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But Mapa is proudest of the fact that he became television’s first gay, Asian series regular ever on Some of My Best Friends, opposite Jason Bateman. “Someday when there are a whole bunch of others, and it’s a common occurrence, it will mean something that I was the first,” he said. “I’m really a unicorn, the only Asian on my network, and one of three Asian series regulars [Sandra Oh of Grey’s Anatomy and Daniel Kim of Lost and Blood of the Samurai: The Series are the other two].”

Mapa is also a regular fixture on gay cable channel Logo, having appeared on an hour-long comedy special for the new series Wisecrack, taped live at The Abbey in West Hollywood and a pilot for the political cross-talk show Focus, from the makers of Queer Eye For The Straight Guy, designed to debate the serious conflicts and challenges facing the GLBT community with humor.

“It focuses on the problems we face,” he said. “The first episode was about stereotypes and it was me and a gay conservative man from San Diego. The first episode was me trying not to have a stroke.”

As an out, gay actor, Mapa often donates his time to numerous causes benefiting AIDS and the Gay and Lesbian communities. He will next be seen performing at a comedy benefit for Human Rights Campaign (the nation’s foremost organization for the equal rights of GLBT individuals).

But he finds simply being on television to be the most effective way to get his message of acceptance across. “I’ve already done a lot on behalf of equal rights for the lesbian, gay and transgender community,” he said. “The fact that I’m on TV highlights it. Each time I’m out or on a TV show, it’s my opportunity to say 'we are here and part of your lives, and that’s a good thing.'

"It establishes a relationship with a character when you tune in week after week. If you see someone who is gay and like them, then it’s harder to be homophobic in real life, because you see them day in and day out.”

What he hopes audiences see when they tune in to Half & Half is the role that should have never been, progressively becoming all it can be--active dating life and all.

“I might get a boyfriend,” he said. “I’ve been dating a lot on the show. When a gay person dates, it’s usually off camera. But now on the show I do much more of the dating, because I’m listed on 20 web sites. One is a gay Jewish single site called Man on Manischewitz. So I will have a bit more of a visible social life.”

To catch Mapa on Half & Half, tune in to UPN on Monday nights at 9:30PM ET/PT

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