Just out., August 17, 2001, Page 27, Image 27

jguat 17.2001 Z.
J Graigory
“I am the hub of the bicycle tire that all the
spokes go through, but 1 have no power,” he says
Continued, from Page 24
in describing his position. “I don’t make the
decisions; 1 just get the decisions accomplished.”
Graigory had a different idea. He said blunt­
Another unexpected aspect of Graigory’s
ly, “Can I have a job?”
dichotomous life: This out-and-proud queer is
If you want to work in this industry, Asner
the son of a right-wing state legislator, Rep.
replied, you have to ask. So he told
Donna G. Nelson, R-McMinnville.
Graigory to hand over his head shot
Even more shocking was her reac­
and resume.
tion nine years ago when her son
This led to an internship on
told her he was gay: “So what?”
the John Ritter-Markie Post sit­
Graigory says that his mom
com Hearts Afire. Graigory went
might be politically conservative
on to earn a bachelors degree in
but that she always has been
television production from Loyola
emotionally supportive. She
Marymount University in 1995
proved her love soon after he
and soon was working on the set of
/ came out to her—by joining him
Tom Selleck’s short-lived series The
for Gay Pride in West Hollywood.
Closer.
“She has a resemblance to
State Rep. Donna
Today, he considers Asner a
Elizabeth Taylor, so every gay
G. Nelson,
career mentor. “Every year I go
person driving down Santa Mon­
Graigory’s mother
and talk to him and ask, ‘Why am
ica Boulevard decided to honk
I where I am, and why am I not where I want
and scream, and she caused a traffic jam,” he
to be?’ ”
says. “So I guess for a first impression she made
Graigory now works as production coordina­
a good one.”
tor on The Drew Carey Show. He proudly calls
One would think Graigory, who often works
himself the sitcom’s highest-ranking openly gay
up to 14 hours a day on Drew Carey, would
staff member.
have little leftover energy for charity work.
* Dick Parsons,
AOL Time Warner
§ co-chief operating
§ officer, presents the
* Andrew Heiskell
* Community
^ Service Award to
Graigory on
June 22 in New
York City
Somehow, though, he finds the time.
For the past two years he has volunteered in
trials for AIDSVax, an experimental vaccine
slated for Food and Drug Administration review.
In 2000 he parachuted from an airplane to raise
$5,000 for AIDS research.
Graigory’s next goal is his loftiest: He plans
to raise $100,000 for the National AIDS
Marathon, which will be held Dec. 9 in Hon­
olulu. His confidence is infectious.
"It’s just 4,000 people donating $26.20 each,”
he says. “That’s a dollar a mile.”
Graigory already has raised $20,000 in just
one month. So what motivates him to be such a
dedicated activist in the fight against AIDS?
“I just don’t want it...and 1 don’t want any­
one else to get it,” he says. “I’ve seen people die;
I’ve seen people suffer.”
Graigory also is a tireless advocate on behalf
of rights for the handicapped and has volun­
teered with the Greater Los Angeles Zoo Asso­
ciation, Autry Museum of Western Heritage and
Metropolitan Community Church of Los Ange­
les. To honor him for his charity work, AOL
Time Warner flew him to New York in June to
present him with the Andrew Heiskell Commu­
nity Service Award, the highest honor the cor­
poration gives to its employees.
Drew Carey himself has high
praise for his esteemed colleague:
“It’s an honor to have someone
like J Graigory working with us.
If only the rest of us followed his
example of biking, running and
walking for various charities—
just think how thin we’d all be.”
And Graigory’s passion doesn’t
end there. His experiences at
McMinnville High School com­
pelled him to become a vocal
advocate for queer youth.
“I was odd,” he says of his
teen years. “I just exploited my
uniqueness. I stopped trying to
be normal and fit in like every­
body else, and I expanded upon
the right to be completely
unusual. I used to wear two dif­
ferent color shoes to school. I’d
walk down the hallway and start
singing an aria just out of the
blue.”
Graigory still keeps in touch
with his high school librarian.
Whenever he finishes reading
anything, especially gay books
and magazines, he sends them to
her in hopes that today’s queer
students won’t feel so alone.
“When I went to school in
McMinnville, I swore I could take a pledge that I
was the only gay person in the entire world,” he
says. (As it turns out, he learned at his 10-year
reunion that he was one of five out students from
the Class o f ’89.)
This year Graigory submitted testimony in
support of legislation to protect queer students
statewide, but it never made it out of committee
in Salem. He also writes letters to the editor and
educates friends whenever the Oregon Citizens
Alliance targets kids.
“You can get rid of every single thing that is
homosexual in the world,” he says, referring to
the censorship that would result if Measure 9
passed. “You cannot turn off someone’s heart.”
Graigory, who is single, still makes it back to
Oregon a few times a year. However, California
seems to be rubbing off on him already.
“I’ve decided I don’t think I’m going hack
during the winters anymore,” he says. “They’re
cold up there.” J D
T o make a tax-deductible donation to the NATIONAL
AIDS MARATHON write to J G raigo ry in care of
The Drew Carey Show, 4000 Warner Blvd . ,
Burbank, CA 91522, or visit the Internet site
128.121.81.12/sponsorla.htm and enter “J Graigory
0745.” His e-mail address is jgraigory@aol.com.
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