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YTS.BZ
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Excuse me.
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Excuse me.
If I could have your attention
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for just a moment.
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Uh, we're going to have
to move the party inside
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pretty soon. Rock 'nRoll
Fag Bar is starting.
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So if anybody wants anything
else to eat, grab it now.
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Take it inside.
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We're getting some complaints
from the neighbors,
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00:00:51,573 --> 00:00:53,053
so we're going to go in
and start partying...
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- Just like last year.
- ...just like last year.
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But The Weenies will be on
in about an hour or so.
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Every man has a little
bit of a woman inside of them,
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and every woman
has a little bit of a man.
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And the people
who are well-adjusted
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are the ones who don't feel
threatened by it.
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And the people
that are repressing
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part of their desires
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are the ones
that react most violently
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toward any kind of variation
from the norm.
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And, there's a whole lot
of repression in this country.
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We've got to be the most,
I mean, repressed country
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in the Western Hemisphere.
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It's just pathetic.
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So, do I think
America's ready? No.
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Here he is,
Dean Johnson!
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Dean was,
if nothing else,
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a complete original.
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He took everything
to a different level,
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and he still is.
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That's what's so crazy.
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The people don't even know it.
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Dean was a musician.
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Dean was a lyricist.
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00:02:01,382 --> 00:02:04,907
Dean was a stylist.
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He was really defining
how the East Village
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00:02:09,172 --> 00:02:12,697
gay considered
themselves other.
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00:02:13,263 --> 00:02:16,353
He was kind of an AIDS
activist, drag queen.
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He was doing original
rap songs
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00:02:18,616 --> 00:02:21,402
full of anger, full of wit.
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New York was the
epicenter of the AIDS crisis,
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and the East Village
was the epicenter of New York.
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00:02:28,583 --> 00:02:30,933
The 80s were not a time
for openly gay rock stars.
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There are hardly even any now.
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This was at the height
of heil Reagan and Bush,
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and AIDS was in full force
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and people were dropping
like flies.
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People were afraid
to be around gay people.
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It was very important
for people to know
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that he was gay, and that this
was gay music for gay people,
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and that it wasn't wimpy.
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We're here
with Dean Johnson.
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Hi! It's Dean Johnson.
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America, I love you. Mwah!
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♪ You want the big Johnson ♪
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He's a very
important person.
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And it's very important
to tell his story.
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45-year-old Dean Johnson
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was one of the most
well known people
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in Manhattan's gay community.
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So well-known
was the six-foot-six
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party planner rock band,
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front man and porn actor
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that his death under
mysterious circumstances
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in Washington, D.C., headlined
the New York Post's Page Six
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gossip section this morning.
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So the phone rings.
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And...
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It's someone on the other end
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asking me
if I know Dean Johnson.
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And I say,
"Yeah, what's... what's up?"
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And they're like,
"Well, you know, he's here.
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He spent the night
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and can't wake him up."
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00:03:56,758 --> 00:03:58,586
According to the New York Post article,
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Dean Johnson's friends say
he had a history of drug use,
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and he told at least
one friend he came to D.C.
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regularly to set up
weird sex parties.
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The mystery around
the whole thing was
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really heartbreaking
to not have an answer.
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And I don't think we do now.
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Really, if you were going
to do a story of my life,
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you'd have to talk
to everyone else
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because I couldn't
tell it to you.
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I just, too much burn out.
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Dean's diary,
1979 to 2004.
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00:05:02,867 --> 00:05:04,695
1979.
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"I arrive in NYC at NYU
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and practice being fabulous
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at Weinstein Dormitory
Cafeteria."
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00:05:14,488 --> 00:05:18,883
Dean was one of the people
that I remember,
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you know, from that early period
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in the East Village.
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It was really a neighborhood.
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It was really community.
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The East Village back then
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was still burned out,
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it was still very scary.
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But I loved it like that.
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I got a little
apartment on, Avenue C,
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and I used to get robbed
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all the time and mugged
and held up at gunpoint,
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and, and there were,
like, people dying
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outside my apartment
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and just crazy, crazy shit.
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Past Houston
was the most dangerous.
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I mean, you would just run
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to your friends'
houses down there.
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I used to tell people,
"Well, there's Soho,
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there's Noho
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And I live in Uh-oh.
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I was so swept up
in just the magic
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of everything that I didn't
even notice the danger.
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You have
an artistic scene
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because you have
one third artists
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to two thirds people
living an artistic life.
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When I moved there,
there were still hookers
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and heroin on the street.
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And personally,
I feel way more comfortable
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in a neighborhood
when there's still hookers
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and heroin on the street.
It doesn't make me feel unsafe.
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It makes me feel safe
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'Cause I know
that my people are out there.
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You knew everybody
on Avenue A, we were,
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you know,
in each other's audiences
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and going to each
other's events.
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The East Village
was just wild.
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I mean, it was
just full of characters.
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I mean, everywhere you went,
there was characters.
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I mean, every single person
had a look and a story,
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and nobody had any money,
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but they all had a look.
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You could be anything
that you wanted to be.
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And the more eccentric
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your choice was,
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the more space
was given to you.
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Really.
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And the more out there
you became,
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the more people would be like,
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"You know what?
That's an important person
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in this community."
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Pat, he's wearing
the muscle Dean tank.
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Fernando is wearing
the butch Dean Muscle
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And of course, Matt is wearing
Dean on acid.
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I was working
one night graveyard shift,
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and Dean come in
and I said, "Man,
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who is that big bald guy?"
He looked like the guy.
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The dude in The Hills
Have Eyes, you know.
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And then so I said,
"Oh, that's Dean Johnson,
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the gay party promoter."
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I said, "Boy, that is
literally the biggest queer
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I've ever seen in my life."
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The bald head,
the hoop earrings,
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the little black dress,
combat boots.
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It was sexy.
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We're here with Sinead O'Connor.
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You know, he knew
he was never going to leave
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CBGB's or the pyramid, and
have someone go whistle at him
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like he was a woman.
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It was an FU to be,
like, in a stretch dress
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with drop earrings on
and be his size.
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I loved his look just because
it was so completely different
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than what was kind of happening
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in most of the drag
circles of New York.
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When I first
saw Dean, I was like,
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"Oh, that bitch
isn't even trying.
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This is just a big old
fucking man with a baritone."
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And there was something
so threatening about it.
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Lipstick, a boner and heels.
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At the time,
things were really rigid,
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segregated, gay or straight.
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It was less queer.
But Dean was always queer.
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Dean was always queer.
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Dean was always,
like, gender fucked.
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When I was,
I was probably three.
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And so Dean
would have been six.
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And mother heard this gasp,
you know, like...
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you know, coming from upstairs,
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and was wondering
what the hell is going on.
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So she was like, "Dean,
what's going on up there?"
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And he came
to the top of the stairs.
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00:09:50,851 --> 00:09:53,636
He goes, "I'm trying to teach
Beth about show business,
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or at least everything I know."
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00:09:55,377 --> 00:09:56,987
You know.
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00:09:57,988 --> 00:09:59,555
From the day he was born,
he was, you know,
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in the show business.
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00:10:03,037 --> 00:10:05,866
So Dean grew up
in a small New England town.
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He had one sibling, Beth.
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00:10:08,825 --> 00:10:13,308
His father was
a Presbyterian minister
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00:10:13,438 --> 00:10:15,832
and his mother
was a psychologist.
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He talked about,
you know, his father being
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a very conservative, normal,
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00:10:21,838 --> 00:10:23,840
you know, "Happy Days"
type of household, you know,
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00:10:23,971 --> 00:10:25,625
and I think that's one
of the reasons
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that probably fueled him
to want to rage really hard
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00:10:27,888 --> 00:10:30,325
and just go wild
in every direction.
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00:10:30,847 --> 00:10:32,806
My father would mumble
and be very quiet.
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00:10:32,936 --> 00:10:34,895
And then when he would preach,
he was very clear
200
00:10:35,025 --> 00:10:36,853
and very loud. And Dean
was sort of the same way,
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00:10:36,984 --> 00:10:38,899
you know, he wasn't
real loud in his life,
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00:10:39,029 --> 00:10:41,858
but when he performed,
he became this persona.
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00:11:47,184 --> 00:11:49,447
My mother's presents,
you want to see what they are?
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00:11:49,578 --> 00:11:52,233
A picture of me on the dunes
when I was eight years old.
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00:11:52,363 --> 00:11:53,974
My favorite stickers
from childhood.
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00:11:54,104 --> 00:11:55,671
They say, "War is not
healthy for children
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00:11:55,802 --> 00:11:57,107
and other living things."
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00:11:57,238 --> 00:11:58,805
I used to put them
all over my room.
209
00:11:58,935 --> 00:12:01,633
And my very first little fork.
210
00:12:01,764 --> 00:12:03,200
Isn't that cute?
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00:12:03,331 --> 00:12:04,985
All from mom.
212
00:12:05,115 --> 00:12:07,117
My mother
is extremely sentimental,
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00:12:08,858 --> 00:12:10,120
but it's the thought
that counts.
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00:12:10,251 --> 00:12:11,861
Plus soap.
She always steals soap
215
00:12:11,992 --> 00:12:13,471
from the hotels
and gives them to me.
216
00:12:21,697 --> 00:12:22,611
I met Dean,
217
00:12:22,742 --> 00:12:25,222
uh, in 1979.
218
00:12:25,353 --> 00:12:26,746
We were freshmen at NYU,
219
00:12:26,876 --> 00:12:29,096
and we all lived pretty much
220
00:12:29,226 --> 00:12:33,404
within the same two floors
of Weinstein's dormitory.
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00:12:33,535 --> 00:12:35,537
It was impossible
not to meet him.
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00:12:37,931 --> 00:12:39,367
He was tall.
223
00:12:41,499 --> 00:12:43,588
I'd say he was pretty shy.
224
00:12:43,719 --> 00:12:46,026
We had the same
circle of friends.
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00:12:46,156 --> 00:12:48,245
It was a buzzy kind of dorm.
226
00:12:49,246 --> 00:12:53,120
Jean-Michel Basquiat used
to sneak in, do his graffiti.
227
00:12:53,250 --> 00:12:54,338
Samo.
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00:12:54,469 --> 00:12:56,297
The desk clerk was Mr. Rick
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00:12:56,427 --> 00:12:58,778
who's in a Beastie Boys song.
230
00:13:00,388 --> 00:13:02,346
I kind of went out
with the boyfriend
231
00:13:02,477 --> 00:13:04,174
of Bridget Fonda.
232
00:13:07,047 --> 00:13:08,918
"Had sex
in the dormitory rec room
233
00:13:09,049 --> 00:13:10,354
behind the bleachers
234
00:13:10,485 --> 00:13:12,095
while Rick Rubin
and the Beastie Boys
235
00:13:12,226 --> 00:13:14,184
were rehearsing
in the same room
236
00:13:14,315 --> 00:13:16,621
and didn't know we were there.
237
00:13:16,752 --> 00:13:19,102
Saw Richard Lloyd
of Television perform
238
00:13:19,233 --> 00:13:22,279
high on dope
in his pajamas at Hurrah.
239
00:13:22,410 --> 00:13:25,195
Madonna is working
the coat check."
240
00:13:26,196 --> 00:13:28,895
It was always
something's about to happen.
241
00:13:29,025 --> 00:13:31,767
Just a bunch of kids
who had been outcast with,
242
00:13:31,898 --> 00:13:34,596
as it turned out,
great talent and wit
243
00:13:34,726 --> 00:13:37,686
and, a snarkiness
that we shared,
244
00:13:37,817 --> 00:13:40,297
maybe, all of us, but, uh,
245
00:13:40,428 --> 00:13:42,212
but no agendas.
246
00:13:44,258 --> 00:13:46,782
I met Dean at NYU
247
00:13:46,913 --> 00:13:50,873
in 1980, and actually,
while we were at NYU
248
00:13:51,004 --> 00:13:55,269
living in the dorms, Dean shot
the porno movie Daddy Dearest,
249
00:13:55,399 --> 00:13:59,621
which, you know, come on,
that was fucking intense.
250
00:13:59,751 --> 00:14:02,450
Insane. I mean,
that's how that's how bombastic
251
00:14:02,580 --> 00:14:04,844
and radical Dean was.
252
00:14:05,409 --> 00:14:08,325
"I shot a porno movie
called Daddy Dearest.
253
00:14:08,456 --> 00:14:12,155
Dear Daddy, my name is Brad.
254
00:14:12,286 --> 00:14:14,984
I go to school at NYU.
255
00:14:15,115 --> 00:14:20,424
I'm 20 years old, horny,
and I need a daddy.
256
00:14:20,555 --> 00:14:22,209
"It was fun for a minute,
257
00:14:22,339 --> 00:14:25,821
but by the second day
of the shoot, I was bored.
258
00:14:25,952 --> 00:14:28,693
Some poor girl from my
father's church in New England
259
00:14:28,824 --> 00:14:32,697
saw the ad in the paper and
thought it was a real movie."
260
00:14:34,656 --> 00:14:37,180
She showed up for the opening
and had to sit through
261
00:14:37,311 --> 00:14:39,356
two hours of my butthole,
262
00:14:39,487 --> 00:14:42,055
spread 20ft across
the screen."
263
00:14:44,666 --> 00:14:46,842
Fuck me, daddy.
264
00:14:46,973 --> 00:14:48,278
Yeah, Daddy Dearest.
265
00:14:48,409 --> 00:14:49,584
That's a classic,
have you seen it?
266
00:14:52,500 --> 00:14:54,197
In today's terminology,
267
00:14:54,328 --> 00:14:56,939
Dean is a perfect example of
someone that was sex positive.
268
00:14:57,070 --> 00:14:58,898
Sex was his thing.
269
00:14:59,028 --> 00:15:02,597
He built movements around that
and organized around that.
270
00:15:02,727 --> 00:15:04,555
We had joy in being outside
271
00:15:04,686 --> 00:15:07,689
the system
of heteronormativity.
272
00:15:07,819 --> 00:15:09,691
He helped crack that shit open.
273
00:15:13,782 --> 00:15:15,436
Stonewall happens in 69.
274
00:15:15,566 --> 00:15:17,351
And obviously
there was gay liberation
275
00:15:17,481 --> 00:15:21,442
or a gay rights movement
before that.
276
00:15:21,572 --> 00:15:24,314
But it's really the beginning
of the flowering of it.
277
00:15:24,445 --> 00:15:27,100
And, and so, the whole 70s was,
278
00:15:27,230 --> 00:15:30,625
was this eruption
of the availability of sex.
279
00:15:30,755 --> 00:15:34,846
Bathhouses proliferated,
back rooms in bars,
280
00:15:34,977 --> 00:15:36,936
you know,
all sorts of ways that people
281
00:15:37,066 --> 00:15:39,373
could get together
and have sex.
282
00:15:42,593 --> 00:15:46,162
Dark rooms are part
of queer history.
283
00:15:46,293 --> 00:15:48,817
There was a time where there
was actually a necessity
284
00:15:48,948 --> 00:15:50,427
for these places.
285
00:15:50,558 --> 00:15:53,648
These were
where we could find our folks
286
00:15:53,778 --> 00:15:55,780
and the only places
we felt comfortable
287
00:15:55,911 --> 00:15:57,043
connecting with them.
288
00:15:57,173 --> 00:15:59,654
Which is why public queer spaces
289
00:15:59,784 --> 00:16:03,614
for sex are part of who we are.
290
00:16:03,745 --> 00:16:07,575
They were a necessity,
but it's also kind of
291
00:16:07,705 --> 00:16:11,144
a dark, seedy,
sexy turn on as well.
292
00:16:13,929 --> 00:16:16,758
Yeah, he a lot of sex.
Dean had a lot of sex.
293
00:16:16,888 --> 00:16:19,717
Sex with multiple people
in a day.
294
00:16:20,240 --> 00:16:21,893
That was part of his routine.
295
00:16:22,024 --> 00:16:23,417
So he'd go to the gym,
296
00:16:23,547 --> 00:16:26,507
got maybe asked
to leave or something.
