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Bette Midler on gay culture today: ‘A little bit of the specialness has rubbed away’
Bette Midler misses the outrageousness of the days.
‘The extreme characters you used to see in the Village in the old days, you just don’t see them anymore,’ the divine one tells Advocate.com.
‘I really do miss them because there was a feeling I used to get that people were expressing themselves in the most elaborate of ways,’ she adds. ‘Now the [gay community] has kind of gone mainstream. It’s sort of ordinary now, and a little bit of the specialness has rubbed away.’
Bette, 68, has kept her gay fan base since she became a sensation at Continental Baths in 1970.
She has witnessed the start of the modern day gay revolution, the dark days of the AIDS epidemic, and the more recent triumphs on the marriage equality front.
‘It used to be the love that dare not speak its name and now it’s the love that won’t shut the fuck up,’ she joked. ‘But seriously, the great thing about the gay revolution is that it has become ordinary and I’m happy to see how far it’s come and to see the community be more at peace with itself and, I want to say, more homogenized.
Even being considered a gay icon — which was something that used to be whispered and bandied about — has become sort of mainstream, and that’s a good thing.’
Comments
(All comments are reviewed before being published, and I review submissions several times per day.)
Charlie says:
I kind of miss the days when there was more of a community spirit among in the homosexual communities.
VDUFFORD says:
This same thing applies to almost everything these days not just the gay community…no mystery.
Larry says:
Bette comments make her look a bit shallow and offends me a little, oh they’re not special because everyone knows about their struggle for acceptance. Like dude wtf, I happen to think we’re very special and just because the message of equality has gone mainstream doesn’t mean it’s smooth sailing and easy for the average gay male. Every day I suffer and worry about bigotry and or rather or not someone will be prejudice towards me because of who I love. Sorry Bette if we all don’t travel up to the Village like the old days and dress in wild costumes for your laughter and amusement but some of us have serious and very difficult lives to lead.