n hil in! Nov. 19 - HIT'S 20th Anniversary The Voice o Wisconsins LGBT Community Dec 2, 1998 Page 19

hy Ter ry Boughner of my life." Will & Gtace apart is that it has "the first He is a darkly handsome young man "Anyway," he continues, "we're com- Gay man on television with dignity. "(hat's with a killer smile. She is a beautiful ing up on the year 2000, the millennium. what I think makes the show different." young woman with radiant eyes. They live It's time to take the stigma off being open- NBC chief Warren Littlefield told together. They get along great. They might ly, normally Gay." Kveonsin Light That having had a hand in fall in love and get married except for one Normally. I ask? Normal is not usually creating the show that he is "solidly" fact. He is Gay, open, comfortably and up a word associated with us. behind it. front Gay. He has been out for 15 years. "Well, why not? I'm normally straight. Will and Grace were originally sec- This is essentially the plot of NBC's new You're normally Gay. That's the thing ondary characters in another script by hit sitcom, H411 & Grace, which airs about this show Ifill & Grace; we're not series creators Max Mutchnick (openly Mondays, 3:30-9pm. taking a political stance. Will's sexuality is Gay) and David Kohan (openly straight). The show stars Canadian-born actor never an issue. What we're trying to do is Linlefield has said that he passed on that Eric McCormack (veteran of Lonesome show everybody that Gay can be an aspect show but liked the Gay-straight friends so Dove: The Oullays, Years) as Will Truman, of people's lives, but it isn't the total thing, much that he asked the two to create a an upscale Manhattan lawyer; Debra just as sex isn't total with straight people." series for them. Messing (veteran of Prey and Neil and "Will is a friend•of-a-friend you play [1 is the fact that & Grace treats Stacy) as Grace, a self-employed designer; basketball with for seven weeks and when being Gay so -matter-of-factly" that is, Sean Hayes (Billy's First Screen kiss) as you finally ask him, 'So are you married?' perhaps, most revolutionary and threaten- Jack, Will's c.itinciy, funny, Gay best friend; he says matter-of-factly 'No I'm Gay.' ing, Yet, Burrows and others involved with and Megan Mullally as Karen, Grace's Will is that guy; he's the guy we want to the show said they have yet to hear of any socialite assistant who works to fill up her introduce to America." objections to it from right-wing Christian A sitcom with a Gay man at its center groups. Let's make one thing clear right away. is not just another television show. William Donohue is a former col- As he says in response to a direct question, According to the show director, McCormack is not himself Gay. Asked Emmy award-winner James how he liked playing a Gay man, he Burrows (cheers. replied seriously, "I love it. This is the best Frasier) what sets character tar me that I've ever read. Will is so much like me." Meaning? There is a soft, knowing chuckle over the phone. "Meaning that his sense of humor is my sense of humor. His character is gravy — what a fun guy to play!" He pauses. "You know, being treated as if I'm Gay is not new for me. I've had experience. When I was in 2nd grade, people thought I was Gay. And you know something?" What? "There's a whole bunch of people in Toronto, I'll bet, who'll see this show and say to themselves 'Alt hat See, I knew that guy was Cray all along, way back when, in the btli grade', And that's fine.' But there's this thing in Hollywood, I protest mildly, that says actors fear playing a Gay char- acter because they'll be stereotyped. Again a chuckle. "When I read the script for the first time and saw how good it was, how much Will and I are alike, well - you know. I thought if this show's the hit I think it's gonna be, I could he content to be Will Tniman for the rest