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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 23, 2009)
JANUARY 23, 2009 A Kiss Is Just a Kiss Y Jim Radosta: Your gay fans must have a hard time imagining what it was like growing up with two pastors as parents. Katy Perry: It was probably like their regular, strict parents as well! [Laughs] Sometimes growing up in a family that doesn’t quite understand who you are and who you’re turning into—I think that is what we both have in common. 1 didn’t really know anything other than that world. Everything was related to church and going to church and my church friends and my church school. 1 didn’t really realize that: “Shit, the world is not flat. It’s actu ally round.” And 1 found that out when 1 was 17. JR: Was your fam ily actively opposed to homosexuality? KP: They were never the types that would go and picket. They have their be liefs and perspective on lots of different subjects, and I have my roots in my faith, but it’s definitely not the picture that they paint. We agree to disagree. 7 p book an appointment, call 5O3-453-W24 and receive 50% off your first MASSAGE Boxes Jim's Closet BY JIM RADOSTA j JR: How did “I Kissed a Girl” come about? KP: In some ways it was based on a friendship 1 had when 1 was younger that was more like an obsessive crush. She was beautiful and had the perfect features of a ballerina. I never kissed her. She was kind of like my ghostwriter/muse for this song, I guess you could say. But it wasn’t really about that one woman in particular. It was just about the idea that beauty sometimes can turn anybody’s sexual orienta tion—it doesn’t mat ter, male or female. Sometimes, for me, there is a woman that walks into the room and you’re just like: “Where did this come from? You’re perfect.” Redefine everything you think you know about dance and drag at Pants Off Productions' Kick/Ball/Change www.LAW420.com Oregon Marijuana and Criminal Law Attorney and Counselor at Law With special emphasis on Marijuana Criminal Charges & Medical Marijuana & all other drug crimes, including: • Methamphetamine • Cocaine & Heroin • MDMA (Ecstacy, X) & GHB • Steroids, Poppers, & Prescription Drugs Other Criminal Charges covered, including DUH, Prostitution, Theft and Assault Alphabeat opens for K aty P erry 7:30 p.m. Jan. 26 at Crystal Ballroom, 1332 W. Burnside St. Tickets are $18 from Ticketmaster. She'll also perform at the 51 st annual Grammy Awards 8 p.m. Feb. 8 on CBS. Arts and Culture Editor J im R adosta needs your feedback. E-mail Kim at jim@justout.com. Inviting Desine ph: 503.227.6000 fax: 503.227.4702 john@law420.com Laugh, cry and blush at Breaking and Entering's ForePlay at the Someday JR: How did you feel when that church in Ohio posted a sign that read, “I kissed a girl and I liked it, then I went to hell”? KP: I posted a blog response back to it. 1 basically just wrote back and said, “Come just as you are?” JR: Did you ever dream that a bi-curious anthem could be No. 1 in America for seven weeks? KP: Well, 1 think America just caught up with itself. You know, it’s 2009. 1 think 1 just said the unspoken. It’s not really any secret if you get into a group of girls. It’s very normal, and if you ask a lot of people on the street, a lot of girls will give you the same answer 1 gave them, but 1 just kind of wrote a song about it, you know? It’s one of those things where it’s not very taboo anymore, ’cause it never should have been in the first place. © Explore the rainbow of feminine sexual desire at Dance Naked Production's noRim Katy Perry, 24, grew up as the middle child of two traveling-minister parents in Santa Barbara, Calif. JR: What was it like when Madonna endorsed “Ur So Gay” during a radio interview? How do you respond when people say the song is homophobic? KP: It was like the champagne sendoff for my career. It was amazing that the queen of all pop—the woman who, when she speaks, every body listens—said something about me, another female. Wow! I think a lot of people who haven’t heard the song and just look at the title very easily could be confused and judge a bwk by its cover. Sex, love, identity politics, drag and dance. Whether you like your art steamy, smart, sexy or all three you'll find it all at these Fertile Ground Festival performances Break out of the box of gender identity atjessamyn Roe's JR: But you consider yourself straight, right? KP: Uh, I wear many hats at many different times. But I don’t think I could ever handle being in a relationship with another one of me. JR: How did you come around to see that they were on the wrong side of that issue? KP: I remember coming to Los Angeles and meeting some really fantastic people and they happened to be gay, and they were really always there for me and encouraging me and we had the best time. There would be that small little thing inside of me from my childhood days like, “These people aren’t good for you!” That’s a totally wrong opinion that I was in stilled with that has definitely left my body. I was like, “Oh, no, you’re a fantastic human being, and you’re not going to hell, ’cause if you are, I wilt hold your hand all the way there." 33 Resolve to taking better care of YOU in 2009! Katy Perry puckers up ou’ve come a long way, baby. In 2001 she was a teen contemporary Christian singer named Katy Hudson crooning, “Lord, help me see the reality/ That all I’ll ever need is you.” Today she’s Katy Perry, the pop princess be- hind “I Kissed a Girl," a summertime smash that received a Grammy nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. Last month she graced the cover of Out (alongside Portland gay filmmak er Gus Van Sant) for being among last year’s 100 most influential people in the queer community. JUStpUt I Spend time in the doghouse with four gay/straight/transgender men on the brink of breakup with Perna Teeter's Talking Dogs Plus amazing world premieres from Portland Center Stage, Artists Rep, NW Children's Theater and morel Dig into the details at Just Out readers are hungry! Advertise your restaurant with us! For special advertising rales, contact us at (503) 236-1253 www.fertilegroundpdx.org NOW - FEB 1 The Fertile Ground Festival Pass It's your 10-day ticket to the future of Portland Theater. Buy yours today for just $150. Festival Buttons (only $9) get you in for cheap (plus great deals on drinks and chow). PATA PWTUN 4MA TNUne AUMSa Oregon Live, com The Mark Spencer Hotel
