IN cover models John Amaechi and Margaret Cho hit the road this summer, spreading the lavender love from coast to coast.

Photos by John Skalicy
Margaret Cho’s make-up courtesy of MAC cosmetics

Though their cruel summer itineraries might leave little time for poolside lounging, you won’t hear any complaints from John Amaechi and Margaret Cho, who are taking their Gay Pride on the road this summer for two separate tours. Amaechi, the recently out former Orlando Magic baller, is burning up the Pride circuit, serving as grand marshal at L.A., Chicago and Salt Lake City Prides, while Cho, whose film Bam Bam and Celeste makes its way to theaters in August, is also hitting the road—alongside Cyndi Lauper, Erasure and Debbie Harry for the True Colors 2007 tour. We managed to nail down down the tireless twosome for a photo shoot and interview, where they discuss everything from the responsibility of closeted celebrities to come out to Cho’s fanatical love of Pride’s Dykes on Bikes. — John Hobbs

Margaret Cho: Well, that was totally painful. I hate photo shoots. So I actually have some questions for you.

John Amaechi: OK.

MC: What is your work with the HRC Coming Out project?

JA: Essentially, I've become an ambassador for the Coming Out Project. I think it fits right into [my] work with young people, which is something I do on a regular basis. I try to interact with them so that maybe they'll be more comfortable coming out at an early age and so they’ll know where to find the resources, the advice and the support they need to be comfortable with themselves.

MC: I think that's wonderful. I think it's so great that you came out. Do you think gay celebrities have an obligation to come out?

JA: This is a tough one because I feel that there is a responsibility to do that, but, at the same time, if a celebrity — or anybody — comes out before they're ready, before they've built that support network, before they've got their mind truly rounded, I think that they become invisible, they become next to useless in terms of what we really want—[for] celebrities to come out and be really staunch advocates.

MC: It's hard because we live in such a homophobic time, so if you're a [gay] celebrity, you can't just be gay, you have to be an activist.

JA: In many ways it's not fair—when you tell this person just because they [are] famous that they must go out and be this spokesperson, but the fact is if you have more than an average number of kids looking up to you, there is a responsibility—a tough one.

MC: Yeah. It's a tough one. I'm also of the mind that being gay really is a gift. It is an opportunity to do all this other great stuff, it's like a talent or any [other] God-given gift, and it makes you special, so why not enjoy that? For me coming out is weird because I'm a different kind of gay. I'm kind of everything.

JA: Mm-hm.

MC: I can be straight, I can be gay, I can be lesbian, I can be bi, I can be everything, so it's a weird thing, because I have so many closets to come out of constantly. [But] I enjoy it, I enjoy the full coming out process, and discovering all of my queerness, but I think I came out, first and foremost, as a fag hag. Do you have a fag hag?

JA: Oh I do. She's a lovely lady called Nancy. It's a very appropriate name. (Both laugh.)

MC: What sort of things do you and your fag hag do?

JA: The usual. We go to the bars and the clubs and we sit around at the coffee shops ogling people.

MC: When you go out is it comfortable for you?

JA: I think it was very weird, early on. When I would arrive at places, [I’d think,] “Everybody looking at me knows that I'm gay.” Nowadays, I don't even think about it.

MC: Yeah, I know. It is a weird thing going out, and when people know who you are. I have an easy time of it though, because I'm really unrecognizable.

JA: I think that's so completely untrue, but I do think there is a slight advantage to not being 6-foot-9.

MC: Right. So have you had young people come up and tell you stories about coming out?

JA: Yes. I mean, literally thousands now—and all kinds of people: young people who are into sports, young people who are into schools, a bunch of service men and women. I think the whole situation has been a bit of a lightning rod for people—they've wanted to seek me out and talk to me.

MC: That's wonderful! That's something else that’s so great about you coming out, because you are reaching a lot of people who, I think, felt that they couldn't identify with being gay, and then they saw you and they kind of looked up to you already. It's kind of like you're making gay more acceptable.

JA: (Laughs) That's a good thing.

MC: It’s great.

JA: Here's a question for you. I remember when you came to Salt Lake City to perform. Before you came, the city was bracing itself. All the very staunch conservative people [were thinking], “This woman is coming here. She's going to shake up the city.” Do you think it's part of your responsibility to be a part of this wider conversation? Do you think that's an important role that you play?

