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Наверное все видели фотографии с этого мероприятия, но вот отчет я вижу впервые, так как мероприятие было закрытым и только единицы из поклонников смогли присутствовать там.
Всегда хотелось почитать, как это было.

OC Gala with Jennifer Beals and Gale Harold – June 5, 2010
By B&TF

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If you wonder what OC stands for, then here’s the answer: Orange County. Actually, one of the most conservative places in California but it has a very active LGBT Center that made it its mission to advocate on behalf of the Orange County LGBT community and to provide services that ensure its well-being and positive identity.

Last Saturday, the Center honored Jennifer Beals and Gale Harold with “Torchbearer” Awards. This is what the Gala organizers had to say about Jen­nifer and the reason why she was honored.

Photo courtesy of The Center Orange County

“Call her a risk taker, an amazing actress, a beautiful woman, a Yale gradu­ate, a wife, a mother, a gay icon, a straight ally or just call her our hero and friend. The Center Orange County is proud to honor the one and only Jenni­fer Beals for her exceptional work in the ground breaking Showtime series ‘The L Word’ … Jennifer played the lead character of Bette Porter, a beautiful and talented art curator in a long term relationship with Tina Kennard, played by Laurel Holloman.

Having the incredible Jennifer Beals in this role helped shatter lesbian stereotypes and send message that it’s okay to be gay – maybe even cool to be gay – furthering acceptance of our community. The love story between Bette and Tina was an essential theme in the series and the chemistry cre­ated on screen by Jennifer and Laurel may never be recreated in a television series. It was intense, sexy and simply breathtaking. We honor not only Jen­nifer’s immense talent but also her courage in taking on this groundbreaking role. As a high profile straight actress playing a lesbian character in a sex-filled series, the challenges were great and the risks significant. To her credit, Jennifer blew the door open. This is what torchbearers do: they take risks and light the way for others…”

Gale Harold deserves the same accolades for his role of Brian Kinney on “Queer as Folk”.

Photo courtesy of The Center Orange County

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“Yes, we said it: Brian Kinney is God. Who wasn’t glued to their television when ‘Queer as Folk’ began in its run? And we wondered: who is that gor­geous guy who plays Brian Kinney and where did he come from? Now we know that he is Gale Harold, the only person on the planet that could have brought Brian Kinney to life … It is hard to imagine how a straight actor pre­pares for a role like this one. First, he must be courageous enough to say yes to the role. Then somehow he must transform a straight orientation and attitude to one of a promiscuous, gay man … One wonders if he was a gay man in previous life or just plain brilliant. We think it may be both!”

My friends and I arrived to the VIP reception and had a great time enjoying food, drinks and participating in a silent auction. There were several very cool items, including a book written and signed by Whoopi Goldberg; tickets to Ellen DeGeneres’ show; hair products and great wine selections.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the honorees. Gale got to the Gala first and he mingled with the guests, taking photos with his fans. A few peo­ple called him Brian and he joked that now they owed him $5 each time they called him by his character’s name.

I talked to him a little and mentioned that we have many fans on “l-word.com” who loved him on “Queer as Folk”. He thought by my accent, that I was French or German and when I told him I was Russian, he intro­duced me to a young lady, who was actually going to Russia because her grandparents were from there. What a small world! I taught her a few words.

Jennifer arrived fashionably late, as usual, and she was escorted by her pub­licist and two bodyguards. She looked absolutely stunning in her dark blue dress an elegant hairdo. She posed by the entrance, which served as an im­provised Red Carpet and I’m happy to report, that she acknowledged my presence by waving at me.

Jennifer’s presence instantly gathered crowds around her but everyone were very civil. I think it was due to the fact that the majority of the guests were there to help the Center and not just fans that only came to see the celebri­ties.

Jennifer and Gale talked to each other for a moment and then she spent the rest of the reception taking photos with major donors and the VIP guests. Jennifer patiently took photos with everyone and exchanged a few words with each attendee.

When it was the fans’ turn, Jennifer became more animated and spent more time talking to her fans, when they acknowledged who they were. She said to one of my friends that “TiBette” fans are the best and she even told her “Ride-Along” cast members about “The L Word” fans and how wonderful they are.

Another friend of mine showed Jennifer the cufflinks she was wearing. She got them after the auction in Vancouver that they had last year and the cuff­links were marked as Bette Porter’s. Jennifer looked at them and then said that Bette had never worn them but they were really pretty. I know my friend wasn’t really upset about it, because she spent a lot of time with Jen­nifer talking about it.

When I had my turn to take a photo with Jennifer, I expressed my joy about her future appearance at the L8 convention. She seemed excited when she replied that she’ll be there as long as nothing interferes with her schedule.

Soon the silent auction was over and we were told to go to the dining hall for dinner and program. Before the actual program began, the organizers held another auction of four special items. One of them was a fabulous “Castle” package: autographed sсript, Season 1 DVD, and a set visit for two during the filming of the next season. I enjoyed watching that show and I wanted to bid on it but the price went too high way too fast, so I never even had a chance to bid.

Another interesting item was a Vespa 2009 LX 50 scooter and to raise more money, the organizers offered a photo with Jennifer by the scooter. Jennifer went to take the photo and she twirled around like a girl. It was really cute. Unfortunately, my flash’s batteries died and I didn’t get any decent photos of that moment.

After the auction, the Gala organizers made a few introductions and gave two more awards to the local community leaders. The members of the youth group introduced themselves and talked about how they found home at the Center when their own parents were not so acceptable of their sexuality.