297
00:16:26,637 --> 00:16:29,989
And then there would be,
like, the cable guy came over
298
00:16:30,119 --> 00:16:32,208
and he had sex with a cable guy,
299
00:16:32,339 --> 00:16:36,517
and then it would
be somebody out at night.
300
00:16:38,084 --> 00:16:40,912
He was particularly
interested in sex clubs
301
00:16:41,043 --> 00:16:44,699
in the context of nightlife.
302
00:16:45,961 --> 00:16:47,658
He writes about
being at the piers
303
00:16:47,789 --> 00:16:49,791
when he was young.
304
00:16:49,921 --> 00:16:51,749
When he went to NYU,
305
00:16:51,880 --> 00:16:53,838
he discovered the piers.
306
00:16:54,709 --> 00:16:56,102
1980.
307
00:16:57,364 --> 00:16:59,627
"I was
with this cute French guy
308
00:16:59,757 --> 00:17:02,238
and he took me into
these huge, empty buildings
309
00:17:02,369 --> 00:17:05,589
that were full of guys
walking around, cruising,
310
00:17:06,199 --> 00:17:10,377
and then sex would start
and a crowd would gather.
311
00:17:10,507 --> 00:17:12,770
Frenchie took me
into this one room
312
00:17:12,901 --> 00:17:15,947
and we started having sex.
313
00:17:16,078 --> 00:17:17,949
A huge crowd
gathered to watch,
314
00:17:18,080 --> 00:17:20,169
and it was the first time
I ever had sex
315
00:17:20,300 --> 00:17:22,606
in front of an audience.
316
00:17:22,737 --> 00:17:25,261
He started to get
a little self-conscious.
317
00:17:25,392 --> 00:17:28,395
I was loving it.
318
00:17:28,525 --> 00:17:31,311
Then he took me
up to the roof.
319
00:17:31,441 --> 00:17:32,747
And everywhere you looked
320
00:17:32,877 --> 00:17:34,749
there were naked men
sunbathing,
321
00:17:34,879 --> 00:17:37,969
laughing, playing,
sucking cock.
322
00:17:38,100 --> 00:17:41,016
It was like a gay paradise.
323
00:17:43,845 --> 00:17:46,413
We fucked in the sun
and the circle line
324
00:17:46,543 --> 00:17:47,849
tooted its horn at us
325
00:17:47,979 --> 00:17:49,546
as they cruised by
up the Hudson.
326
00:17:52,723 --> 00:17:55,074
The tourists looked happy."
327
00:17:59,165 --> 00:18:00,731
Everybody was fucking
all the time.
328
00:18:00,862 --> 00:18:03,908
And, it was such
a trivial thing.
329
00:18:04,039 --> 00:18:05,997
You could literally
just walk down the street
330
00:18:06,128 --> 00:18:07,782
and the person
next to you could be like,
331
00:18:07,912 --> 00:18:10,654
you know, "Let's fuck!"
332
00:18:10,785 --> 00:18:13,048
Dean and I crossed swords
a couple of times.
333
00:18:15,311 --> 00:18:18,619
And he's a beautiful man,
I'll tell you that much.
334
00:18:18,749 --> 00:18:21,361
Dean embodied liberation.
335
00:18:21,491 --> 00:18:24,407
I mean, not only
because of the sexuality
336
00:18:24,538 --> 00:18:28,019
and the partying,
but because it was wonderful
337
00:18:28,150 --> 00:18:31,501
to be a seven foot bald queen
338
00:18:31,632 --> 00:18:35,810
in silver lamé
platform stilettos.
339
00:19:44,226 --> 00:19:45,836
"My roommate walked
in this morning
340
00:19:45,967 --> 00:19:47,751
with a copy
of The Village Voice
341
00:19:47,882 --> 00:19:49,971
and said,
'There's a new cancer
342
00:19:50,101 --> 00:19:52,060
that only kills Gays.'"
343
00:19:58,022 --> 00:19:59,328
Scientists
at the National Centers
344
00:19:59,459 --> 00:20:01,200
for Disease Control in Atlanta,
345
00:20:01,330 --> 00:20:03,637
today released
the results of a study
346
00:20:03,767 --> 00:20:05,160
which shows that the lifestyle
347
00:20:05,291 --> 00:20:07,380
of some male homosexuals
348
00:20:07,510 --> 00:20:10,818
has triggered an epidemic
of a rare form of cancer.
349
00:20:10,948 --> 00:20:12,689
The cause
of the Acquired Immune
350
00:20:12,820 --> 00:20:14,387
Deficiency Syndrome, or AIDS,
351
00:20:14,517 --> 00:20:17,651
is unknown,
and there is no known cure.
352
00:20:17,781 --> 00:20:20,175
It is not only
the name for a disease,
353
00:20:20,306 --> 00:20:22,438
it is another name for fear.
354
00:20:23,352 --> 00:20:26,355
You know, originally
it was called the gay cancer.
355
00:20:26,486 --> 00:20:29,010
Everybody thought that they
were going to get infected
356
00:20:29,140 --> 00:20:31,099
because you were gay.
357
00:20:32,622 --> 00:20:35,364
Back then AIDS
was a death sentence
358
00:20:35,973 --> 00:20:38,454
It was devastating watching
your friends die.
359
00:20:38,585 --> 00:20:40,195
It was just, you know,
in their early 20s.
360
00:20:40,326 --> 00:20:43,764
I have friends
that didn't make it to 30.
361
00:20:43,894 --> 00:20:47,289
They called it the gay cancer
that it came from monkeys.
362
00:20:47,420 --> 00:20:50,031
And Haiti. My mom lost it
363
00:20:50,161 --> 00:20:51,598
when they said Haiti,
364
00:20:51,728 --> 00:20:52,642
because she's like,
"See, they're still trying
365
00:20:52,773 --> 00:20:53,904
to blame it on black people."
366
00:20:54,035 --> 00:20:55,645
You know, I mean, well, yeah.
367
00:20:57,038 --> 00:20:58,692
It's almost unimaginable
368
00:20:58,822 --> 00:21:01,651
how much homophobia
there was in the culture.
369
00:21:01,782 --> 00:21:03,697
The vast majority of homosexuals
370
00:21:03,827 --> 00:21:05,786
were in the closet at the time,
371
00:21:05,916 --> 00:21:08,789
and there was this incredible
discrimination.
372
00:21:11,748 --> 00:21:13,750
There was still
this kind of 1950s
373
00:21:13,881 --> 00:21:15,361
biblical attitude
374
00:21:15,491 --> 00:21:17,885
about how we were
kind of the... the things
375
00:21:18,015 --> 00:21:20,104
that didn't matter in the world
because we weren't producing
376
00:21:20,235 --> 00:21:23,978
families or having
two car garages.
377
00:21:24,108 --> 00:21:26,372
This was happening
to a very specific
378
00:21:26,502 --> 00:21:29,244
part of the population.
379
00:21:29,375 --> 00:21:30,941
You know, it was gay people.
380
00:21:31,072 --> 00:21:33,770
It was injection drug users.
381
00:21:33,901 --> 00:21:36,991
It was people of color.
382
00:21:37,121 --> 00:21:38,427
These guys had been
thrown out of their homes
383
00:21:38,558 --> 00:21:39,994
anyway.
384
00:21:40,124 --> 00:21:42,736
And then
they got sick and died,
385
00:21:42,866 --> 00:21:44,825
and their Christian
parents said,
386
00:21:44,955 --> 00:21:50,352
"That's what they get
for being homosexuals."
387
00:21:50,483 --> 00:21:52,093
People really thought,
"Well, I'm going to be dead
388
00:21:52,223 --> 00:21:53,616
in a few years."
389
00:21:53,747 --> 00:21:55,879
It was such a climate of fear.
390
00:21:56,010 --> 00:21:58,491
It made you want to live every
day like it was your last.
391
00:22:05,149 --> 00:22:07,804
"I moved to a studio
on Ludlow Street,
392
00:22:07,935 --> 00:22:11,895
where I lived for the next
ten years for $300 a month."
393
00:22:12,026 --> 00:22:14,333
We dropped out of NYU together.
394
00:22:14,463 --> 00:22:16,422
We left and went
to Lower East Side,
395
00:22:17,205 --> 00:22:18,859
and that's when shit,
you know, hit the fan,
396
00:22:18,989 --> 00:22:20,948
and became fun.
397
00:22:29,304 --> 00:22:30,566
We were both bald.
398
00:22:30,697 --> 00:22:32,220
That was part of our shtick.
399
00:22:32,351 --> 00:22:36,746
We went around being
bald friends together.
400
00:22:36,877 --> 00:22:39,009
"My friend Perry
shaved her head
401
00:22:39,140 --> 00:22:40,750
and I thought
it looked so cool,
402
00:22:40,881 --> 00:22:43,144
so I shaved mine too.
403
00:22:43,274 --> 00:22:45,364
The next day,
the housing police arrested me
404
00:22:45,494 --> 00:22:47,627
for being bald.
405
00:22:47,757 --> 00:22:49,368
I like being bald.
406
00:22:49,498 --> 00:22:52,153
Now I never have to worry
about how my hair looks.
407
00:22:52,283 --> 00:22:54,677
I'm keeping it
this way from now on."
408
00:22:55,417 --> 00:22:57,767
Perry was kind
of like the girl version,
409
00:22:57,898 --> 00:22:59,595
if that even makes any sense,
410
00:22:59,726 --> 00:23:02,903
because, well, they were
both so androgynous, you know?
411
00:23:03,033 --> 00:23:04,644
She was boyish for a girl,
412
00:23:04,774 --> 00:23:07,081
but she was kind of like
the female counterpart
413
00:23:07,211 --> 00:23:08,691
to his image.
414
00:23:10,606 --> 00:23:14,044
He was one of the first
sort of famous people
415
00:23:14,175 --> 00:23:16,743
that I became friendly with.
416
00:23:17,700 --> 00:23:20,616
You know, a New York nightlife
celebrity was just the same
417
00:23:20,747 --> 00:23:25,273
as Divine or Deborah Harry
or Cher or Elton John to me.
418
00:23:25,404 --> 00:23:27,231
You know, they were all stars.
419
00:23:40,331 --> 00:23:43,683
♪ A kissy, kissy, kissy,
yeah, yeah, yeah ♪
420
00:24:16,019 --> 00:24:17,543
1984.
421
00:24:19,588 --> 00:24:21,503
"A bunch of kids
from the Pyramid
422
00:24:21,634 --> 00:24:23,984
went to Tompkins Square Park
late last night,
423
00:24:24,114 --> 00:24:25,464
and put on a show.
424
00:24:26,900 --> 00:24:29,555
They want to start
doing it every year
425
00:24:29,685 --> 00:24:32,253
and calling it Wigstock."
426
00:24:32,383 --> 00:24:34,473
♪ I did it every day ♪
427
00:24:34,603 --> 00:24:37,519
♪ But every night
I would deposit ♪
428
00:24:37,650 --> 00:24:40,827
♪ The suit and tie
Into the closet ♪
429
00:24:40,957 --> 00:24:43,960
♪ Wearing trousers,
What a bore ♪
430
00:24:44,091 --> 00:24:45,440
♪ Ties and Cufflinks ♪
431
00:24:45,571 --> 00:24:47,137
♪ What a chore ♪
432
00:24:47,268 --> 00:24:49,836
Wigstock was an outdoor
festival, which I organized.
433
00:24:49,966 --> 00:24:51,707
I was working
at the Pyramid at the time
434
00:24:51,838 --> 00:24:53,187
with a bunch
of other drag queens,
435
00:24:53,317 --> 00:24:56,538
and the idea was to do
a big show outdoors.
436
00:24:56,669 --> 00:24:57,844
Now, this next entertainer
437
00:24:57,974 --> 00:24:59,019
you may have
seen him on the cover
438
00:24:59,149 --> 00:25:00,499
of the The Village Voice
439
00:25:00,629 --> 00:25:02,675
or you may have seen him
in an old porn movie.
440
00:25:02,805 --> 00:25:06,330
Here he is Dean Johnson!
441
00:25:10,683 --> 00:25:13,033
I was gonna wear a wig,
but the glue kept melting off
442
00:25:13,163 --> 00:25:14,687
my head so...
443
00:25:14,817 --> 00:25:16,210
let's just sing!
444
00:25:26,002 --> 00:25:27,787
♪ Do the drag! ♪
445
00:25:27,917 --> 00:25:29,615
The first year
where a few homeless,
446
00:25:29,745 --> 00:25:31,965
you know, some stragglers
from the Pyramid.
447
00:25:32,095 --> 00:25:33,836
It had very inauspicious
beginnings,
448
00:25:33,967 --> 00:25:36,186
but it did grow
by the end of the day.
449
00:25:36,317 --> 00:25:38,145
And then every year after that.
450
00:25:38,275 --> 00:25:41,061
And Dean was one of the big
headliners at that point.
451
00:25:42,671 --> 00:25:43,759
Thank you.
452
00:25:48,416 --> 00:25:50,636
Want to say something first?
453
00:25:55,510 --> 00:25:58,339
How many years
have we done this together?
454
00:25:58,469 --> 00:25:59,558
Two too many!
455
00:25:59,688 --> 00:26:01,472
Too many.
456
00:26:01,603 --> 00:26:02,865
Wigstock was always my favorite
457
00:26:02,996 --> 00:26:05,041
when it was
at Tompkins Square Park
458
00:26:05,172 --> 00:26:08,175
The East Village was just like
taken over with drag queens
459
00:26:08,305 --> 00:26:09,829
and wigs and music,
460
00:26:09,959 --> 00:26:11,961
and everybody was just
a love fest in the park.
461
00:26:12,092 --> 00:26:14,268
It was free
and all the drag queens
462
00:26:14,398 --> 00:26:16,966
would come out and perform
with their big wigs,
463
00:26:17,097 --> 00:26:21,928
and we would all gather
and just be ourselves.
464
00:26:22,058 --> 00:26:25,279
Dean was there,
reigning over everyone.
465
00:26:25,409 --> 00:26:27,368
Like, seriously.
466
00:26:27,498 --> 00:26:29,849
Wigstock to me it was
like better than Halloween.
467
00:26:29,979 --> 00:26:32,808
I worked all year on my costume.
468
00:26:32,939 --> 00:26:35,898
It was like all
the drag queens I idolized.
469
00:26:36,029 --> 00:26:37,900
So it was just
one big crazy blur.
470
00:26:38,031 --> 00:26:39,641
And I was probably
drinking Wild Turkey
471
00:26:39,772 --> 00:26:42,252
the whole time too so...
472
00:26:42,383 --> 00:26:43,950
Back in our day,
473
00:26:44,080 --> 00:26:47,649
you weren't a drag queen
because you wanted to get rich,
474
00:26:47,780 --> 00:26:49,433
or because there you might
be able to get on a show
475
00:26:49,564 --> 00:26:51,348
or, you know, whatever.
476
00:26:51,479 --> 00:26:54,525
They were a special kind of
person that wanted to do that.
477
00:26:54,656 --> 00:26:56,353
It was a subculture,
478
00:26:56,484 --> 00:26:57,746
and they were saying something
479
00:26:57,877 --> 00:26:59,922
and there
was like an edge to it.
480
00:27:00,053 --> 00:27:03,186
I mean, none of them
could be mainstream.
481
00:27:03,317 --> 00:27:05,667
It actually used
to be dangerous.
482
00:27:05,798 --> 00:27:08,365
It actually used
to be revolutionary.
483
00:27:08,496 --> 00:27:12,718
It used to take courage
to fuck with gender
484
00:27:12,848 --> 00:27:15,590
and be very in people's face.
485
00:27:16,504 --> 00:27:17,984
When he performed at Wigstock,
486
00:27:18,114 --> 00:27:19,855
it was something really
different for the crowd.
487
00:27:19,986 --> 00:27:22,684
It wasn't someone just
coming out and doing a number.
