Chad Allen :: private dick gets award
An age-old Hollywood rule states that if an actor comes out publicly as gay, his career is over. Chad Allen not only broke that rule, he smashed it to pieces. His acting career has thrived since he came out, in roles both gay and straight, and some of his best opportunities came along specifically because he’s gay.
Allen will be honored for his groundbreaking work at the 20th Annual GLAAD Media Awards on Saturday night, May 9, at the Hilton San Francisco. The event will be hosted by comedian Chelsea Handler of E! TV’s Chelsea Lately. Oscar-winning Milk screenwriter Dustin Lance Black will receive a Special Honor, and Mayor Gavin Newsom will present a Local Hero Award to San Francisco filmmakers George Callan and Mike Shaw for their film The Pursuit of Equality.
Special guests include finance guru Suze Orman, Sex and the City hunk Jason Lewis, Queer as Folk’s Robert Gant, Milk producer Dan Jinks, Calpernia Addams, Megan Cavanagh, Gabrielle Christian, Michelle Clunie, Laverne Cox, Wilson Cruz, Mandy Musgrave, Simon Rex, Eduardo Xol and TV’s Judge David Young. Musical performances will include violinist Nadja Salerno Sonnenberg with the New Century Chamber Orchestra, and out gay singer Matt Alber.
Outed at 21
Allen has been in the public eye since he was five years old, starring on TV’s St. Elsewhere and then on the hit series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. He admits that being splashed across teen magazines and idolized by teenage girls was a bizarre experience as he was first coming to terms with being gay.
At the height of his popularity, the 21-year-old actor was photographed kissing a young man at a pool party. The young man and his friends sold the photos to a tabloid, and Allen found himself splashed across The Globe. "It was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life to be that age, on a top 10 show, never wanting to do anything but act, with people telling me that if I came out, that dream would have to die.
"I remember sitting down with the show’s producers, network executives, managers, agents and publicity people, all talking about my sexuality and what did I want to do. Should I come out and be on the cover of the Advocate, or should they get me a girlfriend and build a story around it? It was overwhelming and terrifying for me as a 21-year-old kid."
He ultimately decided to do nothing, but began receiving letters from closeted young men across the country who’d been harboring secret crushes, saying, "I heard a rumor that you might be gay and I think I might be gay, too, and I don’t know if I can live this way, and it would be so amazing if you were gay, too." The letters really worked on Allen, who made the conscious decision to come out (in the Advocate) regardless of the impact it might have on his career. "It was the best decision I ever made."
For a long time, Allen paid a price for his honesty; CBS refused to consider him for any television role. "It was a very fear-filled time in entertainment for gay and lesbian people. But over the past decade, largely because of organizations like GLAAD, who’ve been out there making sure that representations of us are fair and positive, we’ve watched it change. Now I see actors come out and it’s just a fact of their lives. I think, ’Job well done for all of us.’"
