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Actresses Pam Grier, Marlee Matlin, Cybill Shepherd & ‘The L Word’ Creator Ilene Chaiken Honored
WASHINGTON, DC – Showtime Network’s hit series The L Word will be honored by Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) at the organization’s 15th annual national dinner on March 24 in Washington, D.C. Series creator Ilene Chaiken and stars Pam Grier, Marlee Matlin and Cybill Shepherd will accept the group’s Randy Shilts Visibility Award on the show’s behalf. The award, given each year, recognizes accomplishments in bringing the plight of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender service personnel to the public’s attention. The L Word is receiving the award for an upcoming storyline that includes an openly lesbian service member.
“We are enormously proud to honor The L Word for its groundbreaking, and educational, storyline about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’” said dinner co-chair CAPT Joan E. Darrah, USN (Ret.). “This season, The L Word will bring an honest, powerful portrayal of LGBT service members into millions of homes. By doing so, they will also shed light on the outstanding contributions gays in the military are making and highlight the challenges of living under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ We look forward to following their storyline, and to welcoming Ilene, Pam, Marlee and Cybill to Washington.”
Past recipients of the Visibility Award, named for award-winning author Randy Shilts, have included Detroit News columnist Deb Price and Calpernia Addams, the girlfriend of PFC Barry Winchell when he was murdered at Fort Campbell, Ky., in 1999.
SLDN’s national dinner will also feature SLDN client and former Army Sergeant Bleu Copas, an Arabic linguist stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., when he was ‘outed’ by a series of emails sent to his command. One of more than 55 Arabic linguists dismissed under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Copas has recently appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, Good Morning America and in The New York Times and Associated Press. Copas was listed on Out magazine’s 2006 ‘Out 100’ and was named as a ‘Leading Man of 2006’ by Instinct magazine.
The 15th annual national dinner and silent auction will be held at the National Building Museum in Washington and kicks off SLDN’s 5th annual lobby days. Award-winning blogger Pam Spaulding will be providing live blog coverage of the March 24 dinner online. More information, and event tickets, are available online at www.sldn.org.
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