"You and I were raised in the generation of turbulence and war and demonstrating. But we also had been raised on the philosophy of free love--'If it feels good, so long as it doesn't hurt anyone else.' When we hit 21 and free, those of us incorporated those philosophies into our adult lives. There was a generation that really loved what they had been taught in the '60s.
"We've got to hand it to Sylvia Rivera standing up to cops that could have shot her dead [at Stonewall]. 'I am in high heels, a dress, and a wig. Do not fuck with me and if you do, I will put that parking meter through your fucking windshield.' After that, the gay community said, 'We're gonna reclaim these images of what men can look like. Some people might want a different drag--that drag can be a leather actor or a cowboy.' The gay community was taking back the male image while women were putting on pants suits and straight men were letting their hair grow long on the road to metrosexuality. And yet we were the opposite of the leisure suit, trendwise.
"I understood that it was built on male images that had been sold by the Hollywood film industry for years. The first film, The Great Train Robbery, started with a cowboy looking you right in the lens with a gun. We infused it with a little Three Stooges humor, a little Marx brothers, a little fun.
"Everything I've done has been with a wink, a wiggle, and a wave, and wanting you to laugh along. I could never have gotten up and sang a song called 'Macho Man' with a straight face. Think about it!"
Randy Jones, the cowboy, talking to the
Village Voice's Michael Musto.
Fagburn has met David Hodo, the construction worker, and Felipe Rose, the "Red Indian"
BY THE BILLY WAY!
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