488
00:27:22,815 --> 00:27:25,165
It was a six foot six
bald drag queen
489
00:27:25,295 --> 00:27:28,037
in hoop earrings doing
an angry rap song.
490
00:27:28,168 --> 00:27:32,433
This is the community
that invented double fisting.
491
00:27:32,563 --> 00:27:34,653
Do you know how hard it is
to shock people?
492
00:27:34,783 --> 00:27:36,785
Do you know how hard it is
to get a rise out of people?
493
00:27:36,916 --> 00:27:38,482
But he did it.
494
00:27:42,661 --> 00:27:46,055
"A friend took me
to the gay pride parade,
495
00:27:46,186 --> 00:27:48,144
and I hit my head
on one of those awnings
496
00:27:48,275 --> 00:27:49,842
on Fifth Avenue.
497
00:27:50,843 --> 00:27:52,845
Knocked me out cold.
498
00:27:52,975 --> 00:27:56,109
Regained consciousness,
surrounded by gay men
499
00:27:56,239 --> 00:27:59,416
and choking on the smell
of Perry Ellis cologne,
500
00:27:59,547 --> 00:28:02,158
Wrote a song called
'Bourgeois Boys.'"
501
00:28:36,627 --> 00:28:39,326
"The Village Voice
named me one of five artists
502
00:28:39,456 --> 00:28:41,371
to watch this year.
503
00:28:42,198 --> 00:28:45,288
Started a band called
Dean and the Weenies.
504
00:28:45,419 --> 00:28:47,116
I'm teaching myself
to write music
505
00:28:47,247 --> 00:28:49,205
by using a Casio to dissect
506
00:28:49,336 --> 00:28:51,120
the hits on the radio.
507
00:28:51,730 --> 00:28:54,341
It's not that hard,
but everything I write
508
00:28:54,471 --> 00:28:57,300
has the same structure
as 'Material Girl'
509
00:28:57,431 --> 00:28:59,172
and 'Footloose'.
510
00:28:59,302 --> 00:29:02,871
Tonight we're proud to
present Dean and the Weenies!
511
00:29:03,916 --> 00:29:06,701
♪ Want your salami ♪
512
00:29:06,832 --> 00:29:09,704
♪ Want you to shove it ♪
513
00:29:09,835 --> 00:29:12,272
♪ Roast beef ♪
514
00:29:12,402 --> 00:29:14,840
♪ Extra lean ♪
515
00:29:14,970 --> 00:29:17,103
♪ Hold my pickle ♪
516
00:29:17,233 --> 00:29:19,714
♪ You know what I mean ♪
517
00:29:19,845 --> 00:29:21,542
So I play
the electric mandolin
518
00:29:21,672 --> 00:29:24,327
in Dean and the Weenies
and sang backup.
519
00:29:24,458 --> 00:29:27,113
So, so it was kind of like
an avant garde role
520
00:29:27,243 --> 00:29:28,592
in the band
521
00:29:30,290 --> 00:29:32,771
On bass Ms. Eunice Holland
522
00:29:32,901 --> 00:29:35,077
I thought that
I was going to go off
523
00:29:35,208 --> 00:29:36,992
with my journalism degree.
524
00:29:37,123 --> 00:29:40,561
And then one day Dean said,
"Eun, I'm starting a band.
525
00:29:40,691 --> 00:29:42,606
You've got a bass
in your closet don't you?"
526
00:29:42,737 --> 00:29:45,479
And that was that. It was
like, "Bye, journalism."
527
00:29:46,132 --> 00:29:49,135
On saxophone
Mr. Lloyd Goldberg.
528
00:29:49,265 --> 00:29:53,356
Dean didn't give a rat's ass
about, like, your background,
529
00:29:53,487 --> 00:29:55,184
who you were or what you were,
530
00:29:55,315 --> 00:29:57,752
you know,
this Jewish kid from Queens.
531
00:29:57,883 --> 00:30:00,146
You know,
I was going to be a dentist.
532
00:30:00,276 --> 00:30:03,149
I think it amused him
more than anything.
533
00:30:03,279 --> 00:30:05,325
I go, "You know how I sound.
534
00:30:05,455 --> 00:30:09,590
I sound like a drunk sax
player at a bad Bar Mitzvah."
535
00:30:10,417 --> 00:30:13,072
Dean just looks back at me
and goes, "Lloyd,
536
00:30:13,202 --> 00:30:15,944
That's the sound
I've always had in my head."
537
00:30:37,096 --> 00:30:38,358
Oh, we played Pyramid a lot.
538
00:30:38,488 --> 00:30:40,273
You know,
we played at the Palladium.
539
00:30:40,403 --> 00:30:43,450
The Limelight, Danceteria.
540
00:30:47,584 --> 00:30:49,456
♪ That's on demand! ♪
541
00:30:51,414 --> 00:30:53,199
I was a backup singer.
542
00:30:53,329 --> 00:30:57,203
My sister Perry was an original
Weenie and at a certain point,
543
00:30:57,333 --> 00:31:00,989
she got sick for one gig
and I jumped in and filled in.
544
00:31:01,120 --> 00:31:03,078
And then I just
joined the Weenies.
545
00:31:11,913 --> 00:31:13,306
1986.
546
00:31:16,744 --> 00:31:18,485
"I shot something for MTV
547
00:31:18,615 --> 00:31:22,141
called "Andy Warhol's 15 minutes".
548
00:31:22,271 --> 00:31:24,926
Andy,
don't you love Drag Queens?
549
00:31:25,057 --> 00:31:27,407
Drag Queen is such,
it's a down word
550
00:31:27,537 --> 00:31:29,844
it should be an up word, like,
551
00:31:29,975 --> 00:31:31,977
like, you know, Neo-Geo.
552
00:31:32,107 --> 00:31:34,893
Neo drag is what we call
the drag of the 80s.
553
00:31:35,023 --> 00:31:38,418
I got into drag because,
I was, I had no money
554
00:31:38,548 --> 00:31:39,854
and they were having
a beauty pageant
555
00:31:39,985 --> 00:31:41,160
here at the Pyramid Club.
556
00:31:41,290 --> 00:31:44,685
So I came down
and I entered and I won.
557
00:31:44,815 --> 00:31:46,600
I'd like you to meet
my friend Teri Toye.
558
00:31:46,730 --> 00:31:48,776
♪ Teri Toye I'll do your
make-up, wanna do your hair ♪
559
00:31:48,907 --> 00:31:50,821
♪ I wanna dress you up
and take you everywhere ♪
560
00:31:50,952 --> 00:31:52,736
♪ Teri Toye, I'm gonna
take you to a cool venue ♪
561
00:31:52,867 --> 00:31:54,477
♪ I'm gonna save all my drink
tickets to give to you ♪
562
00:31:54,608 --> 00:31:56,262
♪ Teri, there ain't
a woman who is scarier ♪
563
00:31:56,392 --> 00:31:59,308
♪ Teri, can you get me
into Area, Teri? ♪
564
00:31:59,439 --> 00:32:02,224
"We ended up with about
ten seconds of screen time,
565
00:32:02,355 --> 00:32:05,227
but it's amazing
how many people recognize you
566
00:32:05,358 --> 00:32:08,839
when you've been on MTV
for ten seconds
567
00:32:08,970 --> 00:32:11,233
Yeah. Onstage,
he was uncompromising,
568
00:32:11,364 --> 00:32:12,713
really nasty.
569
00:32:12,843 --> 00:32:16,238
Under the layers of his rage,
570
00:32:16,369 --> 00:32:18,937
there was a sweet guy
who just wanted to be hugged.
571
00:32:24,725 --> 00:32:26,683
He kept
his boyfriends very private,
572
00:32:26,814 --> 00:32:28,772
so I rarely met them.
573
00:32:28,903 --> 00:32:31,297
I met like, very few,
and if I met them,
574
00:32:31,427 --> 00:32:35,344
to me, that meant that they
weren't really that boyfriendy.
575
00:32:35,475 --> 00:32:37,259
I remember dozens of boyfriends
576
00:32:37,390 --> 00:32:38,652
during the time
we knew each other
577
00:32:38,782 --> 00:32:39,653
like boyfriend was,
578
00:32:39,783 --> 00:32:42,003
it was a term, you know,
579
00:32:42,134 --> 00:32:43,700
these people
were his boyfriends
580
00:32:43,831 --> 00:32:46,616
and it lasted
as long as it lasted.
581
00:32:46,747 --> 00:32:49,141
I think the love of his
life was Christopher Hook.
582
00:32:51,621 --> 00:32:53,362
He was living with Chris
when I moved to New York.
583
00:32:53,493 --> 00:32:57,584
And, I think they had a very
dysfunctional relationship.
584
00:32:58,977 --> 00:33:00,543
I met Dean
585
00:33:00,674 --> 00:33:02,981
not too long after
I moved to New York City,
586
00:33:03,111 --> 00:33:05,548
and I remember being
so grateful that I, like,
587
00:33:05,679 --> 00:33:07,202
you know, sort of migrated
588
00:33:07,333 --> 00:33:09,030
into this group of people,
589
00:33:09,161 --> 00:33:12,468
this sort
of a gaggle of misfits
590
00:33:12,599 --> 00:33:14,340
where I can just be myself.
591
00:33:16,820 --> 00:33:18,387
Dean's generosity
592
00:33:18,518 --> 00:33:22,391
and what he exposed me to,
he had such notoriety.
593
00:33:22,522 --> 00:33:25,699
And, and that was
really exciting to me,
594
00:33:25,829 --> 00:33:27,962
even if I was the person
on his arm, like,
595
00:33:28,093 --> 00:33:29,920
you know,
I still felt like a star,
596
00:33:30,051 --> 00:33:31,661
like, you know,
just being next to him.
597
00:33:31,792 --> 00:33:33,924
BBC, Dean Johnson,
how are you doing?
598
00:33:34,055 --> 00:33:35,187
I'm fine.
599
00:33:35,317 --> 00:33:36,275
What's your name? Chris.
600
00:33:36,405 --> 00:33:37,319
Chris and Dean.
601
00:33:37,450 --> 00:33:39,104
Hello, London!
602
00:33:39,234 --> 00:33:40,931
- Yeah.
- I never liked you
603
00:33:42,629 --> 00:33:45,371
The first time I even knew
who Dean Johnson was
604
00:33:45,501 --> 00:33:47,460
was in the movie
Mondo New York.
605
00:33:47,590 --> 00:33:50,419
Mondo New York,
home to outcast,
606
00:33:50,550 --> 00:33:55,163
misfit, reject,
pervert lunatics.
607
00:33:55,294 --> 00:33:57,078
It's before I moved
to New York City,
608
00:33:57,209 --> 00:33:58,862
and I was kind of obsessed
with that movie.
609
00:33:58,993 --> 00:34:00,603
I was like,
"Oh, that's what I want to do.
610
00:34:00,734 --> 00:34:03,171
And when I got here and then
I got to meet Dean Johnson,
611
00:34:03,302 --> 00:34:05,478
I was like, "Oh
my God, it's Dean Johnson
612
00:34:05,608 --> 00:34:06,870
from Mondo New York."
613
00:34:08,394 --> 00:34:09,960
This is art
614
00:34:10,091 --> 00:34:13,051
The theme of Mondo New York
was: what is art?
615
00:34:13,181 --> 00:34:18,230
So I really set upon myself
to try to have an unlimited
616
00:34:18,360 --> 00:34:21,624
vision of what was happening
in New York at the time,
617
00:34:21,755 --> 00:34:25,280
And to really document it,
because it does disappear.
618
00:34:26,977 --> 00:34:28,718
I remember we went
to see Mondo New York
619
00:34:28,849 --> 00:34:30,372
in a movie theater,
and people, like,
620
00:34:30,503 --> 00:34:32,113
chased him down the street.
621
00:34:33,680 --> 00:34:35,899
That was really exciting
for the both of us.
622
00:34:36,030 --> 00:34:38,902
Obviously, his quintessential
song was "Fuck You."
623
00:34:39,033 --> 00:34:43,255
♪ I cannot remember your name
and I could not care less ♪
624
00:34:43,385 --> 00:34:47,172
♪ I could have more fun
Talking to the IRS ♪
625
00:34:47,302 --> 00:34:51,219
♪ Why don't you take
Your problems to analysis? ♪
626
00:34:51,350 --> 00:34:55,397
♪ Take your foot out of your
Mouth and suck on this ♪
627
00:34:55,528 --> 00:34:59,097
♪ Fuck you! ♪
628
00:34:59,227 --> 00:35:00,707
That was, uh,
quite the achievement
629
00:35:00,837 --> 00:35:02,796
"Fuck you"
was like the swan song, right?
630
00:35:02,926 --> 00:35:04,667
He listed everything he hated
631
00:35:04,798 --> 00:35:06,539
♪ Everybody now ♪
632
00:35:06,669 --> 00:35:10,282
♪ Fuck! ♪
♪ The telephone company ♪
633
00:35:10,412 --> 00:35:11,370
♪ Fuck! ♪
634
00:35:11,500 --> 00:35:13,894
♪ National security ♪
635
00:35:14,024 --> 00:35:15,113
♪ Fuck! ♪
636
00:35:15,243 --> 00:35:17,767
♪ The prime interest rates ♪
637
00:35:17,898 --> 00:35:19,117
♪ Fuck! ♪
638
00:35:19,247 --> 00:35:20,988
♪ The Secretary of State ♪
639
00:35:21,728 --> 00:35:22,685
♪ Fuck! ♪
640
00:35:22,816 --> 00:35:25,166
♪ The Union Carbide ♪
641
00:35:25,297 --> 00:35:26,211
♪ Fuck! ♪
642
00:35:26,341 --> 00:35:28,865
♪ Third world genocide ♪
643
00:35:28,996 --> 00:35:30,693
♪ Fuck! ♪
644
00:35:30,824 --> 00:35:32,565
♪ Thermonuclear war ♪
645
00:35:32,695 --> 00:35:33,609
♪ Fuck! ♪
646
00:35:33,740 --> 00:35:37,222
♪ Mary Tyler Moore ♪
647
00:35:37,352 --> 00:35:41,443
Just to see that lanky big
weirdo singing, "Fuck you,
648
00:35:41,574 --> 00:35:43,445
Mary Tyler Moore."
649
00:35:43,576 --> 00:35:46,448
It was. It was pretty,
pretty revolutionary.
650
00:35:46,579 --> 00:35:49,886
"Fuck Mary Tyler Moore,"
I mean, come on.
651
00:35:50,017 --> 00:35:50,974
That's great.
652
00:35:51,105 --> 00:35:56,893
♪ Fuck you! ♪
653
00:35:57,024 --> 00:36:03,422
"Fuck you,"
the horn part was just me.
654
00:36:03,552 --> 00:36:07,513
I can hardly think of a time
that Dean ever told me
655
00:36:07,643 --> 00:36:10,559
what to play, but when
we recorded "Fuck You"
656
00:36:10,690 --> 00:36:14,520
he goes,
"Drunk sax player Bar Mitzvah."
657
00:36:16,086 --> 00:36:19,002
He wanted that mood.
He really wanted that.
658
00:36:19,133 --> 00:36:21,135
So I tried to deliver.
659
00:36:24,704 --> 00:36:26,662
There was one night,
Dean and I were sitting
660
00:36:26,793 --> 00:36:30,666
at the edge of the bar
at a place called Boy Bar,
661
00:36:30,797 --> 00:36:32,799
and they were
playing house music,
662
00:36:32,929 --> 00:36:34,540
which I'm not a big fan of.
663
00:36:34,670 --> 00:36:36,150
Neither was Dean.
664
00:36:36,281 --> 00:36:38,979
So I said, "I wish
someone would open up
665
00:36:39,109 --> 00:36:41,155
a rock and roll fag bar."
666
00:36:41,286 --> 00:36:44,985
And he said,
"That's a great idea."
667
00:36:45,115 --> 00:36:46,813
"Went to the owners
of The World
668
00:36:46,943 --> 00:36:49,511
and asked them
to let me have Tuesdays
669
00:36:49,642 --> 00:36:52,601
since the club was
open that night anyway.
