By Matt Kane, Director of Entertainment Media at GLAAD |
GLAAD: Congratulations on your Fusion Achievement Award from Outfest! What does winning this award and the festival itself mean to you?
Alec Mapa: Gosh, I’ve been flying under the radar so many years. Winning a career achievement award means my efforts haven’t gone entirely unnoticed. It’s humbling because the festival has acknowledged that my work as an out gay artist has been of value to our community and it’s weird because honestly, I didn’t think anyone was paying attention. I thought I was just a gay guy telling fart jokes who sometimes was on TV, but apparently there’s more to me than that.
GLAAD: In addition to being honored by the festival, your performance film Alec Mapa: Baby Daddy will have its world premiere that same night, Saturday March 15. What topics can audience expect to watch you tackle in the new film?
AP: Baby Daddy is all about how my husband and I became parents through the foster adopt system. It starts out as a very rowdy, very blue comedy special and then morphs into a more theatrical, intimate storytelling event. I cover the sensitive topic of aging in the gay community, the crime of twenty-something gays not knowing who Bette Davis is, the experience of hosting the gay porn awards for Showtime, the effect parenthood has had on our sex life, and how adopting a five-year-old boy turned our lives upside down. I wrote the show to be enjoyable and moving regardless of whether or not you liked kids. You can absolutely hate children and still have a good time.