Groundbreaking queermedian Kate Clinton keeps ’em coming
SISTER ACT | Kate Clinton performs her Sis Boom Bah show Friday in Fort Worth.
RICH LOPEZ | Contributing Writer
getrichindallas@gmail.com
Kate Clinton has the sniffles. Cold and flu season doesn’t care that the comedian has an act to do, or even that she’s a celebrity, so she’s apologizing in advance for the sneezes.
“I don’t know what I have, but it’s been going on for almost two weeks,” she says.
“Maybe I got a downsize version of the flu, because I got my shot.”
Just hours earlier, she had to demonstrate grace under pressure, sitting for a photo shoot promoting her Sis Boom Bah Tour, which comes to Fort Worth Feb. 22 in collaboration with QCinema and Open Door Productions. And although she shook off discomfort for her camera time, one thing just wasn’t working for her.
“Well, my hair was perfect last week, but now it’s too long,” she says.
Kate Clinton worries about her hair? That seems hard to believe of someone who’s career was always more smart than folly. Clinton’s work is the stuff of legend, especially among the queer demographic. She’s hardly about her hair. Then again, she did recently conclude a stint at the Creating Change conference in Atlanta, which she described as sexier than people would imagine.
“It’s a very sexy time and there is lots of hooking up,” she enthuses. “It’s hot and I love it. There’s all this great style and fashion going on also.”
Um, so what about the actual activism part of the conference?
“Oh, well yeah, there’s that,” she concedes. “You have about 3,000 LGBT activists and half are under 30 so it’s this great inspirational time. The range of issues is so great touching on retired gay elders to youth issues and everything in between. I love starting the year of my tour with that.”
As with previous tours, Clinton will surely cover national news, the state of the queer community and sporting events, while adding material as it comes — everything from whatever person has stuck a foot in his mouth recently to Obama’s second inaugural. And really, she can’t leave out the inauguration, with its historic references to gay Americans.
“When the president acknowledges and even just says ‘gay’ in his inauguration speech, it was amazing! I mean, it would have been nice if he also said ‘lesbian, bisexual and transgender,’ but hey, it was still moving. So yeah, I imagine I’ll mention that.”
So does having Obama in for another four years help — or hinder — her quest for new material? And how does she even include him in her act being that he’s been the most outspoken president regarding gay rights?
“I think the difference is, I come from a place of love,” she says. “I will criticize him because I want him to be better, and if nothing else, I can always look to the Catholic Church for material. And the Republicans never disappoint.”
She also vows to her longtime fans that her new tour will focus on (surprise!) women. When she started in the business, that was outside the mainstream; in recent months and years, though, women are trending — or as she says, “Women are the new gays.”
Even her tour name lightheartedly appeals to women of a certain vintage.
“My publicist is always saying to name my shows to differentiate my material,” she says. “I love the idea of the name because ‘Sis’ makes it about the sisters,
‘Boom’ for the baby boomers and ‘Bah’ for all those issues we can’t break through — although we’ve made great progress.”
Speaking of progress, did fellow celesbian Jodie Foster set it back with that enigmatic Golden Globe speech?
“You know, it’s kind of a reminder of how far we’ve come. There’s a whole range of people who don’t have to live that way but I’m not saying it’s an easy business to be out in, but we’re too far along now to not be out,” she says. “But I’m old school. Unless you say, ‘I’m a big ol’ lesbian,’ it doesn’t count.”
This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition February 22, 2013.