Interview with Carson Kressley

AE: Right, you're doing more than just fixing her wardrobe. You're helping her see herself differently.
CK: Yeah, it's about fixing her misconceptions about herself.

AE: Let's talk about how gay men are presented on television. You can hardly turn on the TV without seeing gay men competing and/or appearing as fashion designers, hair dressers, interior decorators and advising women on how to look better...
CK: Or America's Next Top Floral Designer. [laughs]

AE: Right! But outside of those stereotypically gay fields, gay men are hardly visible even though we know darn well we're in every walk of life. Is there a glass wall mostly confining gay men to certain roles on TV?
CK: There may have been in the past, but I think that's evaporating. It was the same thing with African American people on TV in the 70s, with Good Times, and people wanting to see more diversity. I think it's the same thing. You start out with these expected stereotypical things and then you see gay guys just being themselves.

I was on a show that some people considered embraced stereotypes, but it was just what we did, and we were just being ourselves. There's nothing less stereotypical than being out and proud and being who you are. As time goes on, we'll see gay guys just being themselves. I'm doing a makeover show that has nothing to do with being gay, but I'm being as gay as can be. Yes, it's working in fashion, but those are the things I'm good at and I'm happy to share that with the world. I think it's a positive attribute and not really a stereotype.

AE: As far as I'm concerned, you're clearly just being yourself. And people respond to it. It's not as if you're playing a role to get on television.
CK: And even with the scripted shows like Will & Grace, I'm just happy we're getting a gay presence out there. It's not going to be perfect. We're not all going to get represented. That's the thing. Being gay doesn't mean just one thing, so I'm never going to be able to represent every gay person on television. We are so diverse. That's a wonderful thing.

But I think it's great that we are being represented, so if there are gay kids out there — and I experienced this first hand with Queer Eye — if there are gay kids out there watching, they feel like they have a future, there are people out there just like them, and they don't feel alone, they don't feel isolated. That's really important. Just having that presence on TV is really great. When I was a kid all we had was Paul Lynde on Hollywood Squares. He was amazing and I loved him and worshipped him, but we didn't have a lot of role models.

AE: In the second episode when you dressed up as Carmen Miranda for the dance class, we had some readers on our site that were offended by that, feeling it was embracing stereotypes or whatever. How would you respond to that? Are the gay men bothered by that expressing their own insecurities and "effemiphobia"?
CK: I don't really know. I can't say what people are thinking, but I'm never going to defend my actions as being one way or another. I defend them as me being me. If I say I was being stereotypical and I do what "shouldn't" be stereotypical, then I'm living my life for somebody else and I'm marching to the beat of somebody else's drummer, and that, I think, is a worse thing.

Like I said before, being out is just about being who you are. It's a worse crime to have to be a certain way. And really, I think that is being a little homophobic. It's just me being me, and if you don't like it, that's just too bad.