Original subtitles

Previously on L .A. Law.

I'm seeking to reinstate my position as senior partner.

A new vote will be scheduled for this Friday.

To unseat the senior partner against her will, you need two -thirds, which means

all she needs is two lousy votes.

I don't like sitting up there, high and mighty.

So what are you saying?

I'm saying that my days on the bench are numbered.

We could...

remain cautious and back away from each other.

You think that would be a good idea?

I think relationships change.

Mackenzie, Brackman, Chaney, Cusack, and Becker.

And that's something.

I'm asking you now.

Don't you let that get away.

Is there anybody that wants to see me remain a senior partner?

I resign.

Will you marry me?

Yes.

Will?

Yes, I will.

Rachel!

Rachel! Careful with the costumes. We've got one more tomorrow night.

There's no smoking back here, Barry. Please put that out.

Munchkins! Paul, get me all the munchkins in room two right away.

Oh, Benny. Oh, you were sensational.

Did it feel right?

Yeah. Does it look right? I'm telling you, you were terrific.

Yes, I want all the munchkins in that room now, please.

Oh, Cindy, great melt job. Just perfect.

Have you seen Alice? Oh, yeah, I saw her go in wardrobe. Watch your wings, would

you please?

Backstage call for stage... It's 4 .30.

Hey.

What are you doing?

Nothing. I saw you.

You were kissing Scarecrow.

Ouch. Hold still.

I am.

Hello, hello.

School Express ready to go. Hi, Sarah.

Okay, Chloe.

Hi, Arnie.

Hi.

There you are.

Kisses. Kisses.

Bye -bye.

I'll pick you up at Stephanie's. Okay.

Bye. Bye.

Want some more coffee?

Yeah.

You and I have to talk about something, Arnie. Really?

Yep.

In case you haven't noticed, Chloe's getting kind of attached to you. That's

good, right?

Well, it depends.

I've got to know where we're headed.

I can tell you I've never been as happy with anyone as I am with you.

So...

Does that mean you're in it for keeps?

I don't know. I think so.

But you're not sure.

Damn, I'd never be sure.

So, where does that leave me?

Do you want to move in together?

Arnie. Let's do it.

I don't want to play house.

I want to get married.

Will Rosalind be joining us?

Uh, no. No, she won't. As a matter of fact, Rosalind has asked me to inform

all that she will be leaving at the end of the week.

Is she taking all those clients with her? Yes.

So, Benny, how's the show going?

Good. You shopping for an agent yet?

No.

What's with him? Can we get started?

Kavanaugh versus Smythe.

When we go today, it's going to be a tough one. I'm surprised you're even

it to trial. Well, outing makes some people pretty mad, Arnie, particularly

outee. What is outing? There are some gay activists, like the defendant, who

believe in forcing other gays to come out of the closet.

Sometimes it's gay politicians who don't support gay closets. Other times it's

just people that they want everyone to know are gay.

Sounds nasty.

Well, the defendant has freedom of the press on his side.

What was published was true.

So it's not libel. It's probably not invasion of privacy either since my guy

a public figure.

Which is why he was outed in the first place.

Right. Oh, and a couple of queens get mad at each other. Look out. These are

queens, Douglas.

One is a cop and the other is a journalist.

They are both gay, but they're not queens.

Mr. Becker.

Yeah. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Lee Steckers on the phone wants to know if

can come in at three.

Yeah, sure.

Okay.

Who is...

Roxanne's working half days this week. She needs some more time to tend to her

father, so, uh... Gwen is filling in for her.

Gwen, is there anything else we need to cover?

Actually, that's it.

Uh, just a second.

It's no secret that I have been interviewing with a Wall Street firm.

I've decided to go back to New York.

My father has cancer, and the doctor's given him a year or so to live.

I'd like to give him a year or so myself.

I can only assume you've thought this through.

I'm sorry, Leland.

I hate to bail on you.

But I have to do this.

Will you come back?

I don't know.

How soon will you be leaving?

Just as soon as we can find someone to take my place.

Look, I'm late. I have to be in Cornell.

Why did you quit the police department, Mr. Cavanaugh? It was impossible to do

my job once my fellow officers found out I was gay.

How'd they find out?

He printed it in his magazine, and the word spread.

