Manolo
Blahnik
Drag performer, activist and organiser of
New York’s annual Wigstock festival, Lady Bunny talks
exclusively to PN
Words David G Taylor
Aids is god’s revenge’. Discuss.
Who’s writing these questions? Donna Summer? No, I don’t believe
in god or even capitalise ‘his’ name, so it’s not ‘his’
revenge. But even if you believe in ‘him’, I don’t think
the original Greek and Hebrew versions of the Bible denounce homosexuality.
The Christian church even
regularly performed gay weddings until the 14th Century. The church as gay-basher
didn’t exist until society became more prudish.
How has HIV touched your life?
I’m a hypochondriac who’s lived for 20 years among the highest
risk groups: in NYC, with the largest IV drug-user population, primarily sleeping
with black/hispanic men and being a big ol’ bottom (laughs). So I’ve
had to be extremely careful. It was drummed into my head by the Bible Belt
Christians I grew up with that ‘gay is sinful’. On some level,
the notion’s in my head that I deserve Aids as a punishment. But we
have to unlearn many crippling, faulty childhood lessons, don’t we?
What impact has HIV had on the drag world?
Many drag queens are bottoms, which puts them at greater risk. Plus, drinking
and drugging are an occupational hazard for any queen who works in a bar or
a club. And we all know that sobriety and safety are closely linked.
Didn’t you see Larry Kramer talking about HIV during his infamous
2004 speech at Cooper Union Great Hall?
It’s a message I totally agree with, so powerfully expressed. It was
incredibly moving to see this frail, ailing man asking where and why gay men’s
fight vanished. He saw Bush’s second election as a sign that civil rights
advances of the last 30 years could be overturned. Our conservative enemies
are so powerful, and how can we fight them when we can’t manage our
own health, engaging in destructive
behaviors like crystal meth abuse and barebacking? Larry wondered how many
men his infected semen had killed and he said it out loud: if you abandon
safe sex and knowingly infect someone, it is murder.
You recently returned to the London stage at the club Too2Much. How
was the show received?
It was fantastic! It was a treat to see so many scenesters come out: Tasty
Tim, Princess Julia, Luke Howard, Jeffrey Hinton... the old fools from the
old school, like me. London is one of my favorite cities and I hung out for
a week after the show with the insane MC Kinky.
What was it like being on Sex And The City?
Hard work! There was a room full of queens who weren’t used to 9am call
times and we were all bitter because the air conditioner had to be turned
off (in July) during the taping. I was thoroughly impressed by Sarah Jessica
Parker. She’s not a beauty, but she has an intense
personal magnetism. Her radiance really lit up the room, and it’s not
easy to light up a room full of evil, exhausted, overheated queens.
What have been the highlights of your career so far?
I was on the Comedy Central Roast of Pamela Anderson this summer. I only appeared
briefly, but it was the top-rated TV special for years and I got to meet Anna
Nicole Smith. I’m proudest of my website, though.
You recently took part in Big Hair Mania, the annual fundraiser for
Minnesota AIDS Project. What other HIV benefits have you been involved in?
The most exciting was MAC’s Fashion Cares in Toronto. I got to work
with my idol, Patti LaBelle.
What exciting things do you have coming up in 2006?
This is my year, the Year of the Dog (laughs). I’m DJing in Tokyo for
a Visionaire [fancy fashion magazine] party in February and have shows booked
this spring in Florida, Houston, Atlanta - yikes, all the red states –
and California. I’ve also got a record coming out in March called It’s
Tonight with English production duo The Boneheadz .
If you could be President for the day, what three things would you
do first?
1) Impeach and jail Bush. 2) Apologise to the world and start to work for
peace. 3) Halt global warming, even if it means cutting down on air conditioning
during drag TV shoots. However, I would consider releasing Bush from prison
on a work release program so that he can fan me. If, that is, he’s finished
his daily chore of cleaning all of NYC’s gay bathhouses early enough
to permit it.
• Lady Bunny’s DVD, ‘X-Rated: For X-tra Retarded’,
is out now.
• www.ladybunny.net
