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don’t have to have a cure in order for it to become a chronic manageable condition.’ That is a reasonable hope today.” Williamson maintains that gay marriage is the civil rights issue of our time, and she


draws obvious parallels between the battle of civil unions and the historic Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka case. “‘Separate but Equal’ is not freedom. If I were a gay person, I would say, ‘Well thank you very much for the crumb, but I would prefer the whole piece of rye bread!’ If rights are being withheld from anyone, they’re potentially being with- held from you.” Clearly, food for thought. But for Williamson, it’s not a matter of whether or not we’ll


achieve marriage equality, but when we get our due rights. “It’s a given, in time. Ultimately it will be fine, but there are a lot of people for whom it


would be very nice indeed if it could come quicker.” Unfortunately another issue that hangs on equality’s balance is one that has gained


greater visibility in the last few years—tragically so: the psychological damage done to young gay people which sometimes results in suicide. “We absolutely must do everything in our power to let these kids know that they are not deficient and that society recognizes them. To say, ‘You can’t get married, you can only have a civil union,’ is to imply, ‘There is something not quite good enough about you.’ And that simply has to stop. If the principle to which we adhere is full equality, then it means accepting nothing less than that!”


Marianne Williamson will serve as keynote speaker for the San Diego Pride Rally on Friday, July 15 from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. at Marston Point in Balboa Park. She will also host workshops in Los Angeles from Friday, July 1 through Sunday, July 3 based on her first book, A Return To Love. For lecture dates, background and to view the workshop event via live streaming, visit marianne.com.


Girls may want to have fun, but office boys need love too. Make no mistake, though. This energetic, openly-gay former-intern is now his own boss—imparting his wily Californian wit to every corner of national television, from Leno’s Late to Handler’s Lately. Stay tuned and hold on…Ross Mathews is coming to celebrate San Diego


Pride and he wants to meet YOU! Congratulations on your success—especially with Jenny Craig. Your results are astounding! Thank you! Isn’t that fun? I’m actually opening up my Jenny Craig breakfast right now and enjoying it. So, don’t mind me chewing my Jenny! Your blog website shows a very active person. How do you keep up the energy? I don’t know! I guess I do a lot, looking back on it, but I think of myself as so boring! The things that are important to me are my family, my garden, my dogs, my house, my work, my blog…I guess the alternative to doing all that stuff and having all that energy is just being humdrum, and that’s just not appealing to me. As a successful, well-adjusted openly gay personality, you’ve helped many people all over the world with your confidence. Was there a time when you needed precisely this kind of example? I remember growing up and not really having any openly gay people in the media to look up to. I remember specifically saying, “I wonder what it’s going to be like to be an adult for me. What does that look like?” Even as a youngster, I was like, “I want it all—a career, a family, but hello! Look at me. Listen to me. It’s not like I’m going to be able to hide this!” That has been one of the things that has driven me to do what I do. What drove you to become a communications major? I’ve always wanted to be on TV. I’ve loved it ever since I was little. My mom had sum- mers off and we would watch Regis and Kathie Lee together back in the day. My mom just looked so happy watching it and I said, ‘That’s what I wanna do! I want to talk to celebri- ties! I want to make people like my mom happy!’ If I weren’t doing this, I honestly have no clue what I’d be doing. What originally attracted you to become “Ross the Intern” on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno? I was in college, just slugging away, getting my degree. All of a sudden during senior


year, I was freaking out. I was like, “Crap! What kind of job am I going to get? It’s not like you can apply to be a talk show host!” I asked some friends what they were doing, and


it turns out that one of them had interned at The Tonight Show the previous summer because her dad knew someone who knew someone. So she gave me her contact’s number but was like, “DON’T tell anyone I gave you the number!” I cold-called this lady in human resources, she set up the interview and they hired me as an intern! That was just behind-the-scenes working for free—which, you know, sucked. But it was neat! Then, my very last day of internship, someone dropped out of covering the Ocean’s Eleven premiere. They said, “You know who’s funny? Ross! We should send him!” What can we expect during your special appearance at our festival? I’m so excited! It’s going to be a bunch of LOLs! If I can, I would like to meet every single


person there who wanted to meet me. If you see me and you know me, come and say hi! I can’t wait to have fun with everyone there! I’ll be wrangling all the talent they have planned for you guys—which is a great show. I’ll also be in a car waving at people in the parade. I’ll be there the whole weekend. My partner, Salvador, and I will definitely visit some of the bars. Tell me about some of the projects in the near future that you’re really excited about working on. Well I’m excited that it’s 10 years later and, additionally to being on-air, I’m still on Leno


contributing as a creative consultant. I’m on Chelsea Lately every week and I’m guest- hosting for her when she’s gone. I’m touring the country, I’m speaking at colleges, I’m a spokesperson for Jenny Craig and I’m writing a book! It’s a little early, but it’s really funny and it’s got a great message! It’s right in line with everything I do!”


Ross Mathews will make a special appearance at the Pride Parade on Saturday, July 16 and will emcee the festival’s entertainment lineup throughout the weekend. To read more about Ross and follow his blog, visit helloross.com.


JULY 2011 | RAGE monthly 39


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