MC: Well yeah, because ultimately you have to leave [having made] a good impression on everybody. I always want to do well because I'm working for a higher purpose in a sense, so that's why I always think about the gay community because they're gonna be reflected in what I do. Like with Virginia Tech, it hits my community, being Korean-American, because so much emphasis was put on the fact that this kid was Korean. [The media made it so that] his actions represented his ethnicity. Because I am a prominent person in this minority, I have to act in the right way constantly.

JA: Right.

MC: I thought the press was very irresponsible when they focused on the fact that he was Asian.

JA: That's ridiculous, [but] interestingly, I know quite a few people who ... like an Iranian friend of mine said he literally breathed a sigh of relief when he realized it wasn't an Iranian.

MC: Yeah.

JA: And at the moment we heard the report, when they announced he was Korean, I didn't understand why that was relevant.

MC: I know, I know.

JA: Here's another one for you actually: There's a lot of talk going around about the fact that old white guys can't make fun of young black women, or people outside of a minority can't make fun of that minority. What's your take on this whole thing?

MC: Well, the Don Imus thing really hurt me because I'm a fan of [the Rutgers women’s basketball team] and that really hurt me, because they are so great, and how dare he try to take away anything from them, because they are such great athletes. It so sickens me, but, on top of that, if you work in the public eye, you have the responsibility to uphold the code of values that improves the way people are, improves their lives. Anybody [who] doesn't do that deserves what he deserves. I mean, he's terrible, and any amount of apologizing doesn't take away the fact that he just doesn't care. I get very frustrated with people.

JA: It is frustrating, because they use freedom of speech as an excuse [to say] some horrible things, and it isn't.

MC: There's freedom of speech and then there's just politeness.

JA: It's true.

MC: So you're doing Pride this year?

JA: Yes. I'm in Los Angeles, Salt Lake City and Chicago.

MC: Have you been to Salt Lake City Pride before? I wonder what it's like.

JA: I don't know, all I know is that this year they've got the Village People and En Vogue.

MC: Oh my God!

JA: So it's a major bash. I've never been to Pride in this country, but I've watched them, and I enjoy watching them. I'm excited about it. I have no idea what I'm going to be doing.

MC: Well, you sit in a car, and you just watch, you just wave. I love Pride here. I love the Dykes on Bikes.

JA: I've only ever seen them on film.

MC: Oh, it's amazing, they're beautiful. I immediately start crying whenever I see the Dykes on Bikes. They start the parade and it's this statement about how we are here in the community, and [how] we're proud to be here. They're very masculine women who have fought so much to get to [be] who they are. I'm excited to see it.

JA: Yeah, I am looking forward to it

MC: You're grand marshal in all of them?

JA: Yes I am.

MC: So, yeah, you'll just ride in a car and people will come up and adore you. It'll be fun.

JA: I better get in shape then, huh? (Laughs)

MC: Oh you're already in shape! You're in great shape. It's kind of interesting to me, I'm not sure if it applies, for being multiple minorities, as you and I are both from multiple minorities: What does one do with the other? Like for me, being Asian American doesn't always connect with being gay. A lot of Asian Americans are very conservative, very anti-gay. There's a lot of gay invisibility, and I know there's a growing Asian American queer movement, but it's a weird thing, like my two cultures are really at odds with each other.

JA: I think it's very different depending on what country's perspective you take on the issue, but in America certainly there's a massive disconnect between the African American and gay communities, which I think is a new construct. It's not how it used to be. Back in the 1930s, you'd find places where black people were socializing with gay people [because] they were both just part of the minority. Nowadays, we have this thing where there are religious leaders and political leaders pushing to separate them, to try and ... I don't know ... maybe they're trying to keep African Americans at a somewhat elevated status now and separate them from the new minority. But, I don't feel a conflict. I do think being part of all these things means that it's part of my responsibility to try and pull things back together.

MC: Right.

JA: I am very interested in speaking at historically black colleges and universities. I'm interested in talking to groups of people who don't necessarily agree with me, because I think we need to pull people back into the fold.

MC: I think it's wonderful. I really look forward to seeing what your impact is going to be. I think you're going to have a great impact on bridging the gap between the African American and the gay communities. I think your presence is really going to be healing.

JA: I hope so.

MC: It's thrilling for me to sit back and watch that because it's going to be really important.

JA: Speaking of, you are taking part in the True Colors tour this summer.

MC: Oh, yeah. You have to come, if you can.

JA: Oh, I will. So tell me about what you're doing, what your role's like.

MC: I'm hosting, so I'm just gonna be on stage all night, preparing everybody for the divas. I’m really excited; it’s going to be fun. The HRC is sponsoring it, and it's really great, because we're gonna bring all these different musicians together, and it's an opportunity to see who we are as a community and see all the young people and talk.