You had gotten quite a bit of publicity up to that point, hadn't you?

Yes, sir.

Why was that?

I had been involved in a hostage situation where I disarmed an individual

was holding his family at gunpoint.

It got a lot of attention.

So you weren't just a cop.

You were a hero cop.

Once Mr.

Smythe's article outed me, to the men I worked with, I was just a queer.

But what he wrote about you was true, was it not? What he wrote about me was

business and nobody else's. What specifically were the consequences?

They'd write faggot on my locker.

No one would eat with me, hang around with me.

No one wanted a ride with me either.

Why didn't you sue the police department?

My grandfather's a cop. My father was a cop.

Two of my brothers are still cops. I don't blame cops for this. They are the

they are.

I blame him.

Well, he'll say that you were a public figure, that he was entitled to write

whatever he wanted to about you as long as it was true.

I never set out to be a public figure, sir.

All I ever wanted to be was a cop.

Thank you.

I have nothing further.

When did you first realize that you were gay, sir?

I was 18 years old.

And you concealed that from the police department?

Yes. You pretended to be straight.

For me, that was a matter of accepting reality.

In other words, you lied.

Objection. The plaintiff claims that he was harmed by the truth, Your Honor.

I'm attempting to show that 20 years of living a lie caused far more harm. The

objection is overruled. You think what he did made it better for me? I think

it's better to fight than to lie.

Hey, I'll pick my own battles.

Do you believe that gay people are discriminated against?

Yes.

Do you believe that the courts have failed to protect their rights?

That the police have failed to protect their lives?

I believe all of that. Do you make room for the possibility that one reason the

discrimination against gay people continues to exist is because gay people

refuse to stand up and be counted? I believe that what a person does is his

her own business.

It's not the government's. It's not... They're bosses, and it's not his.

I became a cop to protect people. Because of him, I can't be a cop

There are plenty of gay people who choose to live the way I did. There are

people with families, people who don't want their lives destroyed.

I'm here now to protect them.

Hey, Betty.

What are you doing here?

I came to visit.

You won't go to a movie tonight?

No.

I want to.

Go with Harold.

I don't want to go with Harold. I want to go with you.

I'm busy now.

You mad at me?

Go with Harold.

You kissed him. That means you like him.

You like him, too?

Well, how about sex?

You gonna have sex with him? No.

Well, you like to kiss him? Go on, have sex with him. I only want to do that

with you.

Get away.

Hey, Benny.

Are you okay?

Alice, are you all right?

What do you think you're doing?

Are you okay?

Benny, don't you ever knock her down like that again. Don't ever do that,

She kissed Scarecrow on the lips. I don't care, Benny. Don't ever go

her down like that.

Benny?

You're with the Los Angeles Police Department, is that right?

That's correct.

Now, for some three and a half years, you were partners with Tom Kavanaugh.

Also true.

Who requested a transfer?

I did.

When?

When I found out he was a homosexual.

Well, he was still a good cop, though, wasn't he?

He was a great cop.

Then why didn't you want to ride with him? When you're out there, you've got

feel comfortable.

You've got to be able to trust your partner more than you trust your wife.

You mean you stopped trusting him because you found out he was gay?

It's not that I didn't trust him. It's that I didn't feel I knew him anymore.

Were there any other officers on the force who were willing to ride with him?

No. Hell, half of them didn't even want to ride with me.

They figured I rode with him long enough to be questionable myself.

They still razz me about it. Tell the court, if you would, what kind of things

they would do to Tom.

They'd make remarks.

If they had to hand him something, they'd put on a rubber glove.

Signifying what?

They were afraid of catching AIDS.

In your opinion, officer, was Tom Cavanaugh driven off the force following

disclosure that he was gay?

He got the message loud and clear that nobody wanted him around anymore, yes,

sir. Thank you.

I have nothing further.

You've come across other gay men haven't you officer not really I don't know any

socially There's none in my family and Tom's the only one I've worked with as

far as I know anyway Oh, come on.

You're a cop in LA You haven't come across any gay men.

I wasn't counting the ones that we arrested.

Oh, but I want you to I Want you to count the ones you were wrecked it the

you harass the ones you rocked up a myth I don't know what you're talking about.

