Happy 55th Birthday to Geri Jewell!

Geri Jewell, first known for her role as Blair’s cousin on The Facts of Life then later as a regular on HBO’s Deadwood, is celebrating her 55th birthday today.

It is her first birthday as an openly gay person and I hope it is one for the ages.

Geri’s stardom was a real breakthrough because she has cerebral palsy. She is turning 55 and has been through a lot of ups and downs and done much soul searching to get where she is today.

“It’s such a wonderful plateau to come to in life,” she said this summer during a TV Academy LGBT panel. To have the courage to be who you are no matter what.”

Last March, I did an interview with Geri to publicize her first performance at an LGBT event since coming out the month before. She was nervous about how she would be received.

“This is all new territory for me,” she said then. “I’ve never been out in such a big way. Truthfully, I had so much growing to do myself before I could be at this place. I know I’m going to get criticism, I’m prepared for it. I think when you come into the world with something like Cerebral Palsy and live with that from the time you were born, nothing you can change or hide. You have to cope and deal with it.  I think because I had that psychology of being different coming into the world with this difference and having to cope with so much prejudice and discrimination and isolation, it actually gave me a greater tool to deal with any kind of opposition that I am going to get for being gay.”

I’ve seen Geri at several events since our interview and she has been so warmly received within the LGBT community and grown in confidence with each appearance. She has a very interesting and moving story to tell and I’m so glad she has decided to share it with the world.

Happy birthday to a very special woman.

Here is a LINK to my four-part interview with Geri!