A lot of people come up to me all the time and say thank you for helping me be who I am. So my thing wasn’t just about sexuality. It was about anyone who felt different; anyone who felt out of place. Being gay was one part of it.
I suppose I was seen more as an elder statesman because I had been around the London club scene for so many years. To the Taboo crowd I was really seen as a pop star, someone famous.
As a gay man I feel very strongly about those issues around the world – there’ve been huge changes and developments, but there are still places where things are scary.
For me the most interesting thing about Leigh Bowery was the way he used his body as a style statement. He was a big guy, but, because he was tall and had long legs, he looked in proportion – even sexy – despite being overweight by conventional standards.
I think people could be a bit friendlier. The only real contact you have with people is when they’re annoyed if you’ve had a party – you know, it’s been a bit too noisy for them or something.
I was about 16 when punk started to happen. It was so exciting. You had a social depression going on in the U.K. There was a sanitation strike. London was really grim, gray. You had Margaret Thatcher coming in. It was a really revolutionary time.
