Del Shores

Putting a face on a gay is important. We are just people.

I'm a gay man and a proud gay man and a loud gay man.

Queer as Folk' is gay gay gay gay gay.

So many kids are still sitting in pews being told they are not worthy of God's love. 'Sissies' will show them they are not alone, and I hope that healing will follow.

I love my play 'The Trials and Tribulations Of A Trailer Trash Housewife' because I get these letters from all of these women who literally have left their spouses who were abusing them. You know, I'm just breaking up marriages right and left. But, that need to be broken up.

Not a day goes by where someone doesn't write me asking me for more 'Sordid Lives.'

In late 1999, I was walking down Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks with my late producing partner Sharyn Lane after a day of editing 'Sordid Lives.' We passed the Psychic Book Store and decided to go in and get a reading. We weren't believers, but what the hell? We needed a sign.

I started writing 'Southern Baptist Sissies' right after I had written the screenplay for 'Sordid Lives', so that's when I started on a darker path in telling the truth about my journey in the church, but there was still a lot of funny.

Through the years, I have been overwhelmed by the number of people who have shared how much they relate to my 'Sordid Lives' family, and how many gay men and women used it to come out to their conservative families through the humor of the film.

As a kid, I was always inspired by the comedy of Carol Burnett. I loved Dick Clair and Jenna McMahon's 'Mama's Family'.

I tell stories, and I do it through writing, through acting, through my stand-up, and through directing. All the hats I wear - producing as well - ultimately, I am a storyteller.

With my work, I always want to people to just forget about anything stressful going on in their lives and be fully entertained. Laughter is key. If they shed a tear or go home thinking about the play, that's a bonus.