Entertainment and the Closet...
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It’s weird. I also have compassion for people. Down here in Atlanta, its like a huge Tea Party place. It’s super tea part here, there are big billboards about it and everything. I’ve met a lot of these people. You end up working with people like that. I think their problem isn’t really that they’re bad people but that they’re so afraid of disappearing. Their ways of life, their ways of thinking and their values are not being reflected back at them in society so they feel the sense of non-inclusion that we as queers, we as people of color, we as political progressives have felt in the past. Now, the shoe’s on the other foot and they feel not included. They feel like the other, which is really interesting. Still, I have empathy, even though I don’t share their point of view and I am terrified of their point of view actually. I find it really racist, really homophobic and really terrible and full of hate. But at the same time, I can understand that it comes from the place I come from too, the fear of non-inclusion and the fear of not existing. Fortunately, they are dealing with that now.
Speaking of being invisible or vanishing, I wanted to talk to you about the entertainment world and the closet, which is a part of your recent concert film Beautiful. What do you think about all of these actors, musicians and performers—who will remain nameless—who are still playing straight until their careers are stalling, when they promptly come springing out of the closet?
I actually think its different in every field. Acting is the place that I see the most closeted people. In the acting world, there is the most unwillingness to come out and then when people do come out, the ability to be free becomes a major part of their identity. So there’s a lot of actors who are not willing to do that. Then there is this kind of consciousness around that if you’re a gay actor, you will not be able to play straight roles. Which I think is bullshit because we see straight actors play gay roles all the time. Why is there not the ability to cross over? I think that that world, acting, is pretty homophobic. I think music is more receiving to a certain extent. In music, that sexual fluidity, in rock ‘n’ roll, it’s always been a “thing” it’s always been cool. You look at David Bowie in the 1970s and his sexuality was so cool. Lou Reed, Iggy Pop and people like that, their sexual fluidity was a part of who they were, or Prince, even. Although, Prince nowadays is quite homophobic, which is quite strange to me. (laughing) He’s become such a homophobe and I love Prince so it’s such a disappointment!
We have in rock ‘n’ roll, people like Adam Lambert, which is so thrilling. I’m glad that people like Ricky Martin have finally come out. That’s really cool. I think even though he was not able to do so at the height of his 1999 big stardom, because all of that was sort of hooked in with being a heartthrob. But I can look at Adam Lambert and see him as a heartthrob and that’s very rock ‘n’ roll. Just being in music and working in music now I know more about the music world than I ever had and I see that there is just so much more fluidity. You have newer people, like a great band called Of Montreal, where Kevin Barnes openly sings about bisexuality and gender fluidity. I think that’s so tremendous. So, I feel a lot of faith in the younger generation and in music. In rock ‘n’ roll, there’s a lot more homo-acceptance, queer acceptance than there is in acting and I think in the acting world it’s pretty tough.
Do you think being queer in the entertainment world is a different ballgame for men than it is for women?
Yes, absolutely. I think that in the acting world for sure. Look at Anna Paquin and how her being bisexual is going to totally boost the whole True Blood phenomenon. Bisexuality, in general, is something that men cannot lay claim to because people tend to skew that bisexuals don’t exist, even in the queer community, there’s a prevailing notion that bisexuality is just a fear-based answer when you’re truly gay. There’s definitely a double standard. Women are much more able to express that fluidity of gender and something like bisexuality for female actresses is tremendously exciting, whereas for male actors… I don’t think of it as a problem and I don’t think of it as strange.
Basically if everybody came out of the closet, I think it would solve everything because then people would see ‘oh, I’m a big fan of this actor and he’s bi or he’s gay but I totally believe it.’ Its not about sexuality. Sexuality is a part of who we are but it doesn’t necessarily identify our work or affect our work. Because if you’re an actor, what you bring to the role is what is written for you and you express that. It doesn’t necessarily define who you are, it’s just bringing your experience to something someone else wrote. Its a very tricky thing, but if everybody came out, it would be solved.
What is the gayest thing you’ve done lately?
Let’s see…I do a lot of gay shit. I’ve been doing a lot of fag haggy things, like hanging out with couples, like I’m friends with one guy and I’m trying to get him to let me fuck his boyfriend. (laughing) That’s like real old school, 1970s fag hag shit. I’m bringing that back. I’m bringing that back, the old school fag hag whose trying to get you to let her fuck your boyfriend. If your boyfriend is kind of bi or curious about it, let me fuck your boyfriend, let me fuck your boyfriend. That’s pretty gay. I’m trying to bring it back to sort of a Waylon Flowers and Madame kind of fag hag-ism. (laughing) I drink a lot of real fruity drinks and stuff, you know, things in a coconut, and then let me try to fuck your boyfriend. That’s pretty gay.
Lets talk about marriage, Proposition 8 and your involvement with the queer rights movement. What are your current thoughts on where same sex marriage is going next, especially in lieu of the recent spate of conservative opponents to same sex marriage being caught having gay sex?
Yeah! To me, that’s just so ludicrous and sick. Its so weird and its so typical that people who are the loudest opponents of gay marriage are closeted gays. To me gay marriage or marriage equality isn’t necessarily about relationships or about marriage. Its not even about gay people. Its really about the definition of equality and what equality means. You cannot say that equality extends to everybody in the country when you’re only giving it to people who are straight. Its just an incomplete definition of the word. You’re not respecting the Constitution, you’re not respecting the idea of America or the values of this country when you don’t respect the rights of queers. This country is supposed to be free, we’re supposed to be equal. So to me, the gay marriage debate is so basic and so much more about the very nature of the Constitution and why we’re here in the first place. It blocks out any arugment that anybody has. Its something that is beyond argument. Again, people are so homophobic and afraid of disappearing, being afraid of being found out—whatever the reason—when people are afraid of gay marriage, there is something going on behind that I think.
If I did not ask about your mother and father readers would probably be really pissed. What are Mr. & Mrs. Cho up to?
They’re doing very well, they’re living in San Diego. They just joined a country club where they play golf like crazy. I think they’re super upset about Tiger Woods and still cannot deal with it. My dad is way, so gay for the PGA, like, they can’t really deal with the whole Tiger Woods thing, I think they’re still kind of freaked out, as most Korean people are because Korean people think of Tiger Woods as Asian, which he is, people forget he is Asian. He’s much more Asian than people think! My parents are still in mourning about that… but I would have fucked him. I totally would have done whatever I could to fuck Tiger Woods, I just never got to go to the Masters. I didn’t make it to Augusta. I’m down with fucking him, but my parents are upset. (laughing)
