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
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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.