[To listen to this interview online via Windows Media Player, visit the Issues Over the Rainbow archives and click on April 4, 2004]

MarkyG began by saying how eloquent and sophisticated he thinks Sharon is in real life; Debbie, on the other hand, is anything but. Sharon laughed, and agreed... she thinks a more appropriate description might be "outrageous." She says she loves her part so much, that it's the most fun part she's ever done, and that she went after it. She was in Chicago doing a play, and a friend snuck her the script. She hadn't seen the British version, didn't know anything about it, but a few minutes later she called someone she knew at Showtime and asked if anyone had been cast, and said, "What do I have to do to get the part?" When they heard Sharon was interested, they thought it was a great idea, because she would bring some 'class' to the show. "Class is not what I had in mind," Sharon joked. The red wig, naughty t-shirts and buttons were all her idea; she 'reasearched' the part by going to an old diner in Miami and watching the waitresses serve brunch. She left, and went and bought all the trimmings for Debbie. She originally wanted to change the wig every day... she brought 17 wigs with her to Toronto... but they pulled the plug on that idea, because they felt she would be unrecognizable. She said "as soon as I open my mouth they'll know who I am!" LOL. They finally went with one wig, and Deb was born.

Sharon reiterated a lot of what we've heard before, that when she first heard about the show, she smelled trouble, and she loves trouble. "I wanted to be a part of it. It was shocking." She definitely wanted in once they told her that they really WERE going to shoot everything in the script. She says that her role on the show has been mainly as a mother figure to the boys, and that she hasn't had as much to do with the women... until now, with Michael as the father of the new baby. "Now I'm going to be a grandma." She thinks they may rue the day she became the grandmother! MarkyG talked about how Debbie tends to be the voice of reason, and that when the police chief was running for mayor, she was right out there... Sharon said she did her Norma Rae act.... "Deb was doing a homophobic cop, and that ended the relationship," she added. MarkyG asked if there is a message that is broader than that? That when people wake up, solidify their feelings, get out and vote, thigns change? She says she does believe that, that one person can make a difference. "We all have to speak up, we can change the world, we can, and we will! With the help of Motorola." (nice little plug for the sponsor). It's first time in the history of cable television that they've had one single sponsor... "and they gave us cell phones," she added.

MarkyG pointed out that Sharon is not a stranger to the lesbian world... that she had a huge following with Cagney & Lacey. She said that the gay communitey is extrodinarily responsible for her career, because those have been the two biggest and most groundbreaking shows for her. QAF has set the tone and allowed other shows to come forward, she said. Sharon is upset that QAF hasn't garnered the critical success it deserved... she says even Russell T. Davies, who created the British version, says some parts in the North American version were better. Why is it so? Sharon thinks the Academy looks at QAF and says, "Oh it's that show that shoots up in Toronto with the boys taking it up the ass." MarkyG added that QAF "set nitroglycerin to the idea of keeping us in the coset." Blew it right out of the water. Sharon says that the "kids" are some of the best actors she's ever worked with. When the show was first on, she called Tyne Daly and said "have you seen my show?" and told Tyne she couldn't remember them being that good at that age. "I learn from them."

For the last 5 or 10 minutes of the show, MarkyG addressed his gay listeners regarding comments from within the community about the "out" gay show like Queer As Folk or Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and how they affect gays as a community. He often hears that shows like that promote negative stereotypes, and portray gay men as drug users, sex addicts, or raging queens. He says there is some truth in what is said, and that the people who are complaining must face facts and accept the truth. "We are, in some part, like that," he says. Seeing it on TV puts a certain reality on it that some people might not want to accept... that some gays are indeed "swishy" or highly sexual. Good or bad, if it wasn't for them, people wouldn't even know that there were gay people," says MarkyG. "Some of you who are complaiing aren't even telling people you're gay." He goes on to say that in every culture, there are stereotypes, and usually there are groups working to alter those sterotypes. He is encouraging more gays to come out of the closet, not because it's anyone's business, but because it is no longer something to be ashamed of. Hey, I'm gay, get over it. It's the variety that makes us so great. Those who leave the sacred closet are the people who will help alter perceptions and break stereotypes... "the renaissance that is underway in the culture is astounding." Let us stop denying it... if you want to show the other side of being gay, then come out and show it.