MP: The Foundation has a great website for LGBTQ and allied youth called Matthewsplace.com and I just wanted to ask you a few questions that I think you might be able to provide some advice and support for young folks who visit our website.

MC: Okay. Great.

MP: You're someone who is known for embracing exactly who she is and what makes her different. Has it always been that way? And if not what lead you to the process of self-acceptance?

MC: I grew up in San Francisco on Polk Street, which then in the 70's, was very much the epitome of gay chique. There was a lot of art and music and just great stuff happening, like drag queens and everything. So, being queer was something that I was always around. But what happened in the 80's was that all the men died of AIDS. That was a particularly depressing time because so many people passed away and it was a very desperate and lonely time, so I think a lot of people felt that we were somehow, unreceived. Not only by the disease but also by the public image of the disease. It really gave homophobia a real shot in the arm and changed the way people viewed gays, queers. It became an entirely different atmosphere. So I think I started out okay but with AIDS came a great deal of silence about gayness and this period of lose and morning, but at the same time a kind of feeling like you wanted to get back into the closet because being gay was such a terrible thing at that point. It was so hard. Later, as I got older and went into show business I was encouraged by people I was working with to really never talk about queer stuff, to really keep all of that inside. I have talked to some people like my first manager who worked for a big firm, and he was really, ah, he knew that I was gay but he was very much about me hiding (it). He said, "It's okay for you to have relationships, but it's not okay to talk about them. It's not okay to be out or to be public about it. It's not okay to be photographed with your partner." That kind of stuff was pretty prevalent for me in the early 90's because they were trying to groom me to be, at that point, probably was, would have, and was Milley Cyrus. That they had this sort of vision for me, being this young girl television star and so the emphasis was on me being very closeted. And I'm not, um, I don't actually identify as lesbian, I identify as queer because to me its really… its my own kind of version of it. I'm very San Francisco.

MP: Right. So, where did that shift occur where you decided that "I am gonna talk about and I am gonna be exactly who I am?"

MC: I think probably in 1999, like ten years ago now, where I felt that I had gotten sober and I had gotten free of doing television in the way that I was doing it. I really (became) very independent. I was start(ed) to write one-woman shows and mak(e) films and to me I think I really felt like my choice (was) more important than any kind of career goal. Its funny because when I did feel like I came out and I just felt like I was being truthful to myself, (it was at) that point I became very successful. So you know, it took a true kind of facing that truth of myself and being honest, that was when the real kind of fame or whatever that kind of stuff happened for me.

MP: We have spent a lot of time talking about and thinking about what has happened over the last ten years since Matthew was murdered she (Judy Shepard) talks about there being a lot of change but not a lot of progress you know and that the people whose voices are the loudest don't necessarily have the largest group of people behind them, I wonder if what happened in California with Prop 8 and-and the anti adoption amendment in Arkansas, do you really think that that is the voice of the majority or do you think that it's the people that might have the most money and the loudest voice trying to make people think that that is the majority voice?

MC: I feel like that is true. That it is not the people who really feel that way, but it is people who have the most money to fire up these propaganda campaigns, these like, basically these lies that they are willing to lie to the public in order to manipulate them into doing what they want. And to me it doesn't make any sense. If you really care about children then why would you want to keep families from adopting them? I don't understand the whole Christian conservativism doesn't make sense to me because I was raised very Christian and its kind of an odd thing but my parents, my family is also very conservative in their own way but I understand the bible and I studied Christianity very well and I don't see where the hatred of gays comes from because it really defeats Christ's purpose. Christ's purpose was to really show how everyone can be loved and how everyone should be loved and accepted. And so it goes against the principles of the church to feed into these lies. I don't really get what they are trying to do.

MP: I spend a lot of time traveling to high schools and talking to high school kids and I get so irritated when a young person comes up to me and you can see it in their eyes that they are terrified that you are going to find out their secret or that someone else is going to find out their secret and I wonder what you would say to a young person who might feel like there is no one else in the world like them. Like someone sitting in rural Iowa which is in essence who we built Matthew's Place for, those that don't have access to those resources?

MC: Right! Well those kids need to know that they are not alone and just a couple of clicks on the Internet and they would know that they are not alone. That there is a huge community out there willing to support you and love you and get you to a place where you feel that you can be yourself. That is why so many people in those isolated rural areas leave because, you know, you feel bad and you feel alone, just go to Chelsea or go to San Francisco and see, at least for a vacation, and see, how many people are just like you. Really, I think that reaching out to kids that feel really isolated is a life saving gesture that we have a responsibility as older queers to do.

MP: When you think about those people who's voices are strong in the fight for equality, sometimes we forget about those straight allies; those people who are fighting the fight because they believe it is not okay to marginalize someone for what makes them different. What roll do you think that segment of our community plays in the fight that we are fighting right now?

MC: I think it's a huge, I think it's a huge roll. I mean people like Sean Penn, he is someone that is politically progressive and yet is still at the top of his game in the industry. So I love that he is out there just virtually shaming all the people that voted for Prop 8. He was a really great example of a straight ally, someone who used his talent and used his ability to further our cause, not just for political progressiveness but also specifically for gay marriage and specifically for Harvey Milk's entire life. There is a big place, in terms of straight allies especially within, the entertainment industry, a place for them because people listen to what they say and in a sense (popular) culture is dictated by these people so that is very important.

MP: When I ask high school students why they don't stick up for students that are being picked on the number one response is that "I don't want people to think that I am like them". So what would you say to someone who says that?

MC. Well then again, you need to look towards all of the examples in history where that happened. You know and people talk about not defending the Jews in Nazi Germany and that is sort of the same thing. That culture of fear permeates and (people) need to look at the examples of looking further out and looking at our past and looking at when we did not protect each other and that is when the greatest tragedies in humanity happen because we are not willing to stand up for ourselves.

MP: Watching the Oscars last night and hearing Dustin Lance Black give his acceptance speech which was quite moving and I talk about or hear from young people in the queer community that there is never really a focus on history and the people who have made it possible for us to have the lives that we have today. So why do you think it is important to hear the stories of those who pioneered this fight for equality?

MC: Well, it is important to tell these stories because they're our history and they are what will inspire us to keep going. It is inspiring to me because I was alive during that Harvey Milk time and I saw all of that happen right in front of me. And it was an incredible experience, and so to have that example, that living example, that whole memory, that whole living memory was really incredible. And I think to share that with younger generations, it is powerful to see how far we have come, to see how far society has come; it's really amazing.

MP: I think about the young people that we come in contact with and I guess I wanna talk about you finding a support system and how you knew it was safe to step out on that limb and how you knew to trust someone and share with them who you truly are.

MC: I was lucky. I always had really great friends in my personal life, people always just knew who I was. It wasn't until I was in show business where that sort of changed or shifted at first. I have always had a great support network. I have had a lot of really wonderful, close friends. I think when you are queer, your friends should really are your family in a lot of ways because a lot of time families are not as accepting of you but my friends always have been. So that was a really great thing.

MP: I know your time is precious, so I just want to say from our end that we are so appreciative of how you are as an ally in this fight for equality, and we just want to thank you for all the work that you do. And to thank you for taking time out of your busy day to chat with us.