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“Drop Dead Diva” tackles LGBT discrimination this week in “The Prom”

The story of Constance McMillen‘s courage to stand up and fight for the right to go to her high school prom with her girlfriend is one that is near and dear to writers and readers alike here at AfterEllen.com. Many of us have had to stand up to bullies in our lives, but not too many of us have had to be the David to the Goliath of an entire school administration and the towns we live in.

Constance’s bravery touched the lives of many people, including Josh Berman, the series creator and executive producer of one of my favorite surprises on television, Drop Dead Diva. After hearing Wanda Sykes talk about Constance’s story at the GLAAD awards last year, he told me, “I was incredibly moved by Constance’s courage and fortitude. I decided in that moment, that I had to write an episode inspired by her story.”

This week’s episode, “The Prom,” is inspired by Constance’s story and includes a stellar lineup of guest stars including Lance Bass, Sykes, Amanda Bearse, Clay Aiken and even a cameo from Constance herself. The episode’s director, out lesbian Jamie Babbit (But I’m a Cheerleader, Itty Bitty Titty Committee), said of the episode:

We definitely had the best cast for this, including our regular cast as well as the guest stars. That was definitely a tribute to Constance and people wanting to be a part of the episode to show support for her and everything she’s stood up for. So that was awesome to work with such a wonderful cast – my favorite being Wanda Sykes – who is hilarious and a pro and funny and just a cool person. That was a real pleasure for me. It was great to direct something about a personal hero of mine. I had known about the Constance McMillen case but I didn’t know all of the details and I obviously didn’t know Constance as a person so it was a real pleasure to be able to meet her.

I realize that not all of you watch Drop Dead Diva – half of you are probably crashing our site trying to read the Pretty Little Liars and Real L Word recaps while it’s airing. I’m fairly certain, though, after watching this episode, many of you will become true fans, not just because this episode is based on Constance’s story, but because it is light-hearted, fun, intelligent and the show’s lead, Jane Bingham (played to perfection by Brooke Elliott) is a character type that is so under-represented in mainstream media today.

For those of you new to the show, the plot revolves around Deb, a superficial and not-so-bright woman with modeling aspirations, who ends up dying in a car accident as she paints her nails while driving to an audition. She finds a way to get herself back down to earth but, when she wakes up, she finds herself in Jane’s body. The past two seasons she’s had to struggle with being trapped in someone else’s body (but, thankfully, with that person’s intellgence). To add insult to injury, she has to work side by side with her former fiance, Grayson, in the same law office and is unable to tell him who she really is. Deb’s best friend, Stacy, and her guardian angel, Fred, are the only two who know her secret (even if Stacy has no clue Fred is an angel).

OK, that pretty much gets you up to speed besides the fact that the fabulous Margaret Cho plays the role of Jane’s secretary. Berman says, “Margaret Cho is an amazing inspiration to me. She is brilliant and beautiful and speaks her mind. I love writing for her and feel lucky to have the opportunity on a weekly basis. And this season, she gets more to do than ever before. In particular, she has an amazing episode coming up where she goes head to head with Kathy Griffin and another where she rages against Patty Stanger (The Millionaire Matchmaker). This show can literally be too much fun!”

When I asked Berman why he thinks the show is so appealing (even to someone like me, who regularly watches Toddlers and Tiaras just to have something fun to be angry about) he said, “Drop Dead Diva is a feel-good show. It’s also about a woman who feels like an outsider for the first time in her life. I think all of us, for some reason or another, feel like an outsider at some point. Jane, played by the amazing Brooke Elliott, is a lovable hero who fights for the underdog and doesn’t let anything get her down. She’s relatable because I think there’s a bit of Jane in all of us.”

Director Babbit added:

A lot of women who live in the “fly over” states are all different shapes and sizes and I think they can really relate to Jane (played by Brooke). Josh Berman, being a gay man and creating the show, I think is intrinsically, going to create something that’s interesting to gay people. So I think it’s a nice mix because we’ve got Brooke, who is basically the poster child for these women who feel like they don’t see themselves reflected in media. She’s such a great role model because she’s a full-sized woman but she’s also really pretty and guys are always after her on the show and she’s got a lot of boyfriends on the show.

She deals with being heavy and feeling sort of “other” because she’s trapped in this body she wasn’t born with, but she’s come to kind of celebrate and recognize it. And I think the show does that too and that’s really empowering with women who are big. Brooke really is a great role model for them because she’s so sexy and smart and such a great dancer and singer. She’s really bold and full of life and vivacious. You just don’t see characters like her on TV, usually it’s the heavy fat friend that’s just kind of sad.

True to her character, Jane’s moral and work ethics come together when she takes action against a school system that won’t let two girls go to prom together. There are scare tactics used and a fair amount of bullying, but even when all seems to be lost, she won’t back down.

Babbit shared another interesting take on the impact of the show. “The nice thing about Drop Dead Diva is that very rarely do I work on a show that is really big with red state women. I think Lifetime in general is really big with red state viewers and Drop Dead Diva is really popular with them. So it’s great to have a storyline that’s all about tolerance and acceptance and is a show that these people actually watch. We can show the episode to all of our gay and lesbian friends, but it’s nice to get the message out to a different group of people.”

She added:

Actually, you know that’s also why it was great to have Clay Aiken on this episode because he is really popular with red state women. He said, “You know a lot of my Claymates are these conservative women who would definitely have a problem with their sons coming out – but since [I] came out, now all they still follow me to Outfest and the GLAAD awards and all these gay events that they never would have even known about before but because they’re there to support me.” At this panel at Outfest, it was a full house, which I was surprised about – and all of these women were there for Clay, and I’m sure a lot of them are these red state women.

So what’s so great about Clay coming out is that he’s educating his groupies. It’s awesome. And now that he’s appearing in “The Prom” episode, they’re going to watch because he’s in it and love it and get educated and then maybe they’ll think, “Wow, maybe I shouldn’t discriminate against that girl in our tiny little town who wants to go the prom.”

When I asked Constance what she hopes viewers will take away from watching this episode she told me, “I hope that they’re inspired and I hope they understand what people go through who are discriminated against and are put in these positions – how it makes them feel. And I hope that the people who have been and who are now and who will be discriminated against will decide to stand up for themselves. I hope they’re inspired to make a difference and make a change – not just take no for an answer. I just hope the story reaches a lot of people and helps them.”

Watch a preview of “The Prom” episode of Drop Dead Diva here:

Drop Dead Diva‘s “The Prom” airs this Sunday on Lifetime (9 p.m.). Check back later for our full interview with Constance McMillen, which I think will inspire you as much as it did me.

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