Ask the court to advise the witness defense counsel doesn't care to be

as missed.

The witness is so advised?

What did the plaintiff do when he went out to bust fags for cruising?

Objection. The witness is not on trial here. It's precisely the witness's

attitude that every gay person in America is up against.

I object to the self -serving speech.

Sustained.

Officer Vlasic, do you have a negative attitude toward homosexuals? I got no

problem with them. You just couldn't sit in a car with one.

You like and admire Tom Cavanaugh, do you not, sir?

Yes, I do.

Does knowing that Tom Cavanaugh is gay cause you to re -examine your attitude

towards gay people? I don't know.

In other words, it might?

Yeah.

Thank you, sir.

Nothing further.

Needless to say, this comes as kind of a shock.

Well, according to Michael, you don't much like being a judge.

I think I can offer you a better package.

But me working at McKenzie Brackman? Why not?

You know the people, they know you.

Michael's leaving leaves me with a big hole to fill, and I need a star

litigator. And you think I'm that person?

You're also a judge.

That would give us a high level of prestige.

I don't know, Leland.

Obviously, I'm flattered. Then you owe it to yourself to think about it.

You'd be trying cases again.

You'd be working with good people.

And I'll pay you a hell of a lot more money than you'd ever make as a judge.

I need you, Grace.

And I'll do whatever I can to get you.

Hi, these just need your signature.

So, what do you think?

About what?

Working on this joint. How's it been?

I like it.

Well, it's been a real godsend having you.

I like to hear that.

But as good as you are at it, something tells me that being a secretary is not

really what you have in mind for yourself.

True? I like what I'm doing.

Come on, Gwen, what do you want to be when you grow up?

I want to be a movie star, okay?

Just like a million other girls who come here from someplace else.

Well, I don't know if you can act or not, but this much I will say.

You're a very beautiful woman.

Thank you.

Have you gotten anywhere?

No, not really. I've done a couple plays and I have a callback for a movie of

the week, but that's about it.

Well, I wish you the best of luck.

Thanks. Let me know if I can see you in something.

Okay. Would you like to have a drink?

Are we done for the day?

Yeah, all done.

Sure.

I'll have a drink.

Is, uh, something happening here?

I don't know.

Do you want something to happen?

Well, I hadn't planned on it.

Some things you just don't plan.

You're Tom Cavanaugh's sister, is that right, Teresa?

Yeah. How did it affect you when the defendant revealed that your brother was

gay? I already knew it.

I was the only one in our family who did. Why did you keep it a secret from

others? Because I love my brother.

Didn't anyone else in your family love him?

They all loved him.

But once they found out, they just couldn't accept him.

Did they try to accept him? Everybody tried.

We'd get together for Christmas and birthdays, and everyone would pretend

it didn't matter.

Tom and I would watch them pretend.

It broke his heart to see how hard it was for them.

Does your family still get together?

Everyone except Tom.

I have nothing further.

Tom would sometimes bring a woman to these family gatherings, wouldn't he?

Sometimes. Sure.

He wanted everyone to think that he was dating her.

Right. So what?

Knowing him the way you do, do you think that having to lie to his family caused

him pain?

He managed to live with it. People manage to live with all kinds of things.

What I'm asking is whether concealing who he was caused him to suffer.

Not as bad as losing his family did. That didn't have to happen, Miss

With all due respect, your family could have accepted Tom for who he is.

No, Miss Cummings, they really couldn't.

We were a happy family, though.

You might not think so, but we thought so.

My brother had a secret, and I guarded it with my life.

Who is he to say how my brother should live?

Who are you?

Tommy just didn't want to be hurt.

Why'd you want to go and hurt him?

What did he ever do to you?

Take off your clothes.

This is happening too fast.

Let it.

I think we should stop.

I don't want to stop.

We keep this up much longer.

I'm going to not let you.

No?

Right now.

You want to watch me take off my clothes, don't you?

Yeah, I do.

Thank you, Douglas.

We'll just be a few minutes.

I'm going to be very direct with you, Benny.

I'm very concerned that you would push Alice and knock her down.

I didn't mean to knock her down.

But you did, Benny.

You knocked her to the ground so hard she's black and blue.

Now, I don't want you ever to do anything like that again.

