On the Red Carpet :: GLSEN Honors The Women of "The Talk"

Leah Remini and Sara Gilbert at 

Sunday GLESN event

By Jim Halterman -

This past weekend the warm weather in Southern California sent droves of people to the beaches of Malibu to start their summer tans. However, just up the hill from the Pacific Ocean in Malibu, GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, was busy honoring the Women of the CBS daytime show The Talk for their commitment to spreading the word on making schools safe for kids.

The event brought out celebrities who not only wanted to share in honoring the chat fest, but also to talk about why this is an issue that should be on everyone’s minds, whether they have children or not.

EDGE’s Jim Halterman was on the red carpet for the event and chatted with several of the attendees, including celeb supporters Louis Van Amstel, Candis Cayne, Geri Ryan honorees from The Talk, co-hosts Sara Gilbert and Leah Remini.

Louis Van Amstel

Louis Van Amstel is not only a stand-out performer on the ABC hit reality dance competition series, Dancing With The Stars, where he’s currently paired up with Kendra Wilkinson, but he’s also out and proud and talks about the importance of kids and his own history with bullying. He also talks about how he thinks Kendra is going to do in this week’s competition on the high-rated DWTS.

Candis Cayne

Candis Cayne knows a thing or two about feeling different, and having people not always be supportive of your life choices. The transgendered actress has made a name for herself in her profession, but also for making sure people know there are kids who are transgender, and that they deserve to grow up in safe schools too.

Geri Ryan

You may know actress Geri Ryan from her current gig on the ABC drama Body of Proof, with Desperate Housewives alum Dana Delaney, but Ryan is also an advocate for kids; making sure that people know that schools should be safe places for children everywhere.

Leah Remini

Leah Remini is best known as the outspoken wife on the long-running sitcom The King of Queens. But since taking on the role of co-host of "The Talk" she’s found a platform to discuss a lot of issues, including bullying and gay rights. Remini talks about GLSEN, as well as the differences in acting on a sitcom and presenting yourself on a talk show five days a week.

Sara Gilbert

Actress Sara Gilbert has been in the public eye since she played one of Roseanne’s daughters, on the classic sitcom Roseanne. Since then, she has grown up and made a solid career for herself on series like The Big Bang Theory. She made headlines last year when she came out publicly as a lesbian. Here she talks about the importance of GLSEN, as well as how she’s handled being in the public eye since coming out.

Jim Halterman lives in Los Angeles and also covers the TV/Film/Theater scene for www.FutonCritic.com, AfterEllen, Vulture, CBS Watch magazine and, of course, www.jimhalterman.com. He is also a regular Tweeter and has a group site on Facebook.