When the dinner was almost over, Kim Cunningham, Vice Chair of the Cen­ter, introduced Gale Harold, who said how grateful he was for the opportu­nity to be a part of such an important series as “Queer as Folk”. It was a lit­tle hard to follow him because he had a handwritten acceptance speech and he kept losing pages, which was funny. By the end of the speech Gale got a little bit emotional and he finished by thanking Showtime and the town of Pittsburg, which was the home for “Queer as Folk”.

Then Kim came back on stage and continued her introduction by reading a letter from Marlee Matlin, who was supposed to be at the Gala to support Jennifer Beals. Marlee’s schedule changed and she wasn’t able to make it, but she sent a beautiful letter where she described how they first met on the plane to L.A. as they headed for the Paramount Studio anniversary. They both went to a photo shoot and Harrison Ford kept insisting that one of them took his sport but all they wanted to do was sitting together, giggling like schoolgirls.

Marlee also said that working on “The L Word” with Jennifer was amazing and it was the first time, they spent so much time together, even though they had been friends for almost twenty years. They enjoyed working to­gether, laughing a lot during filming and apparently Jennifer still can’t kiss as good as she does. Kim added that she would like to test that theory, which made everyone laugh, including Jennifer.

Photo courtesy of Showtime

Then Kim introduced Jennifer Beals and Rose Troche, who was presenting the “Torchbearer” Award to Jennifer. Rose was really funny when she came on stage and said something like, “Damn you, Marlee Matlin. What else can I say after this letter? I guess I have to repeat what has already been said.”

Rose told us how she had met Jennifer when they both were offered a choice between a show about prostitutes and the show about lesbians. Rose said she was so glad, that they both chose the right show. She then proceeded to tell how great it was working on the show with Jennifer, who is very talented and very professional. Rose admitted once again, that Bette was always her favorite character to write for.

She mentioned that in Season 2, they wrote a scene where Bette is involved in the car accident and then yells at the dwarf. When they started filming, the whole yelling part was actually removed from the sсript but Jennifer felt like it was the perfect reaction and so they put it back, which was brilliant.

Another thing that Rose remembered was when Jennifer was asking to coach them through their first love scene and Rose told her to map it out. “Put your hand here on count 1, then put your other hand here on count 2, then turn around on count 3…” It was hilarious. It did seem that Rose and Jenni­fer had a very good professional relationship. When Jennifer came on stage to accept her award, she hugged Rose and said, “I just love Rose Troche. She makes me laugh and she makes me cry.”

I heard many speeches that Jennifer made over the years and they always have depth, commitment to the topic, positive thinking, emotions and hu­mor. The speech at the OC Center Gala was no exception.

Jennifer began by saying that she couldn’t figure out why she was given the “Torchbearer” Award because she hasn’t lead any protests or marches and in her own point of view she was just incredibly selfish. “I have only really been doing things that, you know, please me. I’ve raised a bit of money for vari­ous organizations, which is incredibly pleasurable. I have given a human re­sponse to various offensive remarks by journalists; righteousness is always pleasurable. And I accepted to play the amazing part of Bette Porter in the little lesbian show, ‘The L Word’.”

Jennifer then proceeded by saying that she is grateful to Ilene Chaiken for giving her an opportunity to explore her inner Alpha. It was always amazing to her, that so many fans approached her and thanked her for playing Bette, as if she was doing them a favor. She said that she considers Bette Porter the greatest gift in her professional career and because of that she thinks she’s not brave but really selfish.

Jennifer mentioned a few things she learned from “The L Word”, like dental dams, Twinkie, sexual positions. She joked that each love scene was like a Rubik’s Cube. Most of all, the show taught her about love, authenticity and importance of human agency. She remembered when they were shooting the Pilot, she was in a restaurant with her husband and he kissed her. Jenni­fer realized that if they were a gay couple, it would be different.

She said, “It hurt my heart. It spoke to my otherness. It awakened in me the knowledge of how much courage it takes to live your life authentically. And this is true for anyone.”

Jennifer continued by talking about all those, who are being marginalized in this country that prides itself on celebrating the individual. She said that it’s a form of emotional violence, when some people have to remain silent and when they are unable to experience themselves and their loved ones au­thentically.

“The health of a democracy is directly measured by the health and well be­ing of the individual citizen. The health of a democracy is directly dependent on hearing the voices of its individual citizens. Silence is destructive … What keeps us truly unsafe as a country on a day-to-day basis is our inability to look inside and experience ourselves as a multitude, as a complexity. And as sure as I’m standing here, things are not always black or white, but some­times they can be both.”

Jennifer also added that after playing Bette on “The L Word”, she experi­enced all these issues in a very personal way. “These attacks hurt my heart, and they hurt my sense of womanhood. Homophobia is after all, a form of misogyny.”

Jennifer continued her speech by saying that she’s not special because we are all torchbearers, because we all hold a light inside and we can all burn bright for our own sake and for the sake of others. “The only simple truth is love. When we acknowledge our love for ourselves, for our beloved, for this beautiful and complex world we live in, we realize we cannot dim our light for anyone, for any government that would seek to dampen or diminish it … When we embrace love, we can effect change. Love is the greatest light, the brightest torch, and will always be the greatest instrument of change.”

She finished by thanking the Orange County Center on behalf of all the cast members of “The L Word.”

Jennifer left right after she received her award, but the evening continued with another auction where they offered signed DVD’s of “Queer as Folk” and “The L Word”. The rest of the guests proceeded outside where we had coffee and desserts and listened to a rock group. The Center raised a lot of money, which was, as Jennifer put it, “incredibly pleasurable”.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 11th, 2010 at 5:14 pm and is filed under Charities, Jennifer Beals, LGBT. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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