Do you understand?

Yes. Are you sure?

Yes. Good.

If you two are going to be married, then that kind of thing cannot happen.

I know.

Now, I understand she was kissing the scarecrow.

And that, too, presents a problem.

And I'm going to talk to her about that. No, it's between me and Alice.

Okay.

You talk to her.

My only intention was and is to change what it means to be gay in this society.

Tom Cavanaugh didn't ask you to change what it meant for him.

No, he didn't, but he was in the public eye.

Gay people need role models, and I took it upon myself to make him one.

Even if it hurt him?

Living in the closet hurts worse. It hurts millions of others.

How? By allowing everything to stay the way it is. The Supreme Court upholds a

law that makes every one of us a criminal.

Comedians insult us, AIDS is killing us, and it's only going to be different

when enough of us come out of hiding.

Isn't it better if we come out on our own?

Absolutely. I've only exposed two kinds of people.

Elected people who hurt us and those with enough visibility to help us. We

to know that gay men and lesbian women are actors and rock stars and executives

and hero cops.

Straight people need to know it about us, and we need to know it about

ourselves. What goes through your mind when you look at Tom Cavanaugh now?

I wish that I could tell him that I understand his pain.

That I went through the same thing he's going through.

I was rejected by my family. I was fired from my job.

I also tried to kill myself.

I want to tell him to hang in there.

To come to terms with who he is. To be proud of it.

I want him to know...

That there's no greater joy on Earth.

I have nothing further.

You think that because a cop gets his name in the paper, the First Amendment

gives you the right to tell the whole world who he sleeps with?

Yes, sir. I think that the public has a legitimate interest in knowing about the

private lives of its heroes.

Now, you once concealed the fact that you were gay, didn't you?

Oh, yeah. I worked very hard at it.

And what were the circumstances surrounding your coming out?

It was my 30th birthday.

I was crying myself to sleep. I was thinking about living out the rest of my

life unable to tell the truth about myself. Suddenly, I realized that I

have to do that.

Right then and there, I decided that I was going to tell the truth whether

society wanted me to or not.

You decided?

Yes. But you didn't just decide for yourself.

You decided for Tom Cavanaugh as well. I think I explained the reasons for that.

Well, in other words, this man was denied the very right that you so

passionately claimed for yourself, all because you had your reasons. For gay

people, Mr. Cusack, reasons amount to life or death.

Well, here's the gay person that it affected the most, sir.

A cop.

Now, what did you think it was going to do to him?

I knew that it would hurt him. You knew?

That it would destroy his life. I knew that it would hurt him.

And you did it anyway.

Yes.

I have nothing further.

You don't think I'm crazy to just even consider it.

You always told me you thought Mackenzie Bracken was the perfect law firm.

Anything else, folks?

But wouldn't it bother you, your ex -girlfriend taking your place? That has

bother you a little.

Well, to be honest, I'll feel less guilty about leaving knowing that

great is coming in behind me.

You really are leaving, aren't you?

He's dying, Rose.

We never were that close, but he's dying.

What about Kimberly?

Kimberly and I are not seeing each other anymore.

What happened?

She asked me if I was totally over you, and I told her the truth.

Bad strategy.

Yeah.

You know, though, if you go to New York, then we are probably totally

over.

Hi. Hi.

Uh, Rosalind, at the risk of being incredibly two -faced, I'm really very

sorry for the way that this has all ended.

Me too.

And I know that a lot of the resentment that snowballed against you started with

me.

You came at me head on, Anne. As much as I disagree with you, I have to respect

that. The thing is, I also know that if a man had come in here and

played hardball as successfully as you did, with no fear of being called a bad

guy, he would have been hailed as a great leader.

With a woman, the reviews come in a little differently.

Yes, they do.

Even from the other women.

Believe it or not, I really do wish you well.

Believe it or not, I wish the same for you.

All of the letters went out except for the McPherson response, which is still

the tape, but Gwen can do that.

Good. Can I hear my name? Oh, great, perfect timing.

I'm at the door.

Hi. Hi.

How are you today?

Great, thanks.

Good.

Oh, thanks, Rox.

And give my best to your dad, right?

You had sex with her, didn't you?

You? I know you too well, Arnie.

