The Advocate - 03/30/2000
Thanks, Rupert and Sonja Ikaheimo. :o))
The Equality Rocks
headliner talks about closeted gay music stars, U.S. vs
British gay rights, and his new pop CD. BY JUDY WIEDER
It's been over a year since your Advocate coming-out interview.
What advice
would you give to a sexy, talented male pop star who is in the
closet?
I don't think that I could offer any solid advice, actually. I
don't really
know what I would do if I were given the opportunity to start
over. I would
advise any gay person that being out in the real sense (I mean
out with those
you love and respect: friends and family) can never happen too
soon. On a
professional level I would love to give you a PC answer, but I
have to say
that the truth in today's world is a little less simple than
that-at least if
you're a British celebrity who happens to be gay. In the U.K.
-since my left
hand outed me to an audience of millions on that fateful day in
1998-my
personal life, or rather my imagined personal life, has rarely
been out of
the tabloid press.
I am apparently engaged in a menage a trois with my boyfriend,
Kenny, and
Geri Halliwell (formerly of the Spice Girls), who will be
carrying our child,
of course. (No mention of whose sperm the poor thing is getting.)
I want to
"bed" Tom Cruise, which would be handy, especially
since Geri has stolen
Kenny from me. The fact is, I am a very private person, and I
hate to have my
life written about with this puerile, gently homophobic snigger.
I lived with
Kenny, very happily out to our loved ones, for two years before
all this crap
started.
Ultimately though, I suppose I would have to advise a young
version of me
that these days, celebrity and secrets don't go together. The
bastards will
get you in the end, baby. So don't give them that power. Be proud
of who you
are and deal with the shit, Oh, and stay away from public
conveniences unless
you really need to pee.
What do you think about the way gay and lesbian Americans are
fighting for
equal rights-as it compares to gays in England?
There are intrinsic differences between the two situations.
Firstly and most
importantly, I think that America is a far more fearful society
in general at
this point in time, far more afraid of change-and that is holding
American
gays back in terms of political change. In Europe in general, the
'90s didn't
see the horrific backlash against liberalism that the United
States did, and
we don't have the religious right to deal with, thank God! I
think that many
gay people in the States would be genuinely shocked at just how
much more
progressive Europeans are. The other major problem I think you
have here is
that your political system is actually too democratic. The fact
that
Americans vote on every bill and proposition can prolong bigotry
indefinitely, especially where it is aimed at minority groups. I
don't see
how you can change that process at this stage.
For the Brits, it's a different story. The ludicrous stumbling
block in our
system is the House of Lords, an unelected group of hereditary
peers-mostly
too old and deaf to even hear any debate clearly-who are as
backward-thinking
as they come. But when push comes to show (which it did recently
over the age
of consent for gay men), our elected politicians in the House of
Commons have
the power to overrule them and normally do when it's obvious that
they don't
have the support of the public. Gay Brit men of 16 now have the
same rights
as their female counterparts, and that is something I don't see
happening
soon in America.
You've often said that the most important way that you want to
express
yourself is through your music. Talk about your new CD.
I've only just begun the new record, so anything I say about it
will probably
be completely off the mark by the time it's done. But I can
definitely say
that I want to make a pop album- something more upbeat than my
stuff in the
'90s. That is, as long as nobody else decides to die on me in the
next year
or so! Or arrest me! Although actually, I would have to say that
getting
arrested was quite inspirational in a way. What I mean to say is
that my
songs are and always have been so attached to my day-to-day
existence that
there was no way I could have made an up-tempo album in the
middle of the
melodrama I've called my life for the past nine years. The
strange thing
about it was that even though my life was falling apart in many
ways, my
career went from strength to strength, even though I was
not doing the
touring or promotional work that I had done before. In fact I'm
sure it would
surprise most Americans-hell it surprised me -to know that last
year I was
the best selling male artist in the world outside of the States,
courtesy of
a long overdue greatest hits collection. Lots of the singles on
it were never
on the radio here, but obviously there were quite a few people
who were
enjoying my misery!
Why did you decide to perform at this awesome Equality Rocks
show?
I'm doing it because you, Judy, asked me to. And because you
nagged me
incessantly!
Seriously, it's because it is quite clearly an inspirational
event, and
because some of the information I have been reading in recent
years,
particularly with regard to "ex-gays" and "cure
centers," just makes my blood
boil. When you told me that we could address some of this onstage
I was in
for sure. I really don't think that much of society, especially
in Europe, is
aware of the horrific treatment of some gay teenagers here in the
States.
Never mind gay rights-how about plain old child abuse!
Also, I was very impressed with Garth Brook's commitment to the
show. He's
upsetting some of his core audience for something which he
believes in, and
that is admirable. Let's be honest, it's people like Garth's
audience that we
are trying to reach. If we only preach to the converted then the
show is just
a celebration-which is cool in itself of course, but it would be
great if it
were to become something more than that, something with
influence.
Apart from all that, it's a great way to thank you my American
gay audience,
because they have continued to dance and sing to the music
I make in a way
that straight Americans haven't- and I am grateful to them for
that. I am
very happy that I have a loyal, if smaller, following here, and
an event like
Equality Rocks allows me to make contact with them. But wait a
minute! You're
not going to turn away straight women, are you? Look, I need all
the help I
can get!
Thanks for typing the article up, Paulette.