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About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Nov. 6, 2009)
J M t t . NOVEMBER 6 2009 WWW JU STOUT COM PERSONALITIES DELTA CAFE “A Froth o f Transform ative Q ueer E n e rg /"- An Interview with Tim Miller By GARY M ORRIS nsgjMSgggg RICE ftARTENL ki intubarci 4 «0 7 SE WOODSTOCK (503) 771-3101 PROVIDING SOCIAL WORK AND NURSING MEDICAL CASE MANAGEMENTTO PEOPLE LIVING WITH HIV/AIDS SINCE 1995 Serving 1200 individuals a year in the Portland 4 county area. Working to keep you insured, in medical care and in contact with the services you need! PARTNERSHIP (PROJECT HIV ADVOCACY & SERVICES SINCE I'xH SERVICIOS DISPONIBLES EN ESPAÑOL For intake scheduling, information and referral, call our intake team at 5 0 3 517-3590 - www.ohsu.edu/partnership OREGON HEALTH &SC1ENCE UNIVERSITY FREE LISTENING PARTY 1 1 /2 2 /0 9 "FEATURING DJ RESCUE (ZIA FROM "THE DANDY WARHOLS") 21 + // 8PM // @ JINX BAR, 232 NW 12TH just out V VA H I T M A R T I N I Artist, activist, author and teacher Tim Miller, born in 1958, is probably the most celebrated gay performance artist in America. His shows, based on his life as both queer and political, are noted for their humor, passion and celebratory treatment o f queerness (in cluding unabashed nudity) that recalls Walt Whitman. In 1990, he was one o f four artists denied N EA grants against the committee’s own wishes because of “homosexual content.” Notoriety and a lawsuit followed; the N EA 4 won their case but also saw their work suffer. Just Out caught up with Miller, who will ap pear at Pacific University jn Forest Grove as part o f a national tour, and asked him about the N EA experience and more. TIM MILLER performs from 1001 B e d s on Thurs.. Nov. 12. 7-9 p.m. at the Tom Miles Theatre. Pacific University. 2043 College Way. Forest Grove. $10: free to Pac U students. 503-352-2918. my stereotyping went into overdrive, and I thought they were going to beat me up. But then one o f them asked me how could they as military officers next year help dismantle “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” in their units! These young officers have more vision and courage than our president. JO : Speaking of President Obama, how would you rate him on queer issues? TM : I have been very critical o f President Obama’s lack o f action. The [Defense of Marriage Act] brief that the [Department o f Justice] filed was so homophobic. Almost 400 gay service people have been kicked out o f the military since January 20. On the other hand, this week he signed the first-ever piece o f pro-gay legislation that the federal government has ever passed. We will have to push and pull him to do the right thing. JO : In a 1999 essay, you said that writing one’s story is a “fierce act o f imagining the future.” At this point, 10 years later, how do you imagine the future for American society and, particularly, G L B T people? TM : The right-this-instant heat o f live performing is an especially handy cattle prod to encourage people to get behind that steering wheel and hit the road and make that future happen! I believe my mission— should I decide to accept it— as an artist and a gay man is to give witness to this challenging time, to live out loud and give that voice to my community. One o f the things I think performance can do quite well is to gather community into overheated rooms in order to shine a light on systems o f prejudice that are just so damn unfair. I feel lucky that I get to gather with people in cities all over the coun try at my shows to raise awareness, encourage activism, stir the dating pool, and test-drive strategies for lesbian and gay equality. JO : What can we expect from your ap pearance at Pacific University? TM : I am pulling some of my favorite and juiciest performance material from my [2007 Lambda Award-winning] book 1001 Beds , and I will whip it into a froth of trans formative queer energy! Ju st Out: How did the N E A 4 experience affect you and your career? Tim Miller: In 1990, 1 had been awarded an N EA Solo Performer Fellowship, which was promptly overturned under political pressure from the Bush White House be cause o f the lush, wall-to-wall homo themes o f my creative work. O ff to the Supreme Court we went! The whole thing was as much fun as a colonoscopy! Whole swaths o f the country that I used to perform and teach in became off-limits for years. I lost a great deal o f work. JO : Do you feel your work is still con troversial, particularly your emphasis on unapologetic gay sexuality and your public exposure o f the naked “queer body”? TM : Yes. I do my shows lots in the big gay city places: London, New York, Los An geles, San Francisco. But I also perform in tiny little towns and conservative colleges. I was performing last year in North Carolina at a conservative Baptist university. There is a part o f the performance where I tell a story about the first time I ever got fucked in the ass when I was 18. It was on Hollywood Bou levard, and the story builds toward the mo ment where I am running down Hollywood Boulevard along the stars on the sidewalk of the Walk of Fame with my pants around my ankles and cum dripping out o f my ass on the stars of John Travolta, Tab Hunter, Ronald Reagan. I swear, with the right audience it’s a very funny moment. After the performance it was that part o f the piece that the students mentioned, and told me how it gave them permission to really take chances in the per formances they were working on. JO : How do you stay upbeat in these heady times for queer people? TM : My travels keep me pretty optimis tic. I was performing last year in Lubbock at Gary Morris writes on various arts topics for Texas Tech. After my performance, I found Just Out and other publications , including his myself surrounded by some RO TC students website Bright Lights Film Journal at www. in full uniform. They just wouldn’t leave, and brightlightsfilm. com.
