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Jane Wiedlin talks bisexuality, BDSM and The Go-Go’s last tour

Jane Wiedlin is a queer rock icon and an open book. The Go-Go’s guitarist and songwriter has been out as bisexual and as a member of the BDSM community for so long that, as she mentions in our interview, people don’t even think to ask her about it anymore. Well for very obvious reasons, it’s still of interest to us and Jane, who just set off on The Go-Go’s Farewell Tour, was nice enough to indulge us during a quick chat between tour stops.

via Getty

AfterEllen.com: How aware were you in the early days and how aware are you now of your queer female fans?

Jane Wiedlin: It would be impossible not to be aware of our fan base. We’ve always had queer women fans, queer male fans. I think back in the ’80s we had more lesbians and less gay men, and nowadays we have more gay men and less lesbians.

AE: Any reason why you think that is?

JW: I don’t know. Obviously, we’re very gay-friendly with women or men—we don’t mind. We love everybody. You know, The Go-Go’s show is really like a big party and people that really like to have fun and dance and go crazy, those are the kind of people that gravitate towards our shows.

AE: Not that we can always pick out a lesbian or bisexual woman. Maybe there are more out there in the crowd than either of us knows about.

JW: That could be.

photo by Sam Cali

AE: You personally, you’re a well-known public person who’s out about being bisexual and have been for some time now. That said, we’re living in a world, as you’re probably aware, where bisexual erasure is still prevalent, particularly in the media. Have you experienced that? What are your thoughts on that in general?

JW: I never really spend a lot of time thinking about it. To me, it was just that I was always a free spirit, and it was just like whoever I loved was who I loved, and it wasn’t necessarily because they were a man or a woman. I didn’t feel this real strong boundary that it seems like most people seem to feel. I feel like I’ve always been really open about it for a really long time, and just nobody’s ever shown any interest in it. And I’m not going to go around like saying, “Hey! Guess what? I’m bisexual. Woo-hoo! Pay attention to me.” Like I just don’t really see it as an issue. So I don’t really feel erased or not erased. But I mean, yeah, I think that a lot of people kind of have a problem with bisexuality because everyone wants everyone to like choose and to stay in some kind of box. But not everybody works that way.

AE: You were married. Do you feel that there were assumptions made about you by the media? Did the discussions around bisexuality come up as often? Or did you not really experience that?

JW: This whole discussion of bisexuality is really new. People haven’t been talking about it more than a few years, in my opinion. Me being an older person, people don’t normally ask old people about their sex life.

AE: Which is an issue.

JW: I don’t know. I sort of feel like why does anyone talk about anyone’s sex life. I just don’t get why it’s an issue if someone is gay or straight or bi or whatever they are, however they identify. I just don’t understand it; I don’t get why it’s a big deal. I’ve never been ashamed to say I was bisexual, but at the same time, like I said, I’m not going to go and shout it from the rooftops. Because to me, it’s about as important as being ambidextrous, which I also am. I don’t really talk about that much either. I’m just not really politicized in that regard.

via Getty

AE: To be clear, when I said it’s an issue I meant that if we’re going to be talking about sexuality at all, we shouldn’t assume that people over 50 suddenly aren’t sexual. And that’s obviously not the case for you. It’s now been over 10 years since your time on The Surreal Life and your coming out to a national audience about being involved in BDSM. I like to think we’re a lot more open as a society now, but how do you think the BDSM community is perceived today?

JW: I think that BDSM has become kind of a marketing tool. You see a lot of it in advertising now. I see a lot of people that I really kind of doubt they actually are perverts—like pretending they are. It was a lot of fun in the ’90s and now I kind of feel like, I don’t know, everything gets ruined, including that. I just think it’s like “ugh” when you see it in a commercial, or you see some super vapid pop star think she’s kinky or whatever. I just want to barf because I just don’t believe it. I think a lot of it is super phony.

I kind of feel that way about bisexuality too, to be honest. I think a lot of people—it’s a thing they use because they think it’s going to make them cooler or whatever. I always thought, “Just admit you’re bisexual because people need to know that we’re out there and it’s not a big deal.” That’s why all along I’ve always said I was, because I thought I’m not hiding anything. I don’t hide my life. I mean, I hid being a perv until the ’90s and it felt really good to come out of the closet with that. And I’m not ashamed of that. I’m not afraid of my interest in kink or anything else. It’s sexuality. It’s not hurting anybody and anyone who doesn’t like it can fuck off and I wouldn’t want to be friends with anyone that judged me for either of those things anyway.

AE: Despite the commercialization of it, when people talk to you about BDSM today, do you think they take you seriously given your history of being outspoken on this?

JW: You’re like the only person that’s asked me about this for like years, so I haven’t had to really think about it.

AE: I don’t know if it’s a good thing that I’m asking or a bad thing. You let me know.

JW: I don’t mind. Like I said, I’m not ashamed of myself or anything I do or have done. Sexuality is a total spectrum. That especially pertains to BDSM and I guess the LGBT stuff and the whole queer thing. Actually, I really embrace the whole queer thing because it does seem more inclusive and it’s a bigger spectrum. It includes a lot of different possibilities and I think it’s all about people getting outside their own boxes. If they want to. Or if they want to be 100 percent one thing, whatever, that’s their thing.

AE: I’m curious, are you still officiating same-sex weddings?

JW: Oh yeah. Love, love, love doing that. It all started for me in 2008 when in California they legalized equality in marriage. And then a few months later they took it away with Proposition 8. During that window of time, I got my license to be an officiant because I wanted to marry all my gay friends. So it was a super big bummer when Prop 8 happened, but then, as we all know, things just sort of—there was kind of a landslide effect all over the country. I think it’s an amazing time. There’s been a lot of change. A lot of really amazing good change. We have a long way to go, but we have a long way to go with all kinds of things, not just LGBTQ stuff.

AE: Are you licensed to officiate all across the United States?

JW: I’m licensed for the whole country.

AE: Since you’re coming over, can you do weddings in Canada as well, or is that something for the future?

JW: I think I would probably have to apply for a license, but I don’t think it’s hard to get one. It depends on if someone asks.

AE: All right well these lesbians don’t have a lot of time until you’re here, so they need to get on it. So let’s talk about that. You’re coming to Toronto and other cities as well. What can fans expect out of this new tour?

JW: Well we added some songs that we haven’t played for a very long time. A few that we haven’t played live at all. We’ve added a couple of our original punk songs from the ’70s into the set, which are super fun to play. And we’ve got a couple of acoustic numbers and, of course, all the hits. Duh, we have to do that. Basically the band is getting along so well. We are so happy to be together. I know it’s hard for the fans that we’re planning on retiring as a touring band, but for us it’s just making this tour so much fun and so precious. Every single night we play in every single town is just a really wonderful experience for us and for the audience.

The Go-Go’s play New York City on Aug. 13, Toronto on Aug. 16 and Los Angeles on Aug. 30. Check out their website for tickets and a long list of other cities.

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