(Originally Published On The Huffington Post On 4/24/2013)

Accidental Trailblazer: An Interview With Cult Cinema Icon Mink Stole
Each spring, Portland, Ore., plays host to QDoc: Queer Documentary Film Festival, the only festival in the U.S. devoted exclusively to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) documentaries, and one of only two festivals of its kind in the entire world!

Now in its seventh year, QDoc 2013 begins May 16. The opening-night film is I Am Divine, filmmaker Jeffrey Schwarz’s new feature-length documentary about the life and times of John Waters protégé and drag pioneer Divine, aka Glenn Milstead.

Last week I had the chance to view a screening of the film and catch up with one of its stars, queer cult cinema icon, actress/singer and original John Waters muse Mink Stole.

 

Logan Lynn: Thanks so much for chatting with me this morning, Mink. I am a huge fan of your work. I just watched the I Am Divine screener.

Mink Stole: I haven’t seen it yet.

Lynn: What?!

Stole: I have not seen it yet.

Lynn: Oh, wow. That’s surprising. I feel so lucky!

Stole: I’m gonna see it in Boston in a couple of weeks, and then again in Portland.

Lynn: Well, I felt very moved by the film. There was a “dreams really do come true” theme running throughout the film with regard to Divine‘s life. In making the film, how was it to be looking back at that period, and in particular your friendship with him?

Stole: It was nice, actually, because Jeffrey came here to Baltimore, and we spent a really fun couple of hours together. His take on Divine was so friendly, and so loving. I didn’t feel challenged at all to have to defend my friendship — and it was a real friendship. I wouldn’t say that Divine and I were best friends. You know, he had a whole life with his music career that I was not even remotely part of. I mean, I saw him perform and thought he was amazing, but I wasn’t part of that life. I’ll tell you the truth: We had lost touch between Polyester and Hairspray. He was off in Europe doing all this music stuff, but when John proposed Hairspray to us, Divine and I got back together. He had moved into an apartment right around the corner from me in New York, and we started spending time together again. It was really wonderful to reconnect with him. He was happy. He was doing really well. You know, he had money for practically the first time in his life, and it was wonderful to see him. Divine always did better when Read the rest of this entry »

(Originally Published on The Huffington Post on 3/4/2013)

In talking with friends and other LGBT people about our experiences growing up queer in a straight world, I’ve found that it’s pretty clear that becoming a well-adjusted citizen has proven more difficult than many of us expected. For each of us, this has manifested in different ways: drug abuse for some, sexual dysfunction for others, problems with emotional intimacy for still others, and for a lucky few like myself, a mix of all three.

Like many people, I plowed through my teens and 20s like nothing mattered, because back then it didn’t. The world had done me wrong early on, and I was determined to take it out on myself and anyone who dared get close to me. I burned every bridge I came across, and half a decade later the ashes are still smoldering.

During a recent medical visit to address one of the ongoing long-term side effects of my former addiction, the doctor shamed me for having made the terrible choices that I made early on that I am still paying for now (something that has happened on many occasions over the years). With each “this could have been avoided” or “you should just be grateful you are alive,” I felt myself shrinking back into that old bad-seed role that I had inhabited for so many years, and it took days to shake the hopeless feeling of being destined to be seen as who I used to be forever.
Read the rest of this entry »