive but alive but [Applause] alive [Music] and we fought to win I promise you we will win if not tomorrow then the day after that or the day after that after oh the day after that after oh the day after the all [Music] [Music] [Applause] the in the life is funded in part by the H van amaran Foundation additional support provided by Peggy and Richard daniger Agnes Gund and Daniel Shapiro the Gil Foundation the Michael Palm Foundation Terry wnab and the Nebraska AIDS project The Advocate the national Gay and Lesbian News Magazine since 1967 and in the Life members Nationwide for