Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Just out. (Portland, OR) 1983-2013 | View Entire Issue (Oct. 21, 2011)
3 4 OCTOBER 21.2011 WWW.JUSTOUT.COM WHEN YOU CARE ENOUGH TO SEND THE VERY WEIRDEST UNEXPECTED, UNCOMMON AND DEFINITELY UN BORING Kate Clinton turns tears to laughter with poignant reflections BY ERIN ROOK O-No Sushi Andrew Bell LIMITED AVAILABILITY! BAGS, TEES & ART TOYS T r ic k - o r -T P ortland 3 8 2 4 N. M ISSISSIPPI AVE MISSINGLINKTOYS.COM □ PDX, OR reat & C nt the ostum e S aturday P arade M arket 4 Make your own Trick or Treat Bag 11:00-3:00 PM Costume Parade and Contest 12:00 PM Win one of three $25 gift cards Trick-or-Treat Adventures 12:30-3:00 PM at over a 100 booths P O I tT t A H Alter Open Weekends March - Christmas Eve. 50.3.222.6072 • Port lai ulSaturc layMarket. com Talking to political humorist and lesbian Kate Clinton, one thing is clear— life is seri ously funny. Though our conversation is peppered with laughter, the heaviness of the subject matter prompts the 63-year-old New Yorker to remind me that her comedy show really is funny. “Well that sounds like a lot o f fun in a show, doesn’t it?” Clinton quips after de scribing one o f the themes in her current show, The Glee Party. “But actually people do laugh. Everyone’s just jamming their drink straws in their eyes. But it’s fun. They do laugh.” Clinton’s brand of political humor is so funny (and so sad) because it’s true. In the 30 years she’s been performing na tionally, Clinton has honed an uncanny ability to provide sharp commentary on current events and inspire audiences to action, all in the guise of entertainment. In addition to tak ing the stage as a co median, Clinton has also appeared on film, Broadway and televi sion; written three books (7 Told You So, What the L ?, Don't Get Me Started); contrib uted to The Progressive , The Advocate and Bilerico Project; and provided political com mentary on C N N , ABC News and The R a chel Maddow Show (M SNBC). “Kate Clinton has held the mirror that reflects every single issue that has faced us for the last 25 years. We’ve laughed with her, we’ve cried with her, and we’ve been changed by her,” Kate Kcndell, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in 2006. Clinton talked to Just Out last month in advance of her tour’s October 29 stop in Port land. She reflected on Tea Party antics, women in comedy and the role of anger in revolution. Just Out: How did the current tour come about? And what does it have to do with the Tea Party? Kate Clinton: Since the economy crashed and all kinds o f things have been happening, people are kind o f depressed. So I thought, what better antidote to that than Glee? Ev erybody loves that show and I think they love that show because problems are solved in 42 minutes or less and, for no apparent reason, people break into song and dance. I t’s a happy show and I think th at’s impor tant. And it’s a little Tea Party because I think they have that same sort of quality. The tea baggers think ... everything should be solved in two years or less. And you ask them questions and they break into these song-and-dance routines. And you’re like, “W hat are you talking about?” JO: Some say we should ignore M i chele Bachmann, that talking about her gives her power. How do you think we should respond? Clinton: I think that you have to stand up to bullies. You can’t just let them say things and not be challenged. I think th at’s a mis take when we don’t [challenge them]. I do think that the 24/7 news cycle and constant internet feeds give it an importance that it doesn’t really have. W hen you think about the fact that Michele Bachmann won the Iowa straw poll—you would have thought she became president that day. And it was only 4,700 votes. There’s a certain kind of annoying in flation of things that really aren’t that impor tant. Inflation like this is really an insane minority and not a huge movement. JO: Speaking of gays and Republicans, what you think about G O Proud’s new diva- in-residence, Ann Coulter? Clinton: I admire gay people who are in the Catholic Church and are trying to trans form it from within. I t’s nothing I could ever do— I don’t behave well in those situations— but I really admire their willingness to just go toe-to-toe with the opposition in that organization, in that church. And for the same reason I admire people who are pres ent in the Republican Party, LG B T peo ple— not really, just some Gs, but whatev er—who are working from within to transform the Republican Party.