JA: I think it's gonna be great. Now the thing I need to ask you about, because I just think this is going to be hilarious, you're going to be on The View.

MC: Oh yeah!

JA: I'm hoping they don't just do a one-on-one interview with you and Rosie, because I would love to see you talking to Barbara Walters.

MC: Oh, I would love it, I've done the show a number of times, and I've never actually seen her.

JA: Really?

MC: Yeah, I've done it with all the other ladies, in all the different incarnations. I haven't done it since Rosie's been on, but Barbara was never there.

JA: I think you need to blow their minds.

MC: I should. That would be hot. (Both laugh.) I love the show.

JA: I still want to ask you about The Sensuous Woman. This is the director role?

MC: No, The Sensuous Woman is a show that I dance in. It's my off-Broadway revue, cause I wanted to do a show like Debbie Reynolds, you know what all these actresses would do, after they stopped making movies in their 50s, in their 60s they go to Las Vegas and do a revue. So I'm doing that in New York in the fall. That’ll be a lot of fun. And then Bam Bam and Celeste is a film that I wrote, and I starred in, and I produced. I didn't direct this one. It's gonna be coming out in August. It's a fag and fag hag love story, so you and Nancy have to come.

JA: Great, we will. [Both laugh.] So what is the directorial thing you're [doing]?

MC: I'm directing a film called Two Sisters, and it's about belly dancing, and it stars Yunjin Kim and Kathy Najimy. Have you met Kathy Najimy?

JA: I haven't.

MC: Oh, she's fabulous. She's one of the best fag hags in Hollywood.

JA: Well you'll have to introduce me then.

MC: Yeah, she's wonderful. You [two] will love each other.

JA: Are you actually belly dancing as well?

MC: I'm a belly dancer, yes. I've gone to Egypt to study.

JA: Wow, so it's hardcore.

MC: I'm very hardcore like that. It's something that I do to be with women, because doing stand-up comedy I've been with guys for 20 years and I'm tired of it.

JA: I understand that.

MC: You know?

JA: Well, I don’t actually—I lied. (Both laugh.)

MC: Hey did you go to G-A-Y Bar [in London]?

JA: Oh, yes, I have been a few times.

MC: It's a wonderful club.

JA: I love that place, I actually saw Erasure there.

MC: I think if I was a young gay man, I would either want to live in London or Chelsea or West Hollywood, but I think I would make London number one, because there's something about being in London that's so gay. Everybody's gay. (John laughs.)

JA: I think one of the really good things about London, and England in general, is Manchester, which is where I am from, Queer as Folk town, [where] gay is kind of chic and cool.

MC: What do you think about gay marriage?

JA: I think marriage equality is important. [In] England, we had a focus on equal legal rights, which I think is important [but] it should be the same. I also feel a little embarrassed, that you've got a country like Spain, which is very obviously devoutly Catholic, but at the same time has full marriage equality. Marriage for two people—I think that's what we have to aspire to. The civil partnership thing is an excellent step—in this country, it would be massive—but I still think full marriage equality is what we have to aim for.

MC: I know.

JA: I know it's kind of a hot potato in this country, because somehow, if gay people get married, the world will end.

MC: I don't know why. It's so stupid. Because, first of all if gay people got married, the people who are opposed to it would never know because they don't know any gay people. They would never get invited to a gay wedding, so they shouldn't even care.

JA: True. It's just bizarre to me the knock that people like to put on gay people—that they're promiscuous and careless with their bodies, but you deny them the one institution that's all about being in a monogamous relationship.

MC: Exactly.

JA: It's a Catch-22.

MC: And I know a lot of straight people who are very careless with their bodies. (Laughs)

JA: That's for sure. That isn't just the domain of any one group.

MC: I know, it really isn't. Well, you were a delightful interview.

JA: Thank you, and you too. You made this very easy on me, I appreciate it.

MC: Oh good, I'm glad. Some people ask weird things during interviews—like if you come out that somehow gives people permission to ask all kinds of sex questions.

JA: Oh, that's for sure. My first interview went something along the lines of “How many people have you had sex with? Do you use a condom? Are you HIV positive?”

MC: That's terrible!

JA: That wasn't fun.

MC: No, but this was good, and you have so many wonderful things to say. I'm so excited that you're here for young people especially, because kids just really look up to you, and I think you're really saving lives, you know these kids who would commit suicide, they have somebody to look up to so they won't do that, and that's really amazing.

JA: Well I hope that they can find an alternative, that I can be a little bit of an inspiration.