670
00:36:52,732 --> 00:36:55,343
In four weeks,
Rock n'Roll Fag Bar
671
00:36:55,474 --> 00:36:58,172
was the hottest party
in New York City
672
00:36:58,303 --> 00:37:01,567
and dominated the club scene
for the rest of the decade."
673
00:37:03,264 --> 00:37:04,396
Rock n'Roll Fag Bar
at The World
674
00:37:04,526 --> 00:37:06,049
was one of those things
675
00:37:06,180 --> 00:37:08,008
that sort of changed
nightlife in a way,
676
00:37:08,138 --> 00:37:11,707
cause it was the AIDS times.
677
00:37:11,838 --> 00:37:13,274
Reagan was president
678
00:37:13,405 --> 00:37:15,711
and the AIDS crisis
was definitely decimating,
679
00:37:15,842 --> 00:37:17,844
you know, so many people
680
00:37:17,974 --> 00:37:20,325
♪ You got something
to smile about ♪
681
00:37:20,455 --> 00:37:22,457
But it was weird because,
like, when you're in the club
682
00:37:22,588 --> 00:37:24,503
with like, it was like...
683
00:37:24,633 --> 00:37:27,332
It was like nothing was
going on like that outside.
684
00:37:30,683 --> 00:37:32,511
The genius
of Rock n'Roll Fag Bar
685
00:37:32,641 --> 00:37:34,513
was, first of all,
it was in this kind of decayed
686
00:37:34,643 --> 00:37:37,603
ballroom. It was like
a great venue for this party.
687
00:37:39,213 --> 00:37:41,520
The world was falling
688
00:37:41,650 --> 00:37:45,088
to pieces
as the party was going on.
689
00:37:45,219 --> 00:37:48,309
Every time there was even
moderately loud music there,
690
00:37:48,440 --> 00:37:50,050
the whole chandelier
691
00:37:50,180 --> 00:37:51,878
would look like it was just
going to come down
692
00:37:52,008 --> 00:37:53,532
on everyone's heads.
693
00:37:55,229 --> 00:37:57,318
That place was such a dump.
694
00:37:57,449 --> 00:37:59,712
A magic, magic dump.
695
00:37:59,842 --> 00:38:01,279
♪ Two, three, four ♪
696
00:38:03,716 --> 00:38:06,066
We were the house band
in the crystal room,
697
00:38:06,196 --> 00:38:09,025
and we played with, like,
all these different people.
698
00:38:09,156 --> 00:38:10,636
He had great performances.
699
00:38:10,766 --> 00:38:12,115
I remember that's one
of the first places
700
00:38:12,246 --> 00:38:13,595
that a lot of people
saw Deee-lite
701
00:38:13,726 --> 00:38:15,554
and David Bowie's Tin Machine.
702
00:38:15,684 --> 00:38:17,338
They performed there.
703
00:38:17,469 --> 00:38:19,297
When you're kind
of growing up gay
704
00:38:19,427 --> 00:38:20,863
and trying to find your way,
705
00:38:20,994 --> 00:38:22,604
the type of music
I always associated with
706
00:38:22,735 --> 00:38:25,172
was like The Village People
or Sylvester,
707
00:38:25,303 --> 00:38:27,348
and the fact that
at The World you could have
708
00:38:27,479 --> 00:38:30,395
a thousand gay men dancing
to The Ramones
709
00:38:30,525 --> 00:38:32,005
just blew my mind.
710
00:38:32,135 --> 00:38:33,093
Because at the time, you know,
711
00:38:33,223 --> 00:38:35,313
it was all disco and show tunes
712
00:38:35,443 --> 00:38:37,227
and we were very
much rock n roll.
713
00:38:37,358 --> 00:38:39,578
♪ Have a little bit of fun ♪
714
00:38:39,708 --> 00:38:42,276
♪ When 17 is ready,
Willing and hung ♪
715
00:38:42,407 --> 00:38:44,234
♪ He's Chicken! ♪
716
00:38:45,671 --> 00:38:46,672
What kind of crowd?
do you like here
717
00:38:46,802 --> 00:38:48,543
on Tuesday's at The World?
718
00:38:48,674 --> 00:38:50,240
Oh, everyone here
was just so good looking
719
00:38:50,371 --> 00:38:51,938
that I get dizzy.
720
00:38:52,068 --> 00:38:54,157
Um...
721
00:38:54,288 --> 00:38:55,594
And it's really fun.
722
00:38:55,724 --> 00:38:57,291
We have lots of pop stars
723
00:38:57,422 --> 00:38:59,075
and drag queens
and half naked boys
724
00:38:59,206 --> 00:39:00,512
running all over the club.
725
00:39:00,642 --> 00:39:02,601
And we all have
such a good time.
726
00:39:03,558 --> 00:39:04,951
We would do
all sorts of drugs,
727
00:39:05,081 --> 00:39:07,388
lots of hallucinogenics.
728
00:39:07,519 --> 00:39:09,477
We were totally
into tripping and, you know,
729
00:39:09,608 --> 00:39:12,088
He'd come over and we would,
you know, do bong hits,
730
00:39:12,219 --> 00:39:13,699
you know, during the day.
731
00:39:13,829 --> 00:39:16,136
That was what life
was like for years.
732
00:39:19,661 --> 00:39:21,837
Everyone was dressed up
and dancing
733
00:39:21,968 --> 00:39:23,578
and it was great.
734
00:39:24,405 --> 00:39:26,102
It brought drag in a way,
735
00:39:26,233 --> 00:39:28,888
and rock and roll,
which usually didn't mix.
736
00:39:29,018 --> 00:39:33,545
And activism,
defiant open queerness.
737
00:39:34,720 --> 00:39:36,199
And it was sexy.
738
00:39:37,113 --> 00:39:39,681
It was the first time we sort
of started feeling sexy again
739
00:39:39,812 --> 00:39:41,596
in a long time.
740
00:39:41,727 --> 00:39:44,207
I want everybody to take their
clothes off for this next song.
741
00:39:44,338 --> 00:39:47,428
Yeah!
742
00:39:47,559 --> 00:39:51,084
At some point there
became a back room
743
00:39:51,214 --> 00:39:53,695
and it was like, "Oh, clubs
are doing back rooms again.
744
00:39:53,826 --> 00:39:57,264
This was, we had assumed
that was a lost art form.
745
00:39:57,830 --> 00:39:59,353
You know,
I knew Dean was the person
746
00:39:59,484 --> 00:40:02,051
that kind of brought back
the back room sex party,
747
00:40:02,182 --> 00:40:03,836
in the sense
that he went backstage
748
00:40:03,966 --> 00:40:07,840
and put a light bulb
in a room, and got a curtain,
749
00:40:07,970 --> 00:40:12,758
and, ah! Suddenly radical
sex could be had again.
750
00:40:12,888 --> 00:40:14,847
"I put out invites
saying we were having
751
00:40:14,977 --> 00:40:16,849
a wild sex party.
752
00:40:16,979 --> 00:40:20,026
I just darkened the back room
and put a box of Kleenex
753
00:40:20,156 --> 00:40:23,812
and a 10 pound jar
of Vaseline under a pin light.
754
00:40:24,683 --> 00:40:28,382
I hung a sign that said,
"This way to the Testosteroom.
755
00:40:28,513 --> 00:40:30,515
Thinking it was a big joke.
756
00:40:30,645 --> 00:40:32,778
About an hour later,
I looked up
757
00:40:32,908 --> 00:40:35,563
and was surrounded
by people fucking.
758
00:40:35,694 --> 00:40:39,480
That was how Rock 'nRoll Fag
Bar became a sex party."
759
00:40:42,004 --> 00:40:45,660
It was a big orgy as
most of Dean's parties were.
760
00:40:46,618 --> 00:40:48,315
When AIDS started
hitting in the early 80s,
761
00:40:48,446 --> 00:40:50,578
everyone thought, "Oh,
we can never have sex again."
762
00:40:50,709 --> 00:40:54,147
Sex was really scary
at that point.
763
00:40:54,277 --> 00:40:57,890
Nobody knew how to navigate
the new rules of sex.
764
00:40:58,020 --> 00:40:59,892
But as it became clearer,
765
00:41:00,022 --> 00:41:01,589
people did started
having sex again.
766
00:41:01,720 --> 00:41:04,418
Because it's a natural impulse.
It's human.
767
00:41:05,854 --> 00:41:07,508
And Dean was at the forefront
768
00:41:07,639 --> 00:41:10,380
of bringing sex
back to nightlife.
769
00:41:13,427 --> 00:41:17,692
Dean was very big
on safe sex in his day.
770
00:41:17,823 --> 00:41:19,564
There were, like,
thousands of condoms available
771
00:41:19,694 --> 00:41:20,913
for people to use.
772
00:41:21,043 --> 00:41:23,176
Was everybody safe?
Absolutely not.
773
00:41:23,698 --> 00:41:27,441
What really set Dean apart
774
00:41:27,572 --> 00:41:30,139
and what made Dean important
775
00:41:30,270 --> 00:41:34,970
was Dean's focus on sex.
776
00:41:35,101 --> 00:41:37,669
I don't think Dean
was trying to be provocative.
777
00:41:38,931 --> 00:41:43,936
Dean was responding
to the kind of,
778
00:41:44,676 --> 00:41:48,984
judgmental attitude
towards people
779
00:41:49,550 --> 00:41:52,292
that happened during
the AIDS epidemic.
780
00:41:55,208 --> 00:41:58,037
His entire take
781
00:41:58,167 --> 00:42:00,735
was to fly in the face
782
00:42:00,866 --> 00:42:02,998
of that judgment.
783
00:42:03,912 --> 00:42:05,131
Strip!
784
00:42:05,261 --> 00:42:07,612
And that's part of us
785
00:42:07,742 --> 00:42:10,658
throwing these
sex positive events
786
00:42:10,789 --> 00:42:13,531
and why we were so in your
face with the sexuality
787
00:42:13,661 --> 00:42:15,445
as we were trying to tell
788
00:42:15,576 --> 00:42:18,840
our community
that we are still
789
00:42:19,406 --> 00:42:23,366
sexual beings
and that it is innate in us.
790
00:42:23,497 --> 00:42:25,543
It is healthy
and it's a beautiful thing.
791
00:42:27,414 --> 00:42:30,635
Those of us who
were pro sex positive
792
00:42:30,765 --> 00:42:35,204
in the 80s, that came
out of a real fuck you
793
00:42:35,335 --> 00:42:39,382
that no, we're not going
to like crawl into a hole
794
00:42:39,513 --> 00:42:41,471
and say, "Yes, you're right.
795
00:42:41,602 --> 00:42:43,473
Oh my God, I'm going
to do three Hail Marys
796
00:42:43,604 --> 00:42:45,563
and I'm not going to be,
797
00:42:45,693 --> 00:42:50,002
you know, the sexual
entity that I am.
798
00:42:50,132 --> 00:42:51,917
For some of us sex is private
799
00:42:52,047 --> 00:42:55,703
and kind of our relief
from the rest of our lives.
800
00:42:55,834 --> 00:42:58,227
But for Dean,
it was public and a part
801
00:42:58,358 --> 00:42:59,838
of the rest of his life.
802
00:42:59,968 --> 00:43:02,101
It was an extension,
a ten inch long extension
803
00:43:02,231 --> 00:43:04,756
of the rest of his life.
804
00:43:04,886 --> 00:43:07,454
This is Rock 'nRoll Fag Bar!
805
00:43:12,241 --> 00:43:14,069
1988.
806
00:43:15,636 --> 00:43:17,464
How am I doin'?
807
00:43:22,948 --> 00:43:25,385
"'Fuck You'
was the most requested video
808
00:43:25,515 --> 00:43:29,650
on Rock America's Club chart
for six consecutive months.
809
00:43:29,781 --> 00:43:31,609
Dean and the Weenies is flying
810
00:43:31,739 --> 00:43:34,220
all over the country
doing shows."
811
00:43:34,350 --> 00:43:35,787
Dean and the Weenies
got so popular
812
00:43:35,917 --> 00:43:37,615
that they did get signed
by Island Records.
813
00:43:41,357 --> 00:43:43,664
I'd like to announce since
we're celebrating tonight,
814
00:43:43,795 --> 00:43:46,362
that Dean and the Weenies
has just landed a contract
815
00:43:46,493 --> 00:43:47,537
with Island Records
816
00:43:52,064 --> 00:43:54,936
You might actually
be seeing a drag queen
817
00:43:55,067 --> 00:43:58,070
on MTV who's willing to admit
that he's a drag queen.
818
00:44:03,510 --> 00:44:06,078
"The day after
I signed the contract,
819
00:44:06,208 --> 00:44:08,863
I found out I'm HIV positive.
820
00:44:09,734 --> 00:44:13,085
All of a sudden, nothing
seems to matter very much.
821
00:44:13,694 --> 00:44:16,610
I'm having a lot of trouble
dealing with the press junket,
822
00:44:16,741 --> 00:44:19,221
knowing this is hanging
over my head,
823
00:44:20,179 --> 00:44:23,138
and I'm getting a reputation
for being difficult."
824
00:44:25,575 --> 00:44:27,926
We all assumed
that we would get AIDS.
825
00:44:28,056 --> 00:44:30,624
We all assumed
that we would die
826
00:44:30,755 --> 00:44:32,278
because it was
a death sentence,
827
00:44:32,408 --> 00:44:34,280
and we saw our friends drop.
828
00:44:34,410 --> 00:44:37,936
So, amidst the partying,
there was this real
829
00:44:38,066 --> 00:44:43,071
specter of death
and, you know, loss.
830
00:44:47,554 --> 00:44:50,296
There is a really
big difference
831
00:44:50,426 --> 00:44:53,168
between being in the downtown
832
00:44:53,299 --> 00:44:55,214
art scene in the 80s,
833
00:44:55,344 --> 00:44:57,695
when every
other person you knew
834
00:44:57,825 --> 00:45:01,046
was sick or dying,
and you were waiting
835
00:45:01,176 --> 00:45:04,049
to become positive.
836
00:45:04,179 --> 00:45:05,398
It devastated
the East Village.
837
00:45:05,528 --> 00:45:07,748
It devastated the art world.
838
00:45:08,270 --> 00:45:11,012
It just changed New York.
839
00:45:11,143 --> 00:45:14,059
It destroyed
an entire generation
840
00:45:14,189 --> 00:45:16,539
or two generations,
841
00:45:16,670 --> 00:45:19,064
um, of queer people.
842
00:45:19,194 --> 00:45:21,240
Ronald Reagan didn't care
about the AIDS crisis.
843
00:45:21,370 --> 00:45:22,545
This is not our problem.
844
00:45:22,676 --> 00:45:24,373
You know, we don't care.
845
00:45:26,332 --> 00:45:29,814
Being apolitical was not an option.
846
00:45:29,944 --> 00:45:31,772
You had to speak up.
You had to go to rallies.
847
00:45:31,903 --> 00:45:33,513
You had to go to marches
848
00:45:33,643 --> 00:45:36,429
Health care is a right!
Health care is a right!
849
00:45:37,299 --> 00:45:39,388
You know,
you had to raise hell.
850
00:45:39,519 --> 00:45:42,261
How do you
feel about [inaudible]?
851
00:45:42,391 --> 00:45:44,611
The issue of AIDS?
852
00:45:44,742 --> 00:45:47,092
Well, I mean, it's not...
853
00:45:47,222 --> 00:45:49,572
I mean, when you say how much
of the issue, you know,
854
00:45:49,703 --> 00:45:51,270
it's not really an issue,
855
00:45:51,400 --> 00:45:53,751
it's, it's,
it's much more than that.
856
00:45:53,881 --> 00:45:56,492
It's a holocaust.
857
00:45:56,623 --> 00:45:59,844
It's people dying all around us.
858
00:45:59,974 --> 00:46:02,890
You know, my friends are dying
859
00:46:03,021 --> 00:46:04,587
ACT-UP
did a demonstration
860
00:46:04,718 --> 00:46:06,589
in Washington
where they had...
