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Theater

Out of this world

What about the agony of adolescence and all that? Did you have a cohort that supported you?
Yeah, I had a couple of really good friends. We were all on the same page together. Not a lot of friends, just a couple who were true soulmates.
 
I was in Scottsdale, Arizona, at a time when it was very conservative. I don’t think people got me, you know? But it forced me to be, I think, independent and creative. It all ends up working out in the long run when you’re not just adored and accepted by people.

Do you have role models that pointed you in certain directions?
Oh, yeah. Along the way there were so many different people: Mary Tyler Moore and Carol Burnett, Carol Channing, Lily Tomlin, and early Bette Midler. A myriad of different singers: Mick Jagger, Tina Turner. Just people who were, obviously, very unique and marched to the beat of their own drummer.

In terms of being an outsider, is being a lesbian something that gave you strength and confidence?
I don’t define myself as a lesbian. That’s a word that I find to be a bummer. I’m not a lesbian. I may be with women and I’ve been with a man. My sexuality is fluid and I don’t like limiting myself. It’s not a place of comfort by any stretch of the imagination. The gay community has its own horrible limitations and prejudices. So you’ve really got to be an individual.