Joy Behar's new show on the HLN network was nominated for a GLAAD Media Award, and Behar would "rather have it than [Emmy]." Seriously. In one of the comedian's markedly abundant moments of sincerity, she confirmed her claim by noting that the GLAAD award seemed to privilege the "heartfelt" and deep-rooted appreciation for entertainers and media makers catering to and being open supporters of the LGBTQ and other communities grossly underrepresented by much of mainstream media. This is indeed a far cry from the now-cliché "favorit[ism]" of many other awards and ceremonies entrenched in American popular culture.

Joy Behar is incredibly popular; yet, she consistently roots for the "underdog" -- or, persons in the "minority" who are often silently subject to "majority" opinions and restrictions. Hers is a powerful allied voice for a number of marginalized communities; she supports LGBTQ-identified persons especially.

Even with the remarkable reach and impact of her voice in media and culture, Joy Behar appreciates the dialogue and discussion elicited by persons of divergent opinions sitting together in the same room. This has been her experience on the Emmy-winning talk show The View, and it is an experience she values greatly, particularly because there isn't "any pretense on the panel": each voice on The View, including Ms. Behar's, knows its own tones and timbre. Each voice appreciates the musical and productive conversation made possible by the collection of diverse sounded opinions, and each voice knows when silent, engaged listening is best for the development of an idea or for the voice's understanding.

It is the exchange of knowing herself, listening to others, and voicing her concerns -- as they are filtered through her personal experiences and careful reading of others' particularities -- that combine to make Joy Behar such an engaging and resounding presence. We, as humans, have our personal histories/pasts, our ears, and our words. They are tools which become very powerful when used in combination to promote productive discussion in constructive spaces. Clearly, when Behar speaks, others listen.

Joy: Hello?

LN: Hi is this Mrs. Behar?

Joy: Yes this is Joy.

LN: Hi this is Lauren with the Matthew Shepard Foundation. How are you?

Joy: I'm fine thank you.

LN: Great. Well thank you for being, agreeing to be interviewed today for us.

Joy: Sure Lauren.

LN: I know that you are an accomplished comedian and talk show host, so I'm really interested in knowing what it is about comedy and then talk shows that really grabbed at you? Really it's what you've spent your life doing.

Joy: I see. Yeah that's a good question. Well let's see. The comedy arises out of some kid. I think it arises out of some children and you can see it when they're young that they're getting laughs for some reason. It's like some dogs are funnier than others like the basset hound. The basset hound is very funny where as the poodle is not.

LN: Laugh at a poodle, not with a poodle.

Joy: Yeah. I mean the poodle is kind of prissy. You know it's more like somebody at the Golden Globes on the red carpet. Where as the basset hound is on cable. You know, on a cable show. But I think also that comedy is a good defense for a child. Because you know childhood is a nightmare as it is. And so why not use comedy and being funny as a defense to get through your life as opposed to drugs, alcohol and good looks? Because those things are dangerous when your young.

LN: Right. And good looks is not, are fleeting or they can be.

Joy: I'm afraid that if you're a Brooke Shields leveled gorgeous child I think that it's dangerous for you as a child. It's too tempting for adults to faun over you too much and for pedophiles in the area to be eyeing you and for you to develop a narcissistic disorder. So a better thing to grow up with is to be funny I think, and if I had, if I had my choice I would still pick that. I've asked that question of some people I work with, and a couple of them would be like "oh I'd rather be beautiful". It's so easy when you're beautiful. I don't agree with that. I don't think it has as much saying power. It may cruise you through a little bit but at the end of the day it doesn't really hold up.

LN: I read a really great book once that said you know exactly what you just said which is being pretty allows things to come easier sometimes and so people are used to not having to work as hard to get the things they want in life or to be entrusted into other people.

Joy: Exactly. Exactly. I mean I wouldn't say that's true of all people. I mean a lot of people in show business are very talented and they're gorgeous. I mean that happens too. But it does, it does give you a get out of jail free card when you're really, really a knockout. And I think it makes you somewhat lazy. And it just says that because people think you're beautiful you can hold onto a boyfriend or a girlfriend and it's not true. So there's that. I developed a comedic persona, I think. But I think I have a natural bent towards it any way. I watch it in my own family with my cousin's kids and some are funnies than others. So it's a natural thing for some kids. And then you grow up and you continue to use it and develop it and hone it and that's what I've done. And the talk show thing is another side of my personality because I have a very serious side of my personality and I like to talk about serious issues too and I try to do both on my new show on HLN, bring comedy and seriousness together and I think that's what makes it unique. It's news with comedy, rather than comedy with news.