861
00:46:06,720 --> 00:46:09,767
They were throwing the ashes
of their loved ones
862
00:46:09,897 --> 00:46:11,986
on the White House lawn.
863
00:46:13,031 --> 00:46:14,423
I cried through the whole thing.
864
00:46:14,554 --> 00:46:16,469
I mean, that's,
you know, it very powerful.
865
00:46:25,695 --> 00:46:28,089
It's a tragedy that we're
just beginning to experience
866
00:46:28,220 --> 00:46:31,832
the loss of, um...
867
00:46:33,312 --> 00:46:35,227
And I hope this record
will do something,
868
00:46:35,357 --> 00:46:37,446
I don't think
it is going to do much,
869
00:46:37,577 --> 00:46:39,361
But it's better
than sitting around
870
00:46:39,492 --> 00:46:41,363
and doing nothing at all.
871
00:46:43,235 --> 00:46:45,541
1989.
872
00:46:45,672 --> 00:46:47,065
"Island is not liking me
873
00:46:47,195 --> 00:46:51,025
because I won't shut up
about being gay.
874
00:46:51,156 --> 00:46:53,288
Apparently,
they didn't realize how vocal
875
00:46:53,419 --> 00:46:55,029
I intended to be
on the subject
876
00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:56,814
when they signed me.
877
00:46:57,423 --> 00:47:01,601
In fact, they didn't seem
to realize I was gay at all.
878
00:47:01,731 --> 00:47:03,951
To make matters worse,
my AandR guy
879
00:47:04,082 --> 00:47:07,085
is in the closet
and dying of AIDS.
880
00:47:07,215 --> 00:47:08,564
He hates me."
881
00:47:11,176 --> 00:47:13,178
He had a shot
of fame with "Fuck You"
882
00:47:13,308 --> 00:47:14,744
and Mondo New York,
883
00:47:14,875 --> 00:47:16,442
and the industry was
all over him for a minute,
884
00:47:16,572 --> 00:47:18,226
and they were like,
"Oh, wait a minute.
885
00:47:18,357 --> 00:47:21,099
You're like a six and a half
feet tall gay drag queen?
886
00:47:21,229 --> 00:47:23,666
I don't think
we can market that."
887
00:47:24,232 --> 00:47:25,581
Dean was getting ready to try
888
00:47:25,712 --> 00:47:26,626
to put together a tour,
to go on tour
889
00:47:26,756 --> 00:47:28,193
with The Weenies,
890
00:47:28,323 --> 00:47:29,716
and then they said, "Oh,
no, no, we're dropping you
891
00:47:29,847 --> 00:47:31,283
from the label.
We really were trying to go
892
00:47:31,413 --> 00:47:32,588
in a different direction.
We don't want all
893
00:47:32,719 --> 00:47:34,547
this queer music."
894
00:47:34,677 --> 00:47:36,984
And then somebody called him
on the phone and said, "Hey,
895
00:47:37,115 --> 00:47:39,552
did you give this homeless
man all your albums?
896
00:47:39,682 --> 00:47:41,336
Because there's a homeless
man out here on, like,
897
00:47:41,467 --> 00:47:43,556
Fourth and Lafayette
selling all your CDs,
898
00:47:43,686 --> 00:47:45,079
and he was like, "What?"
899
00:47:45,210 --> 00:47:46,776
And so he ran down
to Island Records,
900
00:47:46,907 --> 00:47:48,561
and sure enough,
in the back alley
901
00:47:48,691 --> 00:47:50,737
there was a dumpster,
and there was just thousands
902
00:47:50,868 --> 00:47:52,565
and thousands of Dean
and the Weenies CDs.
903
00:47:52,695 --> 00:47:55,002
He didn't even have, like,
the courtesy to even call him
904
00:47:55,133 --> 00:47:57,091
and say, "Hey, listen,
we where you can have these."
905
00:47:57,222 --> 00:47:59,485
We had a contract with Island.
906
00:47:59,615 --> 00:48:01,356
But we're right
now we're unsigned.
907
00:48:01,487 --> 00:48:03,097
It was disheartening,
because it was,
908
00:48:03,228 --> 00:48:04,577
you know, it was something
that he was working towards
909
00:48:04,707 --> 00:48:06,666
and something
that he really wanted.
910
00:48:06,796 --> 00:48:08,711
And they just wanted him
to completely be
911
00:48:08,842 --> 00:48:10,322
something that he wasn't.
912
00:48:11,236 --> 00:48:12,498
He hit his head up
against the wall
913
00:48:12,628 --> 00:48:14,021
with the music industry,
914
00:48:14,152 --> 00:48:15,849
But he's one of those pioneers
915
00:48:15,980 --> 00:48:18,330
that had to bang on the door
for it to break open.
916
00:48:20,027 --> 00:48:24,336
He wanted
to continually tell the story
917
00:48:24,466 --> 00:48:27,774
that he was an important
rock star, and that,
918
00:48:27,905 --> 00:48:30,864
you know, that it was
somehow stolen from him.
919
00:48:32,779 --> 00:48:35,216
We had a showcase
at The World
920
00:48:35,347 --> 00:48:37,566
with David Bowie's manager,
921
00:48:38,916 --> 00:48:41,266
and the Weenies
showed up at The World.
922
00:48:41,396 --> 00:48:42,963
We did our soundcheck.
923
00:48:43,616 --> 00:48:45,139
No Dean.
924
00:48:45,270 --> 00:48:47,054
No... Showtime, no Dean.
925
00:48:47,185 --> 00:48:50,449
No Dean.
Where was Dean? In jail!
926
00:48:50,579 --> 00:48:53,931
"I started doing
a lot of heroin.
927
00:48:54,061 --> 00:48:57,325
On Halloween I was booked
to play at The World.
928
00:48:57,456 --> 00:49:00,502
David Bowie's manager was
coming to check out the band.
929
00:49:01,503 --> 00:49:05,725
I stopped to cop some dope
on my way to the show.
930
00:49:05,855 --> 00:49:08,641
It was a set up,
and I got busted.
931
00:49:10,469 --> 00:49:13,167
The fact that my arresting
officer was a fan
932
00:49:13,298 --> 00:49:15,517
and an obvious closet case
didn't help me
933
00:49:15,648 --> 00:49:17,258
get out of trouble.
934
00:49:18,085 --> 00:49:20,870
For a while, the van was
parked in front of The World,
935
00:49:21,001 --> 00:49:23,656
and I could watch fans
lining up for my show
936
00:49:23,786 --> 00:49:27,225
while I was handcuffed
in the back.
937
00:49:27,355 --> 00:49:30,750
That was pretty much the end
of Dean and the Weenies.
938
00:49:32,578 --> 00:49:34,928
I spent the next
two years doing dope
939
00:49:35,059 --> 00:49:37,887
and being shipped off
to various rehabs."
940
00:49:40,064 --> 00:49:42,588
There was
a heavy heroin period
941
00:49:42,718 --> 00:49:45,156
where things dissolved
942
00:49:45,286 --> 00:49:48,072
for the rest of the members
of the band.
943
00:49:48,202 --> 00:49:50,552
Devastation for sure.
944
00:49:56,558 --> 00:49:58,125
We kind of had
this rule that we weren't
945
00:49:58,256 --> 00:49:59,953
gonna do heroin
946
00:50:00,084 --> 00:50:03,652
because we recognized
our addictive personalities.
947
00:50:03,783 --> 00:50:09,963
Later, I started doing heroin
and we didn't tell each other.
948
00:50:10,094 --> 00:50:13,706
By the time we had a crying
confession where he said,
949
00:50:13,836 --> 00:50:18,711
you know, "I fucked up
and here's where I'm at."
950
00:50:18,841 --> 00:50:21,801
I thought, "Fuck, so am I."
951
00:50:21,931 --> 00:50:25,544
But at that point it was,
we were in it.
952
00:50:25,674 --> 00:50:27,415
I would leave because
I felt like, you know,
953
00:50:27,546 --> 00:50:29,026
"Oh, I can't take this anymore."
954
00:50:29,156 --> 00:50:30,331
And then I would come back
because I wasn't able
955
00:50:30,462 --> 00:50:31,811
to take care of myself.
956
00:50:34,988 --> 00:50:37,817
There was something broken
in us, in a weird way.
957
00:50:40,515 --> 00:50:43,083
We were like two ships
crashing in the night.
958
00:50:44,215 --> 00:50:46,173
1990.
959
00:50:46,304 --> 00:50:49,829
"I'm delivering Mexican food
and shooting lots of dope.
960
00:50:50,699 --> 00:50:54,138
Tried rehab,
escaped from mental hospital.
961
00:50:54,268 --> 00:50:56,096
Long story.
962
00:50:56,227 --> 00:50:59,491
Then my best friend
died of a cocaine overdose.
963
00:50:59,621 --> 00:51:02,102
Somebody put him out
with the trash,
964
00:51:02,233 --> 00:51:05,671
and they found him the next
day behind the garbage cans."
965
00:51:08,674 --> 00:51:10,676
We both got really
fucked up in the 90s.
966
00:51:10,806 --> 00:51:12,634
Very, very fucked up on drugs.
967
00:51:14,810 --> 00:51:17,552
I was holed up at Chelsea Hotel
and I called up Dean
968
00:51:17,683 --> 00:51:20,729
and I'm like, "Do you want to
come over and help me clean?"
969
00:51:21,643 --> 00:51:23,297
And I had a ton of coke,
970
00:51:23,428 --> 00:51:25,082
and he had some heroin.
971
00:51:25,212 --> 00:51:27,388
And we came over it and, like,
972
00:51:27,519 --> 00:51:29,999
I don't know, we hung out
for like four days
973
00:51:31,088 --> 00:51:33,873
You know, cleaned my house
and then wrecked it again.
974
00:51:35,875 --> 00:51:38,182
I think any artist in America
975
00:51:38,312 --> 00:51:40,097
that is doing anything
976
00:51:40,227 --> 00:51:44,275
that's off the mainstream
radar has a lot of obstacles,
977
00:51:44,405 --> 00:51:45,493
and it's not surprising to me
978
00:51:45,624 --> 00:51:48,017
that we seek out
coping mechanisms
979
00:51:48,148 --> 00:51:51,195
that might be looked down upon
980
00:51:51,325 --> 00:51:53,980
or can eventually become fatal.
981
00:51:56,809 --> 00:52:00,117
"Got fired from Webster
Hall for being a junkie.
982
00:52:00,247 --> 00:52:02,641
Ended up turning tricks
with Vietnam vets
983
00:52:02,771 --> 00:52:05,818
in an alleyway
in Jersey City for crack.
984
00:52:05,948 --> 00:52:07,385
Back to rehab."
985
00:52:10,039 --> 00:52:11,780
Then it was Giuliani time.
986
00:52:11,911 --> 00:52:14,914
Oh, boy. Here it comes.
987
00:52:15,044 --> 00:52:17,743
New York City is
poised for dramatic change.
988
00:52:17,873 --> 00:52:21,312
The era of fear has had
a long enough reign.
989
00:52:21,442 --> 00:52:24,445
The period of doubt
has run its course.
990
00:52:25,054 --> 00:52:26,882
Giuliani took over,
991
00:52:27,013 --> 00:52:29,320
and he made it his mission
to crack down on nightlife.
992
00:52:30,973 --> 00:52:33,193
Which is absurd, because
nightlife pumps tons of money
993
00:52:33,324 --> 00:52:34,760
into the city,
and tons of energy
994
00:52:34,890 --> 00:52:36,457
and creative excitement.
995
00:52:38,242 --> 00:52:40,113
But he wanted
to make the city safe
996
00:52:40,244 --> 00:52:42,855
for tourists and co-op owners.
997
00:52:44,030 --> 00:52:45,988
You know, they were
particularly adult themes
998
00:52:46,119 --> 00:52:49,209
places, places
with people of color,
999
00:52:49,340 --> 00:52:51,211
and all the queer bars.
1000
00:52:51,342 --> 00:52:52,908
So, we would have
the cops coming in
1001
00:52:53,039 --> 00:52:55,259
in the middle of the night
and, you know,
1002
00:52:56,042 --> 00:52:57,870
the entire club would
have to shut down
1003
00:52:58,000 --> 00:52:59,611
and everybody would leave.
1004
00:52:59,741 --> 00:53:01,961
And then there was,
of course, the cabaret law,
1005
00:53:02,091 --> 00:53:05,094
which was the antiquated
law that they were utilizing
1006
00:53:05,225 --> 00:53:07,401
to shut down whatever
club they wanted.
1007
00:53:07,532 --> 00:53:09,186
If there were three
or more people moving
1008
00:53:09,316 --> 00:53:11,188
in a rhythmic fashion,
1009
00:53:11,318 --> 00:53:14,103
then it was considered against
the law and it was illegal.
1010
00:53:14,234 --> 00:53:16,193
Unless you had
a cabaret license,
1011
00:53:16,323 --> 00:53:18,717
which none of us had.
1012
00:53:19,674 --> 00:53:21,241
The Palladium
had to come down.
1013
00:53:21,372 --> 00:53:22,677
Squeezebox had to come down.
1014
00:53:22,808 --> 00:53:24,679
The Boy Bar
had to be torn down.
1015
00:53:24,810 --> 00:53:26,812
People from all different
economic classes
1016
00:53:26,942 --> 00:53:28,727
and races and sexual
orientation
1017
00:53:28,857 --> 00:53:30,642
or whatever, they could all be
in here, mingling around.
1018
00:53:30,772 --> 00:53:32,731
This is dangerous.
1019
00:53:32,861 --> 00:53:37,649
Suddenly, everything
got a lot less fun.
1020
00:53:43,307 --> 00:53:44,830
1994.
1021
00:53:44,960 --> 00:53:46,875
"Finally quit doing heroin
1022
00:53:47,006 --> 00:53:50,096
and started taking
anti-depressants instead.
1023
00:53:50,227 --> 00:53:51,880
Gave up on club life.
1024
00:53:52,011 --> 00:53:55,710
Got a boyfriend and a job,
and settled down.
1025
00:53:56,494 --> 00:53:59,236
And then one day I met
little Mary Feaster,
1026
00:53:59,366 --> 00:54:01,368
the bass player
for the Velvet Mafia,
1027
00:54:01,499 --> 00:54:05,372
and asked her if she wanted
to start a band.
1028
00:54:05,503 --> 00:54:07,766
Mary and I started
writing new material
1029
00:54:07,896 --> 00:54:09,942
while I went to work
getting us gigs."
1030
00:54:14,294 --> 00:54:16,949
He taught me
a lot about performing,
1031
00:54:17,079 --> 00:54:18,733
like bringing it.
1032
00:54:18,864 --> 00:54:20,126
You know, if you're going
to get up there, like,
1033
00:54:20,257 --> 00:54:22,520
don't stand there
and look at your shoes,
1034
00:54:22,650 --> 00:54:23,999
you know, like, bring it.
1035
00:54:32,486 --> 00:54:33,835
I guess
you would describe it
1036
00:54:33,966 --> 00:54:36,838
as kind of glam rock,
1037
00:54:36,969 --> 00:54:38,797
but queer glam rock.
1038
00:54:47,240 --> 00:54:49,634
The term Velvet Mafia
1039
00:54:49,764 --> 00:54:55,683
came from this description
of powerful,
1040
00:54:55,814 --> 00:54:59,687
like players
in the entertainment industry
1041
00:54:59,818 --> 00:55:01,950
who were closeted gay men,
1042
00:55:02,081 --> 00:55:03,517
and they were called
the Velvet Mafia,
1043
00:55:03,648 --> 00:55:05,302
that they controlled
everything.
1044
00:55:08,261 --> 00:55:11,177
He really was unique
in his presentation,
1045
00:55:11,308 --> 00:55:13,788
the way he really
staged his shows.
1046
00:55:14,311 --> 00:55:16,443
The characters
that were within the band
1047
00:55:16,574 --> 00:55:19,098
had a performance art aspect.
