Whoopi Tackles Gay Marriage
Ever since NBC's Whoopi debuted, the sitcom has dropped winking references to "Don't Hide Love," Mavis Rae's one-hit wonder from her bygone pop star days. The snippets we've heard of the song are always catchy, but such a tease. We never get to hear the whole thing! Happily, Whoopi Goldberg performs it as Mavis — with accompaniment by the New York City Gay Men's Chorus — in tonight's episode at 8 pm/ET.
As Mavis Rae learns, "Don't Hide Love" has become a gay anthem over the years. So much so that her lesbian cousin wants Mavis Rae to sing it at her wedding in Mavis' hotel, which is simultaneously hosting a Republican shindig. Uh-oh! That's where issue-oriented comedy ensues...
"Gay marriage is something we've wanted to deal with for quite some time," says the Whoopster. "It's taken a little while to get the script just right for us. It's not an easy subject to deal with because everyone has an opinion. And so that's what the episode is — it's everybody's opinion about it!
"We don't say yea or nay," Goldberg adds. "We don't make any decisions for people. We just point a lot of stuff out and let folks deal with it on their own. Mostly, I just want people to listen before we make an edict on this as a country."
Whoopi's own take on same-sex unions is tolerant. "It's funny. There are cities in our country where gay folks can't adopt children because there's an idea that family means XYZ," she says. "But who can really say what a family is? The bigger picture to me is, if folks are adopting kids and giving them good homes, I don't see a problem."
Facing this controversial topic was actually less worrisome for Whoopi's star than singing on camera. "I had a frog in my throat," she says with a laugh. "I've had a nasty cold for awhile, and so I was not at my peak singing voice. So I was happy to be blending in with the Gay Men's Chorus. I adore what they do and I was happy to be in their presence."