LN: Right. Or just the news, which is a lot as well.

Joy: Yeah, and some of it is just news. Something that happens and we go over it with people who are way smarter than me.

LN: Speaking of your new show on HLN it was just nominated GLAAD Media Award.

Joy: Wow.

LN: I'm really interested in hearing what this meant for you and you know if you felt like it was an honor to have such an award on your new show?

Joy: I'd rather have it than an Emmy to tell you the truth because, Well I know that it's, I know that the Emmy, some how these other awards I don't really know about the Oscars because I'm not a movie actress you know, but a lot of awards it seems are done because somebody has their favorite or you have the best publicity. Where as I think the GLAAD Award is more heart felt and appreciating of people and so I appreciate getting it. And I feel as though the gay audiences has always been on my side from when I started 25 years ago. I started my act down at Greenwich Village at a place called 5 Oaks and I was a very scared, scared girl to get up there in front of people and do what I thought I should do for my sanity and they were always the ones who laughed, they were the ones who got it. I didn't have to lower the level. I could keep it at the level that I wanted it at which was much more specific and smart and with smart references. The Gay Audience gets every reference. So you know I mean you expect an audience to understand your references. If I make a joke, which I did the other night on the air about Ben Bernanke, I expect my audience to know who he is. So I totally appreciate the award very much.

LN: Why do you think it's important for underrepresented or marginalized communities to have to have support or presence in mainstream media? And this is sort of you know I feel personally that comedy and talk shows have the potential even more so than a lot of other shows that cater themselves to that you know to bringing up issues from underrepresented communities and things like that.

Joy: Oh yeah. Well I mean comedians usually are rooting for the underdog. I mean to take a shot at an underdog I think is really stupid and low and not funny. Somebody like Rush Limbaugh, he likes to (take shots at) people who are, who are in the minority. What good is that? The key is to (take shots an) somebody in the majority and the powerful and the ones who really have the power and the money and the clout in this world, there the ones you (take shots at), that's why politicians are open season. You don't make jokes about the down trodden. What's the point? The roll of the court gesture is to make fun of the King.

LN: Right. Well because no one else is going to. Often times.

Joy: Yeah. That's why comedians, say what you will, I mean there's a lot of disharmony going on in late night right now you know with Jay and Conan and the rest of them. But they happen to be having a little bit of a nervous breakdown at NBC right now. But in general comedians will go out there and go out on a limb and take on the rich and the powerful and very few people will do that. And they'll make you laugh while they're doing. It's a fantastic thing to do I think.

LN: I agree. And do you feel like on your talk show as well that's what you want to do is bring a really unique perspective to some of these issues that I feel like a lot of times you hear about things and you hear about things and over and over, but we never hear what's a different take on the story or what's really happening and what's essential about this particular news story?

Joy: Right. Well I feel like when being raised in New York City I have a particular perspective on things like Gay issues maybe, because I'm in the middle of Manhattan. Somebody made a joke one time and said that they wanted to put all the Gays on, why don't they just put them all on an island and said well they are, they're in Manhattan. I think it was Jim David, a Gay comic he's very funny. So any way, what was I saying? Oh, because I have a particular perspective. And also I was raised, my family was not a bigoted family. They didn't have, they didn't have this homophobic sense. They didn't really, they weren't against Black people. I didn't grow up with that kind of thing. So I feel that it's incumbent upon me to bring that experience to the air also. To just kind of educate people about it a little bit who may not have had the same privileged backgrounds in terms of open mindedness that I found in my very Italian family which is people say "really", and it is true. I grew up the opposite of that stupid show, that Jersey Shore. I was taken too, I hate that show because I was taken to the theatre, I was educated, I was pampered as a child. I was treated well by my working class family. And we went, my mother was an opera fan, and yet they show these people as if Italian Americans are like that. It offends me frankly.

LN: My mom's family actually grew up on Two Sides Heights right there and she's in an Italian family. So I understand how you feel about the show.

Joy: You know I don't mind the Sopranos and the Godfather movies because at least it's an art form and it's a specific aspect of the Italian American experience. This makes, this is what people in maybe parts of the country who don't really know Italians, they look at this and think we're all alike that, a bunch of ja'bonies.