1048
00:55:19,228 --> 00:55:22,275
I was Trixie
the Times Square hooker
1049
00:55:22,406 --> 00:55:25,060
I'm Dixie the Orlando
crack whore.
1050
00:55:27,324 --> 00:55:29,413
I was in male drag, always,
1051
00:55:29,543 --> 00:55:32,546
as Bruno Bettlehiemer
and all these guys
1052
00:55:32,677 --> 00:55:33,765
were winking at me and...
1053
00:55:36,028 --> 00:55:38,987
The male drag
was really a fun experience.
1054
00:55:39,597 --> 00:55:42,643
The whole layer of protection
of having an on stage persona.
1055
00:55:42,774 --> 00:55:46,386
You never felt compelled
to take yourself seriously.
1056
00:55:46,517 --> 00:55:48,170
You know, it's like
it's you're doing it
1057
00:55:48,301 --> 00:55:50,259
for the spectacle of it all.
1058
00:55:53,045 --> 00:55:54,742
Hello, we are the Velvet Mafia!
1059
00:55:56,831 --> 00:55:58,355
1999.
1060
00:55:59,834 --> 00:56:02,881
"Decided the queer music
scene needed a new home
1061
00:56:03,011 --> 00:56:05,492
and opened Homocore at CBGB
1062
00:56:05,623 --> 00:56:09,017
as a monthly queer music
showcase celebration."
1063
00:56:09,148 --> 00:56:10,889
The whole idea
for Homocore,
1064
00:56:11,019 --> 00:56:13,108
which is the event that
you're attending right now,
1065
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:15,067
came to me,
1066
00:56:15,197 --> 00:56:18,592
when Lady Bunny decided to quit
doing live music at Wigstock.
1067
00:56:18,723 --> 00:56:22,422
Actually, the next four artists
are all Wigstock refugees.
1068
00:56:22,553 --> 00:56:23,902
We've all been kicked
out of the show
1069
00:56:24,032 --> 00:56:26,383
for being too rock and roll.
1070
00:56:26,513 --> 00:56:28,863
Homocore! I love Homocore!
1071
00:56:29,864 --> 00:56:33,041
He approached Hilly,
the owner of CBGB's,
1072
00:56:33,172 --> 00:56:34,782
and said,
"I want to do Homocore.
1073
00:56:34,913 --> 00:56:38,569
I want to do a once-a-month
rock and roll gig
1074
00:56:38,699 --> 00:56:41,354
for gay and lesbian
and trans people.
1075
00:56:41,485 --> 00:56:44,923
And Hilly was full on,
on board, like, definitely.
1076
00:56:50,450 --> 00:56:52,234
"Rufus Wainwright
really helped us
1077
00:56:52,365 --> 00:56:53,801
put the night on the map,
1078
00:56:53,932 --> 00:56:55,455
And celebrities
start slinking through
1079
00:56:55,586 --> 00:56:58,153
the door on a routine basis.
1080
00:56:58,937 --> 00:57:02,201
Parker Posey shows up
in her best in-show braces,
1081
00:57:02,331 --> 00:57:04,595
and Kirstie Alley
wasn't too big to scale
1082
00:57:04,725 --> 00:57:07,293
the amplifiers for a better
view of the stage."
1083
00:57:07,424 --> 00:57:10,252
I saw so many acts
for the first time there.
1084
00:57:10,383 --> 00:57:12,559
I saw Cazwell
for the first time there.
1085
00:57:12,690 --> 00:57:16,041
Gay hip hop people,
young gay punk bands,
1086
00:57:16,171 --> 00:57:17,825
rock bands.
1087
00:57:17,956 --> 00:57:20,828
It was like a real activist
move on Dean's part
1088
00:57:20,959 --> 00:57:26,834
to get the community out
of the marginalized fringes.
1089
00:57:26,965 --> 00:57:29,663
Dean asked me
to come and perform at CBGB's,
1090
00:57:29,794 --> 00:57:32,884
and I said, "Okay," not really
knowing exactly CBGBs,
1091
00:57:33,014 --> 00:57:35,843
what it meant. But then
I realized what it meant,
1092
00:57:35,974 --> 00:57:38,629
and it was very, very major.
1093
00:57:38,759 --> 00:57:39,978
Through rock and roll.
1094
00:57:40,108 --> 00:57:42,154
He brought all of us together.
1095
00:57:42,284 --> 00:57:46,114
Queers like lesbians,
fags, straight people,
1096
00:57:47,551 --> 00:57:50,205
Hot people, not so hot people.
1097
00:57:50,336 --> 00:57:52,164
I will always get like,
mostly straight audiences.
1098
00:57:52,294 --> 00:57:54,383
And they loved us, you know?
But I was like, "Well,
1099
00:57:54,514 --> 00:57:55,994
gay people would like my music,
1100
00:57:56,124 --> 00:57:57,952
but they were too afraid
to go to CBGB."
1101
00:57:58,083 --> 00:58:01,434
There's something about punk
that's really intimidating
1102
00:58:01,565 --> 00:58:02,870
to a lot of gay men
1103
00:58:03,001 --> 00:58:04,872
because it's so
testosterone fueled,
1104
00:58:05,003 --> 00:58:06,265
you know, like they're afraid
they're going to get, like,
1105
00:58:06,395 --> 00:58:08,746
like, slammed,
danced into by some,
1106
00:58:08,876 --> 00:58:10,617
like, vicious skinhead.
1107
00:58:11,444 --> 00:58:14,534
I made my living doing sex
parties for several years.
1108
00:58:14,665 --> 00:58:16,797
And for the only difference
is that, you know,
1109
00:58:16,928 --> 00:58:19,539
at the sex party,
their pants are open.
1110
00:58:21,062 --> 00:58:22,586
It's really the same energy.
1111
00:58:22,716 --> 00:58:24,326
It's so homosexual.
1112
00:58:24,457 --> 00:58:27,460
CBs was mainstream.
The Ramones played there,
1113
00:58:27,591 --> 00:58:29,201
Patti Smith played there,
1114
00:58:29,331 --> 00:58:31,508
and the Velvet Mafia
played there as well.
1115
00:58:49,743 --> 00:58:55,009
I'm here to sing as best I can.
1116
00:58:55,140 --> 00:58:56,794
I'm not very good at it.
1117
00:58:56,924 --> 00:59:00,145
But I can bellow, so I guess
that's what I'll do tonight.
1118
00:59:00,275 --> 00:59:02,234
He came to me
for voice lessons.
1119
00:59:02,364 --> 00:59:05,193
He was very shy
and kind of self-effacing.
1120
00:59:05,324 --> 00:59:07,369
He said, "You know, I've been
recording and performing,
1121
00:59:07,500 --> 00:59:09,154
but I don't really sing."
1122
00:59:09,284 --> 00:59:10,808
And meanwhile I listen
to the recording,
1123
00:59:10,938 --> 00:59:12,723
I said, "Yes, you're singing.
That sounds good.
1124
00:59:12,853 --> 00:59:15,334
You know, you're good actor
like, yeah, you're singing."
1125
00:59:33,874 --> 00:59:36,050
He couldn't sing
and he knew it.
1126
00:59:36,181 --> 00:59:37,791
So he's just kind
of scream out his songs,
1127
00:59:37,922 --> 00:59:40,838
it was sort of rap, sort of not.
1128
00:59:40,968 --> 00:59:42,622
But the lyrics are fantastic.
1129
00:59:42,753 --> 00:59:46,060
The lyrics are
from one verse to the next,
1130
00:59:46,583 --> 00:59:48,323
uh, melodically it resembles,
1131
00:59:48,454 --> 00:59:50,108
but rhythmically,
it's a brand new thing.
1132
00:59:50,238 --> 00:59:51,979
And then closing,
1133
00:59:52,110 --> 00:59:54,199
it's never like, "Let's sing
the chorus and let's ad lib."
1134
00:59:54,329 --> 00:59:56,549
No, he's got
a brand new structure
1135
00:59:56,680 --> 00:59:58,159
to keep it new and exciting,
1136
00:59:58,290 --> 00:59:59,900
and they develop things.
And that's why all the songs
1137
01:00:00,031 --> 01:00:01,380
are so fresh.
1138
01:00:04,122 --> 01:00:06,777
♪ I'll cringe at your touch
But I'll take it in the end ♪
1139
01:00:06,907 --> 01:00:08,256
♪ Why don't you ♪
1140
01:00:16,090 --> 01:00:18,963
♪ And you've got the car
but I've got the drive ♪
1141
01:00:24,533 --> 01:00:27,449
♪ Every little thing you're
Going do for my career ♪
1142
01:00:30,801 --> 01:00:36,110
♪ If you want to make it big,
You better know how to whore ♪
1143
01:00:36,241 --> 01:00:38,852
So, and then the chorus.
1144
01:00:47,861 --> 01:00:50,864
I love that verse
because it's such a...
1145
01:00:51,604 --> 01:00:55,216
incredible commentary
about New York at that time.
1146
01:00:55,347 --> 01:00:56,740
In our band
you would think that,
1147
01:00:56,870 --> 01:00:59,307
"Oh, he's like this phenomenally
1148
01:00:59,438 --> 01:01:02,180
wild front character,"
1149
01:01:02,310 --> 01:01:04,661
but he wasn't an egomaniac.
1150
01:01:05,139 --> 01:01:08,229
And, I can just cry
when I think about that
1151
01:01:09,970 --> 01:01:11,537
For such a queen.
1152
01:01:11,668 --> 01:01:13,800
He really loved women.
1153
01:01:13,931 --> 01:01:16,803
I'm sorry to all the queens
that might feel offended
1154
01:01:16,934 --> 01:01:18,631
by me saying that, but...
1155
01:01:19,284 --> 01:01:21,895
he was one gay man
that you didn't have
1156
01:01:22,026 --> 01:01:24,724
to negotiate sexism with.
1157
01:01:25,464 --> 01:01:26,900
And of course,
rock bands, traditionally
1158
01:01:27,031 --> 01:01:28,423
it's supposed
to be all male, why?
1159
01:01:28,554 --> 01:01:29,903
There's no reason for that.
1160
01:01:30,034 --> 01:01:31,557
Dean just wanted
the best musicians
1161
01:01:31,688 --> 01:01:33,690
and the people he got
along with in his band.
1162
01:01:36,910 --> 01:01:39,608
One thing about the ACT UP
AIDS activism era
1163
01:01:39,739 --> 01:01:41,915
is that the community
came together.
1164
01:01:42,481 --> 01:01:44,091
When I walked into
my first ACT UP meeting,
1165
01:01:44,222 --> 01:01:47,312
I saw gay men and lesbians
and others.
1166
01:01:48,922 --> 01:01:50,837
They were never
in the same room together.
1167
01:01:50,968 --> 01:01:53,100
Dean was feeding off
that energy and saying,
1168
01:01:53,231 --> 01:01:55,799
"I'm putting them together
in a club. We're all queers.
1169
01:01:55,929 --> 01:01:57,626
We're all
in the family together,"
1170
01:01:57,757 --> 01:01:59,454
and that was a revolutionary
thing to do.
1171
01:01:59,585 --> 01:02:02,457
Along with the other
revolutionary things he did.
1172
01:02:02,588 --> 01:02:06,026
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Ms. Jayne County
1173
01:02:52,551 --> 01:02:53,944
Queer Rock started.
1174
01:02:54,074 --> 01:02:56,511
It was really a response
to the AIDS epidemic.
1175
01:02:56,642 --> 01:02:57,904
Just like ACT UP was.
1176
01:02:58,035 --> 01:02:59,993
I mean, the Queer Nation
grew out of ACT UP
1177
01:03:00,124 --> 01:03:03,475
and, Queer Rock kind of, like,
sprouted up at the same time.
1178
01:03:03,605 --> 01:03:05,129
It had a political agenda.
1179
01:03:05,259 --> 01:03:06,695
Glam rock
had no political agenda,
1180
01:03:06,826 --> 01:03:08,349
was all about hedonism, drugs,
1181
01:03:08,480 --> 01:03:11,048
makeup, and, you know,
you know, running around
1182
01:03:11,178 --> 01:03:13,224
in cute outfits, you know,
1183
01:03:13,354 --> 01:03:14,965
whereas we were
fighting for our lives.
1184
01:03:15,095 --> 01:03:16,662
We're fighting
for our rights, you know,
1185
01:03:16,793 --> 01:03:19,926
and we're fighting it to,
to change people's minds.
1186
01:03:20,057 --> 01:03:24,888
And, so that if queer rock,
if the music isn't doing that,
1187
01:03:25,018 --> 01:03:27,281
then I don't think it really
can be defined as queer rock.
1188
01:03:27,412 --> 01:03:30,067
It's got to have
a political agenda.
1189
01:03:30,197 --> 01:03:31,895
It's got to be part
of the broader movement
1190
01:03:32,025 --> 01:03:33,157
for queer rights.
1191
01:03:38,249 --> 01:03:41,034
In the early aughts,
Dean was really starting
1192
01:03:41,165 --> 01:03:45,256
to do some of his big, like,
what we might call sex parties
1193
01:03:48,389 --> 01:03:50,609
It wasn't like he was
just throwing sex parties.
1194
01:03:50,739 --> 01:03:52,524
He was really trying
to create culture in New York,
1195
01:03:52,654 --> 01:03:54,221
which I really respected,
1196
01:03:54,352 --> 01:03:56,223
because I thought that's kind
of what I wanted to do.
1197
01:03:56,354 --> 01:03:59,313
That was part of our
mission, to put sex out there
1198
01:03:59,444 --> 01:04:01,011
and have a blast.
1199
01:04:01,141 --> 01:04:03,230
It really has sort
of changed the face
1200
01:04:03,361 --> 01:04:05,798
of how people throw parties.
1201
01:04:06,451 --> 01:04:08,018
He wanted sex to be visible
1202
01:04:08,148 --> 01:04:10,281
because it was part of gay
people's identity,
1203
01:04:10,411 --> 01:04:12,849
and so he wanted to do
these things that were sexy,
1204
01:04:12,979 --> 01:04:15,416
and he wanted people
to still have sex.
1205
01:04:16,765 --> 01:04:17,766
Lots of it.
1206
01:04:17,897 --> 01:04:20,247
Lots of it.
1207
01:04:20,378 --> 01:04:22,206
We did this party
called Magnum,
1208
01:04:22,336 --> 01:04:25,078
where we paid the dancers
by the inch,
1209
01:04:25,209 --> 01:04:26,819
We were the only game in town
1210
01:04:26,950 --> 01:04:28,603
because we were the only ones
had balls to do it.
1211
01:04:28,734 --> 01:04:33,086
I was really proud of Dean
for taking his vision bigger.
1212
01:04:35,219 --> 01:04:36,916
I had a philosophy
at the time,
1213
01:04:37,047 --> 01:04:38,526
which was
that you want to run the ride,
1214
01:04:38,657 --> 01:04:39,876
you don't want to ride the ride.
1215
01:04:40,006 --> 01:04:41,834
But Dean was fine
riding the ride.
1216
01:04:41,965 --> 01:04:44,097
So, I would walk
into the room and look
1217
01:04:44,228 --> 01:04:45,751
just to see where he was,
1218
01:04:45,882 --> 01:04:47,187
and I would look
through the room,
1219
01:04:47,318 --> 01:04:48,710
and see all these people
having sex
1220
01:04:48,841 --> 01:04:50,669
and whatever, and his bald
head would pop up
1221
01:04:50,799 --> 01:04:52,453
like a whack a mole,
1222
01:04:52,584 --> 01:04:54,891
and he'd be like, "Hey,
did you check the register?"
1223
01:04:55,021 --> 01:04:57,284
It was a space
to have lots of sex
1224
01:04:57,415 --> 01:04:58,851
with lots of random people,
1225
01:04:58,982 --> 01:05:00,679
and Dean being among them,
you know?
1226
01:05:00,809 --> 01:05:04,509
And I was like, was like,
"Oh, Dean," because, you know,
1227
01:05:04,639 --> 01:05:05,640
because the Johnson.
