We’re Grateful That These Two Gay Icons Decided To “Sit And Catch Up” – Instinct Magazine
What do you get when two Gay Icons sit down for an interview? A genuine, no filtered style interview, finding out they have things in common – and would any gay conversation actually be a gay conversation if there wasn’t a mention of the divine Dolly Parton?! I think not.
Funny man Leslie Jordan sat for an interview with Grammy award-winning and country music legend, Shania Twain – on the first anniversary of her Home Now Radio show on Apple Music Hits. Jordan opened up about his sexuality, his childhood, and his relationship with the church.
Jordan, 66, who stars on Fox’s Call Me Kat – released an album earlier this year. Company’s Comin’, which features country songs and gospel hymns, sees Jordan collaborating with Brandi Carlile, Tanya Tucker and the iconic Dolly Parton.
“I went and met Dolly and she was just adorable. We just hit it off. We’re both Tennesseans. We were the same height exactly, eyeball to eyeball.”
– Jordan on meeting Dolly Parton
Twain and Jordan discussed how music was their saving grace growing up. Allowing them to truly be their genuine selves without feeling like they were being judged. But Jordan also opened up about his experience growing up gay, in the church and how he navigated it all. He told Twain that while he grew up in the church, he decided to walk away.
“When I’m being very dramatic, I say, ‘Well, I grew up in the church, but I walked away,’ because the whole gay thing came around. I firmly believe that God made me this way. I’m not a mistake…
This is not my cross to bear. It’s part of what I am and I want to celebrate that, but when you grow up and you’re just so scared… But I never walked away from the church,” he added. “I just quit going.”
Jordan also detailed how being funny helped saved him as a young child. He told Twain that comedy was his defense mechanism. His father referred to his ability to make people laugh as a ‘gift’.
“I learned very early to be funny to keep the bullies at bay. The minute they started bullying me, I could make them laugh, that was my defense mechanism…
[My dad] got down on one knee and he explained to me the difference between laughing at me and laughing with me. And he said, ‘You’ve been given a gift. And that’s the ability to make people laugh’”.
Whether you love Leslie Jordan for his iconic role as Beverly Leslie on Will & Grace, his hilarious Instagram, or for his many other Hollywood endeavors – there’s no denying that he is certainly a Gay Icon and he deserves all the flowers.
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What is your favorite moment that Leslie Jordan has gifted us?
Source: People Magazine