P: Exactly!

C: It's about creating what you perceive as a positive image. And I think being a bad ass is the best positive image.

Both say television has had a major effect on the way much of straight America sees gays and lesbians. "I was recently walking in Times Square," recalls Paige. "This cop came up to me and said [in a New Yawk accent], 'Excuse me, sir? Could I take a picture with you? My girlfriend is a really big fan of your show.' So he put his arm around me, this cop in the middle of Times Square with this big out homo! I would have been afraid of him 10 years ago."

"You're bringing together different groups of people," points out Cho, who had a similar experience at the showing of I'm the One That I Want in San Francisco. "My parents were there, and then my fan club - a bunch of leather daddies who call themselves the Ass Master Fan Club - were sitting next to them. They were looking at my parents and laughing, and my parents were looking at them, laughing. And they would nod at each other. I felt really great about that. There was this incredible opportunity for me to be a bridge of understanding between leather queens and old Korean people. That's what's wonderful about what we're doing."

But Paige is quick to stress that the battle for acceptance is far from over. "I do think people's attitudes are changing - I can't say that they've changed. There are a lot of minds that have yet to be opened. But there's certainly a sense of change in motion."

One of the things that sets change in motion is when celebrities come out of the closet. "If a the single most important political act a gay person can engage in," says Paige. "I have said it before, I will say it again: It is what creates change."
Last year Cho appeared on the cover of Rosie O'Donnell's magazine, Rosie, long before O'Donnell came out publicly. "I haven't talked to her since the whole thing happened, but I think it's great," says Cho. "I'm really happy that she's like, 'Fuck it - I'm a big dyke!' I always thought she was so amazing. She has the kind of audience where I don' think a lot of them knew."

"That's interesting because we all certainly knew," notes Paige, who says no one in his circle of friends was surprised by the announcement. "I try really hard to