1228
01:05:05,771 --> 01:05:07,991
Apparently he had a huge dick.
1229
01:05:08,121 --> 01:05:10,428
Yeah, I want to talk about
his dick for a little bit.
1230
01:05:10,558 --> 01:05:12,125
He had a beautiful dick.
1231
01:05:12,256 --> 01:05:14,345
He really did.
It was so beautiful.
1232
01:05:14,475 --> 01:05:16,564
It was, it was a very beautiful
penis, I have to tell you.
1233
01:05:16,695 --> 01:05:18,262
And he made bank off that dick.
1234
01:05:18,392 --> 01:05:20,133
I'm sure he made
very good money.
1235
01:05:20,264 --> 01:05:22,266
He probably charged
by the pound.
1236
01:05:22,396 --> 01:05:24,572
And it didn't look overused.
1237
01:05:24,703 --> 01:05:26,879
Some of us,
slutty friends that we have,
1238
01:05:27,010 --> 01:05:29,099
their penises look
a little over used.
1239
01:05:29,229 --> 01:05:34,278
I seen the Dean peen
quite a bit.
1240
01:05:34,408 --> 01:05:38,064
The size of Dean's penis never
came up in conversation.
1241
01:05:38,195 --> 01:05:40,153
I mean, I just kind of assumed
1242
01:05:40,284 --> 01:05:42,373
by looking at him,
like, I can do the math.
1243
01:05:42,503 --> 01:05:44,679
Yeah, you can see
his bulge through his dress
1244
01:05:44,810 --> 01:05:47,030
whenever he was on stage,
which was so great.
1245
01:05:47,160 --> 01:05:48,509
You know, backstage,
we had to do it
1246
01:05:48,640 --> 01:05:50,816
at every show,
like get his big dick
1247
01:05:50,947 --> 01:05:52,557
shoved in pantyhose.
1248
01:05:52,687 --> 01:05:58,302
And I sometimes I think,
like, Dean did that on purpose.
1249
01:05:58,432 --> 01:06:02,132
Like that was some kind
of funny thing he did to us.
1250
01:06:02,262 --> 01:06:03,829
Just get me in it.
1251
01:06:04,873 --> 01:06:07,006
It brought us all really close.
1252
01:06:50,136 --> 01:06:53,096
Should I show you my dick
and be done with it?
1253
01:06:53,226 --> 01:06:54,793
There you go, baby.
1254
01:06:57,448 --> 01:06:59,406
It was almost a funny
part of the whole character
1255
01:06:59,537 --> 01:07:01,974
of Dean Johnson
is that many gay men
1256
01:07:02,105 --> 01:07:04,237
are hypnotized by large penises,
1257
01:07:04,368 --> 01:07:06,587
and the fact that he could
be a dork in a dress
1258
01:07:06,718 --> 01:07:08,459
with drop earrings on
and still have something
1259
01:07:08,589 --> 01:07:09,982
they wanted.
1260
01:07:11,853 --> 01:07:13,464
2004.
1261
01:07:13,594 --> 01:07:15,944
Dean's last diary entry.
1262
01:07:17,120 --> 01:07:18,512
"Took my sex party earnings
1263
01:07:18,643 --> 01:07:21,602
and recorded
'Cheap But Not Free'.
1264
01:07:21,733 --> 01:07:24,214
The new CD
from the Velvet Mafia.
1265
01:07:24,344 --> 01:07:26,520
Best work we've ever done.
1266
01:07:27,086 --> 01:07:29,045
Record company informed us
that they wouldn't be
1267
01:07:29,175 --> 01:07:31,569
releasing our CD after all.
1268
01:07:31,699 --> 01:07:35,573
Decided never to waste another
minute on record companies.
1269
01:07:35,703 --> 01:07:38,706
A week later, the police
raided my sex party
1270
01:07:38,837 --> 01:07:40,795
and now I am unemployed.
1271
01:07:40,926 --> 01:07:42,667
But I did make this great CD.
1272
01:07:42,797 --> 01:07:44,321
So if you want one,
1273
01:07:44,451 --> 01:07:46,018
look for me
with the other homeless people
1274
01:07:46,149 --> 01:07:48,455
down on Saint Mark's Place.
1275
01:07:48,586 --> 01:07:51,980
I even managed to turn
a good trick last night.
1276
01:07:52,111 --> 01:07:55,854
43 years old and still
getting paid for sex.
1277
01:07:55,984 --> 01:07:58,422
Is this a great
country or what?"
1278
01:08:00,206 --> 01:08:03,035
Dean threw parties, right?
1279
01:08:03,166 --> 01:08:05,429
Dean was a rock n roller.
1280
01:08:05,559 --> 01:08:07,953
But Dean couldn't make a living.
1281
01:08:08,084 --> 01:08:11,217
Couldn't earn a living wage
without being a hooker.
1282
01:08:11,348 --> 01:08:13,524
Don't we all do some
sort of sex work though?
1283
01:08:13,654 --> 01:08:15,961
I mean, sex work is like,
whatever, you know,
1284
01:08:16,092 --> 01:08:17,397
good for him.
1285
01:08:17,528 --> 01:08:19,051
Get yours, honey.
1286
01:08:19,182 --> 01:08:22,576
I mean, if you got it,
flaunt it, sell it, buy it,
1287
01:08:22,707 --> 01:08:24,491
tie it up, do what you gotta do,
1288
01:08:24,622 --> 01:08:26,319
make that thing ching ching.
1289
01:08:27,233 --> 01:08:29,017
He had tried working
a 9:00 to 5:00 job
1290
01:08:29,148 --> 01:08:31,194
and he could not do it.
He just could not stand it.
1291
01:08:31,324 --> 01:08:33,892
And so I think prostitution
really was his only choice
1292
01:08:34,022 --> 01:08:35,589
for making money at that point.
1293
01:08:35,720 --> 01:08:36,851
This is what he said,
"I used to throw parties,
1294
01:08:36,982 --> 01:08:38,462
but now I am the party."
1295
01:08:39,506 --> 01:08:42,161
This was the early 2000s.
1296
01:08:42,292 --> 01:08:43,728
And, you know, like, New York
1297
01:08:43,858 --> 01:08:46,165
had all sorts
of escorting scenes
1298
01:08:46,296 --> 01:08:47,906
for men and for women.
1299
01:08:48,036 --> 01:08:49,821
And he was a late
in life escort.
1300
01:08:49,951 --> 01:08:52,389
I had also turned
to escorting late in life.
1301
01:08:52,519 --> 01:08:54,956
So we kind of bonded over
that common experience
1302
01:08:55,087 --> 01:08:57,524
of being, like,
sort of the old bulls
1303
01:08:57,655 --> 01:09:00,527
in the stable
full of younger guys.
1304
01:09:01,093 --> 01:09:03,704
He was so excited
about this escorting thing
1305
01:09:03,835 --> 01:09:05,228
for a while.
1306
01:09:05,358 --> 01:09:06,707
The money
that was coming from that
1307
01:09:06,838 --> 01:09:09,362
was very impressive to him.
1308
01:09:09,493 --> 01:09:13,801
He was getting flown
all around to do sex.
1309
01:09:13,932 --> 01:09:16,282
He was like a really
high end escort.
1310
01:09:16,413 --> 01:09:18,719
Thousands of dollars
in a day or, you know,
1311
01:09:18,850 --> 01:09:21,809
like, you know, $600 an hour.
1312
01:09:21,940 --> 01:09:24,856
Sometimes he would
show up at a call
1313
01:09:24,986 --> 01:09:26,510
and the guy would
open the door
1314
01:09:26,640 --> 01:09:29,077
and he would say, "Oh my God,
you're Dean Johnson,"
1315
01:09:29,208 --> 01:09:30,862
and slam the door shut.
1316
01:09:30,992 --> 01:09:33,604
And then sometimes the guy
would say, "Oh my God,
1317
01:09:33,734 --> 01:09:36,650
you're Dean Johnson,"
and welcome him in.
1318
01:09:36,781 --> 01:09:38,522
He really did get
emotionally involved
1319
01:09:38,652 --> 01:09:40,306
with a lot of his clients.
1320
01:09:40,437 --> 01:09:43,918
Like, I remember there was
this one married dentist
1321
01:09:44,049 --> 01:09:46,921
from Syracuse that he decided
that he was in love with.
1322
01:09:47,052 --> 01:09:48,967
I am not that dentist.
1323
01:09:49,924 --> 01:09:52,710
For the record, America.
1324
01:09:52,840 --> 01:09:54,146
It was not me.
1325
01:09:55,669 --> 01:09:57,758
Well, I heard that
1326
01:09:57,889 --> 01:10:02,285
he paid a visit to a member
of the Royal Saudi family,
1327
01:10:02,415 --> 01:10:04,112
and when he showed up
at the hotel,
1328
01:10:04,243 --> 01:10:06,637
there were two armed guards
with machine guns
1329
01:10:06,767 --> 01:10:12,904
standing in front of the royal
family member's door.
1330
01:10:13,034 --> 01:10:16,081
I think a lot of the clients
that Dean had as a sex worker
1331
01:10:16,212 --> 01:10:18,388
was just paying him
just to be around him.
1332
01:10:24,872 --> 01:10:27,919
So, in this place where
sex workers are disposable
1333
01:10:28,049 --> 01:10:29,747
and murderable,
1334
01:10:29,877 --> 01:10:35,666
and, uh, at best
condemned, right?
1335
01:10:35,796 --> 01:10:39,583
Here was Dean, so visible
1336
01:10:39,713 --> 01:10:44,022
and huge in his joy
1337
01:10:44,152 --> 01:10:46,807
of being like,
"Here's my body.
1338
01:10:46,938 --> 01:10:50,463
It is like a holy service,
that I'm offering."
1339
01:10:50,594 --> 01:10:52,813
And that's
how he walked with it.
1340
01:10:53,379 --> 01:10:56,339
He was like, kind of
right on, "I'm a sex worker.
1341
01:10:56,469 --> 01:10:59,559
I'm 40 something years old
and I can still do it."
1342
01:10:59,690 --> 01:11:01,518
He was a six-foot-six bald guy
1343
01:11:01,648 --> 01:11:03,955
in his mid-40s,
who, by all accounts,
1344
01:11:04,085 --> 01:11:06,871
was doing pretty good business
and more power to him.
1345
01:11:07,001 --> 01:11:08,786
I mean, he was a rebel.
1346
01:11:08,916 --> 01:11:10,222
He was subversive.
1347
01:11:10,353 --> 01:11:13,225
He did have a very
defiant punk attitude
1348
01:11:13,356 --> 01:11:17,316
about it, but it also was
kind of a comment on ageism.
1349
01:11:17,447 --> 01:11:19,927
He would start telling
his hustler tales.
1350
01:11:20,058 --> 01:11:21,494
He would say Dean Johnson's
Hustler Tales
1351
01:11:21,625 --> 01:11:22,843
today on Myspace.
1352
01:11:24,889 --> 01:11:26,586
This piece
1353
01:11:26,717 --> 01:11:29,459
is called Cocksucker...
Otherwise Engaged.
1354
01:11:31,417 --> 01:11:33,027
Reading for Filth was
1355
01:11:33,158 --> 01:11:36,422
this salon that he threw
at the bookstore Rapture.
1356
01:11:36,553 --> 01:11:39,207
He'd like to bring together,
high and low,
1357
01:11:39,338 --> 01:11:40,731
downtown celebrities.
1358
01:11:40,861 --> 01:11:42,385
And then somebody like me,
1359
01:11:42,515 --> 01:11:45,301
like his, his hooker friend
from down the street.
1360
01:11:45,431 --> 01:11:48,260
"And then I hear the bing
of the instant message bell
1361
01:11:48,391 --> 01:11:50,654
and I go over and it reads,
1362
01:11:50,784 --> 01:11:53,570
'26 five foot ten, 165.
1363
01:11:53,700 --> 01:11:56,964
Very good looking,
straight, engaged and meeting
1364
01:11:57,095 --> 01:11:59,227
my fiancée in the city,
1365
01:11:59,358 --> 01:12:01,665
been obsessing over big dick
all day.
1366
01:12:01,795 --> 01:12:03,797
Need to suck horse cock so bad
1367
01:12:03,928 --> 01:12:05,190
No reciprocation.
1368
01:12:05,321 --> 01:12:07,671
You just sit back
in your favorite chair.
1369
01:12:07,801 --> 01:12:09,890
Let me eat your load
before I meet my girlfriend.
1370
01:12:10,021 --> 01:12:11,675
I'm going crazy for dick here.'"
1371
01:12:13,329 --> 01:12:15,635
He was doing readings,
1372
01:12:15,766 --> 01:12:17,507
uh, more so.
1373
01:12:17,637 --> 01:12:20,597
And his writing was becoming
more and more important to him.
1374
01:12:20,727 --> 01:12:22,381
And he was willing
to drive in from Jersey,
1375
01:12:22,512 --> 01:12:23,730
so I didn't have
to get out of bed
1376
01:12:23,861 --> 01:12:25,384
you know,
1377
01:12:25,515 --> 01:12:27,386
20 minutes later, this guy,
1378
01:12:27,517 --> 01:12:31,999
this dude this like Mets fan,
you know, walks in.
1379
01:12:32,130 --> 01:12:33,827
He's a great writer, you know?
1380
01:12:33,958 --> 01:12:35,916
And the stories
were so much fun.
1381
01:12:36,047 --> 01:12:38,963
But, you know,
even with my dick in his mouth,
1382
01:12:39,093 --> 01:12:41,618
I wasn't really
getting a gay vibe.
1383
01:12:41,748 --> 01:12:42,619
You know?
1384
01:12:44,621 --> 01:12:46,405
That was what was
really exciting about Dean.
1385
01:12:46,536 --> 01:12:49,887
I'm not saying Dean didn't
feel shame, but that shame
1386
01:12:50,017 --> 01:12:52,063
was getting channeled,
1387
01:12:52,193 --> 01:12:54,979
uh, into art.
1388
01:12:57,982 --> 01:13:01,420
Survival is survival.
1389
01:13:01,551 --> 01:13:06,120
The fact that we have sex
work as a tool to survive
1390
01:13:06,251 --> 01:13:08,384
should never
be shunned against.
1391
01:13:09,863 --> 01:13:12,388
Sex workers have been
around forever,
1392
01:13:12,518 --> 01:13:16,130
but until the politicians
start getting caught,
1393
01:13:16,261 --> 01:13:18,829
people actually gave a damn.
1394
01:13:19,873 --> 01:13:21,440
We are therapists.
1395
01:13:21,571 --> 01:13:24,008
We are doctors.
We are psychologists.
1396
01:13:24,138 --> 01:13:25,444
We're a nannies.
1397
01:13:25,575 --> 01:13:27,403
We are nannies
to your punk ass men.
1398
01:13:27,533 --> 01:13:29,187
We are nannies to,
1399
01:13:29,317 --> 01:13:31,494
uh, just so much.
1400
01:13:33,234 --> 01:13:35,236
Anywhere in the world
where people are having
1401
01:13:35,367 --> 01:13:37,674
to sell sex to survive,
1402
01:13:37,804 --> 01:13:40,590
it needs to be better
plans for protection.
1403
01:13:40,720 --> 01:13:43,288
Because we're not
doing this for kicks.
1404
01:13:43,419 --> 01:13:45,116
It's survival.
1405
01:13:45,246 --> 01:13:47,248
It's self-autonomy.
1406
01:13:49,294 --> 01:13:51,078
Dean was
very honest with me
1407
01:13:51,209 --> 01:13:52,558
about being a prostitute.
He told me everything.
1408
01:13:52,689 --> 01:13:53,820
He always told me
when he leave town,
1409
01:13:53,951 --> 01:13:54,778
whether through email
or on the phone,
1410
01:13:54,908 --> 01:13:56,301
we talked almost every day
1411
01:13:57,563 --> 01:13:59,826
because of his size. I really
wasn't worried about him.
1412
01:13:59,957 --> 01:14:01,785
I figured he could
handle anybody.
