On May 1st at 2p EST, several cast and crewmembers from Queer As Folk will reunite on YouTube for a live fundraiser benefiting CenterLink: The Community of LGBTQ+ Centers. Not only will they be asking for donations, but they will also be doing an auction of items from the series which includes a jacket that was worn by Gale Harold. Who doesn’t want something that touched Harold’s skin?
Since I mentioned Harold’s name, I will tell you which actors will be joining in on the livestream. Michelle Clunie, Robert Gant, Sharon Gless, Randy Harrison, Scott Lowell, Peter Paige, and Hal Sparks will all be there to spill the tea on the Showtime series that made them all household names. Not only will the main cast be there, so will several guest stars, including Harris Allen (who is all grown up), Dean Armstrong, Fabrizio Filippo, Peter MacNeill, Sherry Miller, Stephanie Moore, Rosie O’Donnell, and Jack Wetherall.
We know all of their faces, but what about the names, like CowLip, we see in the credits. Of course, the groundbreaking executive producers Ron Cowen and Dan Lipman will be talking about their baby. As will writers Brad Fraser, Michael MacLennanm and Del Shores, and directors Alex Chapple, Kelly Makin, Russell Mulcahy, and Jeremy Podeswa.
There is something for every fan of the show. They will be sharing a lot of their favorite memories from the drama that ran from 2000-2005. Scott Lowell, who is organizing the event, told me about his favorite memory, which is more of a feeling. “Just that nature of family, and the laughing, the fun we had, and just that feeling of being part of something very, very special.
“I miss the cast, the crew, everybody all the time. We think of each other all the time. The fact that this is 20 years later, I could reach out on Facebook, put a group together and have so many people sending in pictures, photographs, and the reconnection whenever we see each other’s names.
“Just that feeling of your heart swelling from every cast member to every crew member. It’s a very unique thing in the entertainment industry to have an experience like that. And that’s my favorite memories. Just that feeling of being around my family for those five years.”
Tomorrow, he will be able to add more to that memory as he gets together with some old friends for the first time in a long time. From now on, May 1st will mean to him, “So Mayday will always be a happy day for me from now on because it’ll remind me of how connected our family of Queer is and what a great group of people they are.” We, the fans, can say the same because seeing them all together again is like a dream come true.
I just can’t believe it has been 20 years. I still remember the first time I was switching channels, and I saw Brian Kinney having sex with some random guy. Instantly, I was hooked. As Harold said, just like men like to watch two women going at it, women like to watch two men doing it.” I was turned on and never turned it off after that.
Of course, it was not all about the sex. It is also about the meaningful storylines they did that helped to break down some of the barriers the LGBTQ+ community was facing at the turn of the century. We have come a long way since QAF aired, and hopefully, we can go even further. QAF really made a difference in furthering gay rights.
It is not all about my perspective. We will leave up them to tell us all about their time on Queer As Folk tomorrow.
To read the full interview with Scott Lowell, you can read it on TVTango.com.