Interview
with Lesley Gore by Shauna Swartz,
June 23, 2005
Lesley
Gore
Former
60s teen idol Lesley
Gore, who is best known for her classic songs "It's
My Party (I'll Cry if I Want To)" and "You Don't
Own Me," talks to us about her career, her new album,
and why she hasn't officially come out as a lesbian (until
now).
AfterEllen.com:
So, you’re about to tour with your new album, beginning
in New York--is that right? Lesley
Gore: Yes. We’re concentrating on New York
during the summer…kind of trying to sneak it out in
New York over the summer and then on a more national level
come September. The release date is June 28th and our first
performance is at Joe’s Pub. New York is where I live.
AE:
Do you live alone--besides with your dog [which appears
in a photo with her on the In the Life website]? LG: I have a partner of 23 years and I
have a cocker spaniel who turned two--what’s today?--she
turned two on Friday, June 4th. Little Billie, named after
Billie Holiday, one of my favorite singers. And I thought,
you know, a little gender confusion makes a better person.
A little adversity in life at an early age. It’s character
building.
AE:
Our readers are interested in representations of lesbians
and bisexual women in the media, and I imagine a lot of
them will be surprised to be able to claim you amongst ourselves.
I was wondering, have you ever come out on the record? LG:
On the record? Well, you know, it’s funny. I just
never found it was necessary because I really never kept
my life private. Those who knew me, those who worked with
me were well aware. And what I actually started doing was,
well, for a couple of years now I’ve been hosting
[the PBS series] In the Life, and that was just
kind of my way of saying, here I am and this is what I feel
I should be doing now, and it was sort of a natural evolution
for me as opposed to, you know, this great gong in the head.
AE:
I knew you had hosted an In the Life episode earlier
this year. I didn’t realize you’ve been doing
it for two years. LG:
Yeah, the show I just hosted is I think the second one I’ve
done for them, and I think they’re terrific people
and they know if they ever need to call upon me, I’m
there. It’s a great program.
You
know, the interesting thing about having traveled around
the country as much as I have, and I think it’s sort
of inadvertently what made me come out or at least begin
doing things within the community and thinking more about
that, was that I get to travel quite a bit. I meet a lot
of young people in the Midwest, and I saw what a difference
a show like In the Life can make to their lives in some
of these small towns where, you know, there are probably
two gay people in the whole damn town. It’s made a
real inroads for them. They come and they talk to me about
this stuff, so I know how important it is.
AE:
Would you say that people knew you were gay back when
you were first performing? You were pretty young,
about 17, right? LG:
Well, I didn’t know until I was in my twenties,
so if they knew it, they knew it before I did. [Laughs]
You know, maybe someone did think that. I don’t
know, but I certainly didn’t know it until I
was in my twenties.
AE:
Once you did know, did you have to go to lengths to
conceal it in the music industry? LG:
Well, I don’t think I went to lengths. I just
kind of lived my life naturally and did what I wanted
to do. I didn’t avoid anything, I didn’t
put it in anybody’s face. Times were very different
then, so, you know, I just tried to live as normally
as humanly possible. But as truthfully as humanly
possible.
Gore
in the early 1960s
AE:
And how would you say that times were different? LG:
Well, there were was very little acceptance of gay people.
I think the record industry, by and large what’s left
of it, is still totally homophobic. I think it’s much
less so in the film industry now, but the record industry,
it’s always been a man’s world. It’s always
been a patriarchal situation, and it’s always put
women, not necessarily down, but certainly on a lower rung.