I know your body language.

I saw the way she looked at you, and I saw the way you looked back, and I know

you two did it.

I didn't plan on it. It just happened.

Oh, you incredible jerk.

Roxanne. What about Corinne?

Don't you see this happened because of Corinne?

Because I love her. What?

Yes, I love her so much that I'm afraid.

I'm afraid of dependency.

I'm afraid of parting with control. I'm afraid of giving up.

It's more complicated, Roxanne.

Subconsciously, I think I'm trying to blow it.

I'm looking for an escape. I want to find every reason to get out of this

Don't give me that crap.

There are other people out there. There's a woman who loves you. There's a

little girl who's getting attached to you. They count on you.

It was a slip.

It was a despicable slip.

Integrity isn't something you can take off a shelf and use whenever it's

convenient. Either you've got it or you don't. And you don't. Don't you talk to

me like that. Hey, as long as we've got a relationship that's based on honesty,

I'm going to tell you how I feel.

Right now, you make me sick to my stomach.

We've got 75, structured over four months. We'll give you 30 today, and

the best we can do.

Tom? No.

Man, we ought to go outside and talk about this. You're just going to tell me

case stinks and I should take it? The man ruined my life. I'm not going away

75. Your life was a lie.

Shut up.

We don't have to go. Hey, tell your client I'm about to put him through the

wall. You want to fight, Tom? All right, let's fight. Maybe I can knock a little

social responsibility into your head. How is one person living my life? I'm

telling you that was wrong. Because I was a hero. No, because you're a gay

And gays are bashed and spat on and made to feel ashamed of themselves.

When role models like you bury your heads, you tell them they should be

We're done here. No, we're not done here. If you want to be an activist,

your right. But you cost people their families. You son of a bitch. You cost

my family.

Let him go. Let him know who the hell you were, Tom.

Hey, you've got to stay. I'll bury my head in the wall. Go ahead, do it. You

think I won't? Do you want to kill me, Tom? Go ahead, kill me. You're going to

rest your life in jail. Better that than being labeled a faggot. Let him go,

Tom. Let go of him now.

How come you wanted me to come here?

I'm sorry I pushed you.

You are?

Yeah.

You scared me, Benny.

I didn't mean to.

I know you didn't.

You know why I was mad, though, right?

Because I kissed Harold.

Right.

How come that made you mad?

You're to kiss me. I don't want you to kiss anybody else.

How come?

Because if you love somebody, you're not supposed to kiss anybody else.

What if I forget?

You're not supposed to forget.

What if I do?

I think maybe you...

We shouldn't get married, Alice.

Why not?

I'm afraid I might get mad again.

Betty.

I don't wanna get married.

There are few things as frightening to me as the certainty of those who think

they know what's best for others.

For more than three years, my client has suffered, and suffered horribly.

And he may well suffer for the rest of his life.

All because that man knew what was best.

Now, Tom Cavanaugh lost the two things that he held most dear, being close to

his family and being a cop.

all because one day he risked his own life to save the lives of others.

Now, he didn't ask to become a celebrity.

That was foisted upon him. He didn't deserve to be sacrificed to this man's

cause.

And he didn't deserve to have the most personal aspect of his life revealed in

print. Now, the defendant knew how important privacy was to Tom Cavanaugh.

He knew because it had once been just as important to him.

The defendant views this man as a symbol.

I want you to view him as a man.

I want you to recognize that bound together with the right to come forward

announce to the world who you are is the right not to.

The right to remain silent is as fundamental as the right to speak.

the defendant took that right away.

He appropriated Tom Cavanaugh's name for his cause, and he made Tom Cavanaugh

pay the price.

Why should my client be permitted to pry into someone else's life?

Why should he be permitted?

To do that which results in the kind of pain that Tom Cavanaugh suffered.

The answer is that it isn't a free society if he isn't.

The point isn't whether or not the plaintiff asked to become a celebrity.

The point is that he became one.

He made himself available to reporters. He granted interviews.

He posed for photographers.

He became not just a cop.

He became a hero.

The law says that when a person steps out onto the public stage, his private

life becomes of legitimate public interest. My client, in all respects,

responsible journalist exercising his right of a free press.

He was also a gay man living in America.

