Jennifer Beals has expanded on Mitt
Romney's infamous “binders full of women” comment to include the
LGBT community.
The 48-year-old Beals on Saturday
received the Human Rights Campaign's (HRC) Ally for Equality Award at
the group's annual Chicago auction and dinner gala, titled Make
Equality Count.
Alex Newell, who plays transgender teen
Wade “Unique” Adams on the fox musical-comedy Glee, kicked
off the event with a performance.
Beals, a Chicago native, was introduced
by Kathy Guzman, senior editor of Chicago gay site The L Stop.
“Homophobia,” Beals told the crowd,
“is a form of misogyny.”
“And I for one will be damned if
someone thinks it is somehow elevating to be confined to a binder,”
she said to a round of enthusiastic applause.
Beals has appeared in more than 50
films but gay fans perhaps relate best to her groundbreaking role in
the Showtime lesbian drama The L Word.
“The L is not separate from the G or
the B or the T,” she said, a reference to the hit show. “I want
to thank you all for being my teachers. I want to thank you all for
being my ally.”
“I long for the day when the ally
award will be obsolete because we will be allies together,” she
added. (The video is embedded on this page. Visit
our video library for more videos.)