Hollywood actress upset her son isn't gay fumes in bizarre spectacle at Human Rights Campaign gala

Actress Camryn Manheim drew attention at the Human Rights Campaign's National Dinner on Sunday, September 27, 2026, when she joked from the stage that she is annoyed her son is straight. Manheim, known for playing Ellenor Frutt on "The Practice," was there to hand the Ally for Equality Award to her friend Marcia Gay Harden, an Oscar winner for the film "Pollock." Fox News, which describes the organization as far-left, portrays the speech as strange and complaining.

Manheim said Harden's three children all align with the LGBTQ+ community, and that this irritates her because she "always wanted a gay son." She said she pictured herself as a fiercely protective mother at a protest, and she declared that gay sons are the best. She then described her own child as a boy photographed in high heels and full drag who knows every musical, with a fairy godfather named Aaron Walton in attendance. Yet, she said, he is the only straight member of his musical theater company.

Manheim also recalled that about ten years ago Harden phoned to say her son was gay, and that she answered by shouting how lucky Harden was. The crowd applauded as she yelled into the microphone. Her only child, Milo Manheim, is 25. He is an actor known for playing Zed in the Disney Channel Zombies films, for appearing in the 2023 Christmas musical Journey to Bethlehem, and for finishing second on season 27 of Dancing with the Stars in 2018.

Summarized by PolitiKool from Fox News’s reporting. Read the full story at Fox News →