I want you to think about what that means.

You see...

It's not about dancing in Disneyland anymore.

It's not about parades in West Hollywood.

It really is about life and death.

For the gay and lesbian teenagers who were driven to suicide.

For those who destroy themselves with drinking and drugs out of shame.

My client didn't write about Tom Cavanaugh to get him.

He didn't do it for the money.

He did it to tell straight people that our lives aren't

worthless.

And he did it to tell gay people that their lives aren't cursed.

My client figured that if all the Tom Cavanaughs in this world could reveal

they were, that just might get it across a little quicker.

And I figured, if I am going to begin to think about this seriously, I at least

better find out if you can give me what it is that I want.

Shoot.

Well, at a minimum, I'd have to be a full partner, insulated from all

partnership liabilities incurred prior to my start date.

I'd want the buy -in waived, and I'd want to be head of litigation.

I'll give you the first three.

As to the department head position, let me wait a month. If I've learned

anything lately, it's don't let the new kids steamroll in.

Okay.

One month, then official designation.

I'd want a guaranteed salary of $2 .25.

That's a lot.

You've got no portables. I'm a superior court judge, Leland. The prestige will

bring in business for everybody.

Okay.

Michael told me about your executive committee.

I'd want to be on it.

Again, I have to be concerned about resentment from the other lawyers. And

concerned with being able to take the kinds of cases I want to handle.

Being on the executive committee allows me to do that.

When can you start?

Hold on, Leland.

I still have a lot to think about.

Come on, Grace.

You've obviously given it a lot of thought.

You came in here with a well -thought -out list of requests, every one of

I granted.

Now, my need right now is damage control.

I want to put out an immediate press release that as Rosalind Shays departs,

Honorable Grace Van Owen arrives.

What about the other partners? Don't you have to run this by them? The other

partners are congregating outside this office right this second, hoping you'll

say yes.

Now, I'm sorry, but time is of the essence right now. I've got to move

Okay, Leland, I'm in.

Really?

Really.

Oh, God.

This is fantastic.

Ladies and gentlemen, I'm proud to present the Honorable Grace Van Owen,

partner of Mackenzie Brackman... God,

you people do be proud.

Unbelievable.

You'll never be able to hold me in contempt again. Well, I guess not. But

can use her office any time. Oh, no.

You don't judge.

All right. Great.

Thank you. Great to have you.

Quitting time.

Oh, hi.

I thought I'd ensure your prompt arrival at the restaurant by escorting you

there myself.

What's the matter?

You wanted me to think about getting married, right?

Uh -huh.

Well, at this point in my life, I don't want to think about it.

You do?

I'd also like to do it very soon.

Okay. Because if I don't, I'll wreck it.

Guaranteed, I'll find a way and I'll wreck it.

You weren't looking to have a big wedding, were you?

No. All we need is a judge, witness, a bottle of champagne.

And I'd like Chloe to be there, too.

Absolutely.

What? Give me a kiss.

What?

I'm not really sure what kind of husband I'm going to make. I think you're going

to make a...

husband i gotta tell you my history with women would indicate otherwise i don't

care about history as long as that's what it is from this point on i've got

women in my life you and chloe

Has the jury reached a verdict?

We have, Your Honor.

What say you?

On the claim of invasion of privacy, we fine for the defendant.

On the claim of intentional infliction of emotional distress, we fine for the

defendant as well.

This matter's concluded.

The jury is discharged with the thanks of the court.

I'm sorry, Tom. I should have pushed through a little.

If we'd settled, all that would have happened is that he'd paid me some

All I would have done was to spend it.

What I needed to do was to beat him.

I want to thank you in any case, Michael.

I'll call you tonight.

Hey, Tom.

You're probably the last guy in the world you want to talk to right now.

But if you should ever feel differently, and I hope one day you do, just pick up

the phone. I'm in the book.

Can I be my friend?

I'd like to be.

I'd like us to get together, have a few beers, and really talk to each other.

I'll tell you, Warren, I never wanted to have a beer with you before.

Why would I want to have a beer with you now?

No, don't.

Stay where you are.

Stay like this.

Okay?

Okay.

Do you think this will be our last time?

Hmm?

Do you think we'll ever be together again?

I've given up making predictions about...