LN: Is that another reason that you like to be on a show like The View where there is a lot different talk show hosts who are on at the same time who can all debate things and be talking about having their own conversations within a larger conversation of actually being on the show and having people watch, is that another thing?

Joy: I think the diversity is great. I mean we had Rosie O'Donnell who's an out Lesbian and that was nice for a while and we educated some people on Gay issues. Now we have African Americans there and we talk a lot about that. And then of course we have a Republican and me on the panel, Elizabeth and me. And that sort of gives them two perspectives politically even though we're always arguing with each other, people think we're mad at each other and we're not.

LN: I think you just really being honest because I appreciate you all so much because you're talking about your up bringing and you know who you are so you're going to bring that to the show and see how you bounce off of those other people and that's what I like about the show so much.

Joy: I think that The View is a show that everybody right now who's sitting there, Whoopi, all of us girls, we are who we are. I don't think there's any pretense on that panel. Whoopi knows exactly who she is and she loves to tell stories about her sorted, her checkered past. And Sherri loves to talk about her thing with her ex husband and the baby-daddy and all this other stuff, which is funny also. You know everybody is very honest there.

LN: I guess just maybe a couple more questions before I wrap up but on that note being on the show like The View and having so much experience communicating regularly with people who are so different from you what advice might you give to adolescence or parents or anybody who's looking to communicate more effectively with one another especially enlue of such gargantuan differences?

Joy: Oh. Well, I've lived in; I've been to a lot of places in this country. You know I've just been in so many states now and so many cities and I find that every city has smart people and dumb people. Every city has open-minded people and closed-minded people. So I think the country is very, is varied and heterogonous in so many ways. So I don't think that people, I think that a lot of people in this country, women identify with me even if they're not ethnic, even if they're not from New York. I think they identify with my every woman personality because I'm not really that much different from every body else. I look sort of like a lot of people. I don't, maybe I don't sound like them because not everybody in the mid-west sounds like Don Corleone. But, but I think that my issues you know they relate to it. You know I'm divorced. I raised a kid. I was a single parent. I have been with a guy for 27 years. Monogamy is monotonous, but it's safe you know. And that's my philosophy. And I like to convey that to people. You may not, you may not have the excitement in your life that you wanted when you were young but keep it going, it works out beautifully towards then end. That's one aspect of it. As far as people communicating with each other well I think that listening is important. You know really trying to read between the lines of what some body is saying and trying to read their mind a little bit where there at because most people don't really say what they're feeling. Which is the bones of great literature. You know, the sub text. And I don't know. I think that's the key, is listening and then speaking honestly.

LN: I feel like your understanding of who you are, again I keep coming back to that because I feel like you know a lot of people I talk to are very just confident and sure about why is it they think what they think and express that to other people and hopefully the other people will listen and try to see where they're coming from.

Joy: Uh-huh. Yeah. You have to know who you are. You really have to know who you are. It takes, uh it's not t hat easy. I feel, I feel bad for young people. The 20s are a nightmare also. The 20s are hard to do. I think people are still finding out who they are, what they want, you know you feel insecure about yourself and you're not, you know it's a tough time to be young. And I've been through many years of psychotherapy, psycho-drama, you know I've taken risks in my life. I've had trials and tribulations just like every body else. You have to really think about who you are. You can't just go through life and sail threw. You must you know, as Socrates I believe said the unexamined life is not worth living. I believe that's true. I do believe that. It's not interesting enough if you don't know who you are, what you want. You need to make educated decisions about your moves and talk to people who care about you. And you need to have people who will have your back.

LN: Right. I agree. I'm still young so I'm know I'm still figuring that out myself.

Joy: It's hard. How old are you?

LN: I'm 20.

Joy: Yup, it's going to be hard. Again you know if you have trouble with finding things you should get into some kind of therapy with a good therapist if you need, I mean I just believe in therapy for everybody. I really do. I don't think any body can escape it.

LN: Jane Vallez Mitchell said the same thing actually.

Joy: Did she?

LN: When I talked to her.

Joy: She's a great girl. I love Jane. She's real and fun and funny and just wonderful.

LN: Well I think I will let you go but I think you said some things that are worth quoting in the future myself. You quoted Socrates but maybe some people can put some quotes of yours in a book one day.

Joy: Okay dear. Thank you very much.

LN: Thank you so much for spending time talking to me.

Joy: Okay hun. Buh-bye.

LN: Buh-bye.