Out Magazine

IT'S A LOVEFEST BEFORE Margaret Cho and Peter Paige even walk in the door. "I am a huge fan!" Paige gushes as he greets Cho in the parking lot of SmashBox Studios on a warm Saturday morning in Culver City, California. His rental car has peeled in with Cho's sleek PT Cruiser literally on his heels. "I love your show!" Cho gushes back. Their concurrent arrival is all the more surprising as they're both 10 minutes early - giving a whole new meaning to being ahead of their time.

But that's exactly what both of these performers are. Cho, a comic, actor, and writer, has been incorporating her bisexuality into her act for years, including her stage show, film, and book I'm the One That I Want. Paige, best known for playing the flamboyant Emmett on Showtime's Queer as Folk, is one of the few high-profile openly gay actors currently working in Hollywood.

Before we can even ask a question, the two are excitedly chatting about each other's work.

Paige: Last year, Scott [Lowell, who plays Ted on Queer as Folk] and I, during kind of a dark period, wanted to go see something funny, so we went and saw I'm the One That I Want and we howled. It was really fantastic.

Cho: Actually, in my shows I talk about how wonderful it is that we have Queer as Folk because there is this sudden reflection of what the gay community is on television. It's so much better because when we were growing up, all we had was Wayland Flowers and Madame.

P: I vividly remember about 10 years ago calling up my best friend and saying, "Oh, my God - turn Ricki Lake on. She's got gay people on!" It was some hopped-up club kid who was like, "I'm gay, mmm-kay? And that's the way it is!" Even though he was a total mess, desperate for attention with sequins on his