1413
01:14:01,915 --> 01:14:03,308
I mean, if someone
tried to not pay him,
1414
01:14:03,439 --> 01:14:05,266
he was going to get his money,
you know?
1415
01:14:05,397 --> 01:14:08,008
Are there dangerous situations
for male sex workers?
1416
01:14:08,139 --> 01:14:11,011
Of course. You know,
you're potentially showing up
1417
01:14:11,142 --> 01:14:13,579
somewhere,
you can't be in full control
1418
01:14:13,710 --> 01:14:15,276
of the circumstances.
1419
01:14:19,324 --> 01:14:23,676
So the phone rings and,
1420
01:14:23,807 --> 01:14:25,417
it's someone
on the other end asking me
1421
01:14:25,548 --> 01:14:27,245
if I know Dean Johnson.
1422
01:14:27,375 --> 01:14:29,900
And I say, "Yeah,
what's... what's up?"
1423
01:14:30,988 --> 01:14:32,772
And they're like,
"Well, you know, he's here.
1424
01:14:32,903 --> 01:14:34,687
He spent the night
1425
01:14:34,818 --> 01:14:36,341
and I can't wake him up."
1426
01:14:37,951 --> 01:14:40,780
And I'm like, "Well,
then you need to hang up
1427
01:14:40,911 --> 01:14:45,002
this phone and call 911.
1428
01:14:45,132 --> 01:14:46,438
That's what you should do
1429
01:14:46,569 --> 01:14:48,135
if you if you really
can't wake him up."
1430
01:14:48,266 --> 01:14:49,267
He's like, "Oh, I'm
a little nervous about it
1431
01:14:49,397 --> 01:14:50,921
because I had an incident here
1432
01:14:51,051 --> 01:14:54,620
a week ago," and I'm like,
"Well, regardless, hang up
1433
01:14:54,751 --> 01:14:58,189
and you just go get him
some help and I'll call back."
1434
01:14:58,319 --> 01:14:59,669
And so that's what I did.
1435
01:14:59,799 --> 01:15:00,887
I hung up.
1436
01:15:09,113 --> 01:15:10,810
I waited like five minutes,
1437
01:15:10,941 --> 01:15:15,598
which seemed like forever,
and called back and he answers,
1438
01:15:15,728 --> 01:15:18,862
and mind you this,
it's Dean's phone calling me,
1439
01:15:18,992 --> 01:15:21,168
so I don't know who this is.
1440
01:15:21,299 --> 01:15:23,301
They don't tell me
who they are.
1441
01:15:23,431 --> 01:15:28,393
But he answers and I say,
"Hey, what's going on?
1442
01:15:28,524 --> 01:15:30,700
Did you call?"
You know, "is he okay?"
1443
01:15:30,830 --> 01:15:32,528
And he's like, "Yeah, he's okay.
1444
01:15:32,658 --> 01:15:35,748
We're just wiping his
face off with a washcloth."
1445
01:15:36,357 --> 01:15:39,796
And I said, "All right, well,
1446
01:15:40,797 --> 01:15:45,628
if he's not okay, you'll, you
know, call 911, or whatever,"
1447
01:15:45,758 --> 01:15:48,674
And he's like,
"Yeah, yeah, yeah."
1448
01:15:49,327 --> 01:15:51,677
And I,
1449
01:15:51,808 --> 01:15:56,073
uh, I felt weird about it.
1450
01:15:56,900 --> 01:15:59,163
It was just too bizarre
a situation.
1451
01:15:59,293 --> 01:16:02,296
So I started to call hospitals
1452
01:16:02,427 --> 01:16:05,343
to call the police,
1453
01:16:05,473 --> 01:16:07,737
and nothing,
I don't hear back.
1454
01:16:10,478 --> 01:16:14,047
And then he doesn't
come to band practice,
1455
01:16:14,178 --> 01:16:18,051
and everybody starts
to get nervous at that point.
1456
01:16:23,491 --> 01:16:27,495
I remember people were gathered
outside the rehearsal studio,
1457
01:16:27,626 --> 01:16:30,890
and I came down because
it's right across the street.
1458
01:16:31,021 --> 01:16:34,590
And that's when we all started
putting timelines together.
1459
01:16:34,720 --> 01:16:37,418
When did you last
hear from Dean?
1460
01:16:37,549 --> 01:16:39,420
The phone rang and
it was one of Dean's friends
1461
01:16:39,551 --> 01:16:41,379
telling me that he had not
come back from D.C.
1462
01:16:41,509 --> 01:16:42,554
and he had missed
a band rehearsal,
1463
01:16:42,685 --> 01:16:43,990
which he never would do.
1464
01:16:44,121 --> 01:16:46,123
And so could I call D.C.
and try to find out,
1465
01:16:46,253 --> 01:16:47,603
you know, what had happened.
1466
01:16:49,866 --> 01:16:51,215
A female cop came on
1467
01:16:51,345 --> 01:16:53,347
and I said, "Hi,
I'm looking for information
1468
01:16:53,478 --> 01:16:54,740
about my brother, Dean Johnson."
1469
01:16:54,871 --> 01:16:56,394
You know,
"do you know anything?"
1470
01:16:56,524 --> 01:16:58,091
And she said, this is still
an active crime scene.
1471
01:16:58,222 --> 01:17:00,137
I can't tell you anything.
1472
01:17:00,267 --> 01:17:02,095
And I was like,
"An active crime scene?"
1473
01:17:02,226 --> 01:17:04,315
you know, I'm like,
1474
01:17:04,445 --> 01:17:06,534
"Can you just tell me
if he's alive?"
1475
01:17:07,840 --> 01:17:08,972
And she said,
"I'm really sorry.
1476
01:17:09,102 --> 01:17:10,756
I can't tell you anything.
1477
01:17:10,887 --> 01:17:12,236
I'm going to give you
my home phone number.
1478
01:17:12,366 --> 01:17:15,108
And if you need anything,
call me."
1479
01:17:15,239 --> 01:17:17,458
So, I sat around
waiting until midnight,
1480
01:17:17,589 --> 01:17:20,157
and then the phone rang
and I picked up the phone.
1481
01:17:20,287 --> 01:17:21,375
He said, "All right,
I got your brother's
1482
01:17:21,506 --> 01:17:24,161
autopsy report."
1483
01:17:24,291 --> 01:17:26,685
I don't really remember
what happened after that.
1484
01:17:26,816 --> 01:17:28,208
My girlfriend said
I dropped the phone
1485
01:17:28,339 --> 01:17:30,297
and started making
this wailing noise.
1486
01:17:33,649 --> 01:17:35,738
D.C. police will say
only that Johnson's body
1487
01:17:35,868 --> 01:17:37,696
was found at 10:00 a.m.,
September 20th,
1488
01:17:37,827 --> 01:17:39,785
in a second floor apartment
at the Envoy
1489
01:17:39,916 --> 01:17:41,352
on 16th Street northwest,
1490
01:17:41,482 --> 01:17:43,267
and that the discovery
is the subject
1491
01:17:43,397 --> 01:17:45,965
of a death investigation.
1492
01:17:46,096 --> 01:17:48,576
I had access
to Dean's email account
1493
01:17:48,707 --> 01:17:51,579
because at some point he had
asked me to do a favor for him.
1494
01:17:51,710 --> 01:17:55,496
So a lot of what I know about
Steve Saleh comes directly
1495
01:17:55,627 --> 01:17:58,021
from their correspondence,
1496
01:18:00,763 --> 01:18:02,112
Steve's initial contact
1497
01:18:02,242 --> 01:18:06,290
with Dean was for an SandM call.
1498
01:18:06,420 --> 01:18:08,205
So Dean went
on a call with him
1499
01:18:08,335 --> 01:18:11,904
and they got along and they
kind of became fast friends.
1500
01:18:12,035 --> 01:18:13,776
Like I was saying,
Dean became emotionally
1501
01:18:13,906 --> 01:18:16,779
involved with his client.
1502
01:18:16,909 --> 01:18:19,259
I remember Dean telling me
that this man
1503
01:18:19,390 --> 01:18:23,046
had a whole pharmacy
in his bathroom,
1504
01:18:23,176 --> 01:18:25,135
like dozens of bottles of pills,
1505
01:18:25,265 --> 01:18:27,615
and the dosages
were all different.
1506
01:18:27,746 --> 01:18:29,269
News 4 has learned,
1507
01:18:29,400 --> 01:18:32,055
amazingly, another man
had been found dead
1508
01:18:32,185 --> 01:18:33,709
in the same apartment unit
1509
01:18:33,839 --> 01:18:36,450
four days
before Dean Johnson died.
1510
01:18:36,973 --> 01:18:40,193
Then, of course, as soon as
I heard about the other guy,
1511
01:18:40,324 --> 01:18:45,068
then you knew, "Okay,
this is like, super weird."
1512
01:18:45,198 --> 01:18:46,852
Dean got a phone call,
1513
01:18:46,983 --> 01:18:49,942
and Steve described
the death of this young man
1514
01:18:50,073 --> 01:18:53,511
in his apartment
and his accidental overdose
1515
01:18:53,641 --> 01:18:55,121
on these pain pills.
1516
01:18:56,688 --> 01:18:58,385
He was horrified
that this has happened,
1517
01:18:58,516 --> 01:19:00,344
and he was very emotional.
"Oh, my God, this guy
1518
01:19:00,474 --> 01:19:02,694
died in my apartment,
he took my drugs,"
1519
01:19:02,825 --> 01:19:05,828
and Dean agreed
to go down to see him.
1520
01:19:05,958 --> 01:19:09,527
Not on a professional call,
but out of friendship to, like,
1521
01:19:09,657 --> 01:19:12,965
comfort him
and spend some time with him.
1522
01:19:13,096 --> 01:19:15,446
According to a police affidavit,
1523
01:19:15,576 --> 01:19:17,230
the man who rents
that apartment
1524
01:19:17,361 --> 01:19:20,016
is identified
as Stephen Saleh.
1525
01:19:20,625 --> 01:19:23,541
They say he's
cooperating with investigators
1526
01:19:23,671 --> 01:19:25,891
and that he told police
he invited the two men
1527
01:19:26,022 --> 01:19:27,414
to his home.
1528
01:19:27,545 --> 01:19:29,416
He told police
he gave one of the men
1529
01:19:29,547 --> 01:19:31,375
some medicine.
1530
01:19:31,505 --> 01:19:33,769
Mr. Saleh, who is said
to be disabled,
1531
01:19:33,899 --> 01:19:36,684
told one
of the investigators, quote,
1532
01:19:36,815 --> 01:19:39,165
"What is the media
going to call me?
1533
01:19:39,296 --> 01:19:40,906
The gimp Black Widow?"
1534
01:19:44,214 --> 01:19:45,432
As I started
to report the story,
1535
01:19:45,563 --> 01:19:47,957
I just looked at the information
1536
01:19:48,087 --> 01:19:51,395
we had around the person
whose apartment Dean died in.
1537
01:19:52,483 --> 01:19:54,006
two deaths in his apartment.
1538
01:19:54,137 --> 01:19:56,487
He didn't even call
the police right away.
1539
01:19:56,617 --> 01:19:58,402
He called a friend of Dean's.
1540
01:19:58,532 --> 01:20:02,710
What exactly did he give Dean
or did Dean take willingly?
1541
01:20:03,537 --> 01:20:05,322
When they took his body
out of Steven Saleh's
1542
01:20:05,452 --> 01:20:06,932
apartment, he was naked.
1543
01:20:07,063 --> 01:20:09,761
Except for his
Pentagram necklace.
1544
01:20:09,892 --> 01:20:11,197
I never got the story
from the police
1545
01:20:11,328 --> 01:20:12,546
exactly how that went down.
1546
01:20:12,677 --> 01:20:14,418
But what I hear
is that Steven Saleh
1547
01:20:14,548 --> 01:20:16,072
pretended to not
know who he was,
1548
01:20:16,202 --> 01:20:18,378
that he was just some
prostitute he had picked up.
1549
01:20:18,509 --> 01:20:19,640
That was not the truth.
1550
01:20:19,771 --> 01:20:21,338
He knew exactly who he was.
1551
01:20:21,468 --> 01:20:23,122
He paid for his train ticket
to go there,
1552
01:20:23,253 --> 01:20:24,820
and Dean would have
had to have I.D. on him
1553
01:20:24,950 --> 01:20:26,299
to take the train.
1554
01:20:26,430 --> 01:20:28,432
And so either Steven
hid all his stuff
1555
01:20:28,562 --> 01:20:30,042
to pretend he didn't
know who he was
1556
01:20:30,173 --> 01:20:31,914
or kept it,
1557
01:20:32,044 --> 01:20:33,567
but his necklace
was the only thing
1558
01:20:33,698 --> 01:20:35,613
I got back from that trip.
1559
01:20:38,746 --> 01:20:42,228
First of all,
Dean was very experienced
1560
01:20:42,359 --> 01:20:46,189
as a prostitute,
and he'd gotten clean.
1561
01:20:46,711 --> 01:20:48,974
So as I started
to hear the elements,
1562
01:20:49,105 --> 01:20:51,281
I was like, "No,
this is not possible."
1563
01:20:51,411 --> 01:20:54,632
How the police could
let this guy get away
1564
01:20:54,762 --> 01:20:58,941
with two deaths
with exactly the same M.O.?
1565
01:21:00,681 --> 01:21:04,511
And then him lying
1566
01:21:04,642 --> 01:21:08,341
in a morgue as a John Doe?
1567
01:21:09,081 --> 01:21:13,346
We come to find out
later that it was the calls
1568
01:21:13,477 --> 01:21:16,001
looking for him
that identified him.
1569
01:21:16,828 --> 01:21:19,700
And he had been dead
1570
01:21:19,831 --> 01:21:23,052
probably before
I got the phone call.
1571
01:21:24,880 --> 01:21:26,577
The next morning,
a detective called me.
1572
01:21:26,707 --> 01:21:28,274
He said,
"Don't talk to the press
1573
01:21:28,405 --> 01:21:30,102
or you're going to screw up
our investigation.
1574
01:21:30,233 --> 01:21:32,888
I'm looking everywhere else
that Steven has lived.
1575
01:21:33,018 --> 01:21:34,802
I'd really like
to get this guy, you know.
1576
01:21:34,933 --> 01:21:36,630
So I need your cooperation."
1577
01:21:38,937 --> 01:21:41,113
He had been calling me,
like, every week.
1578
01:21:41,244 --> 01:21:42,767
At the end of eight months,
he stopped calling me,
1579
01:21:42,898 --> 01:21:45,465
and I started calling him,
1580
01:21:45,596 --> 01:21:47,076
and said,
"If you don't call me back,
1581
01:21:47,206 --> 01:21:48,947
I'm going to start talking
to the press."
1582
01:21:49,078 --> 01:21:51,036
So I got a phone call back
from him with their captain,
1583
01:21:51,167 --> 01:21:52,342
I guess, and they were like,
1584
01:21:52,472 --> 01:21:53,604
"We're dropping
the investigation.
1585
01:21:53,734 --> 01:21:55,084
Nothing's going to happen.
1586
01:21:55,214 --> 01:21:56,955
And I'm like,
"Qhat are you talking about?"
1587
01:21:57,086 --> 01:21:58,348
The guy at the very least
shared his prescription drugs
1588
01:21:58,478 --> 01:22:00,263
with Dean,
that's got to be a crime.
1589
01:22:00,393 --> 01:22:01,351
And they were like, "Well, we
don't know about your state,
1590
01:22:01,481 --> 01:22:02,961
but it's not here."
1591
01:22:03,919 --> 01:22:06,443
I felt, you know, I have
no proof, but I felt like
1592
01:22:06,573 --> 01:22:08,619
somebody had told them
to drop it.
1593
01:22:26,767 --> 01:22:30,162
We were all
such stellar chemists
1594
01:22:30,293 --> 01:22:33,774
that I don't think
that could have happened
1595
01:22:33,905 --> 01:22:36,995
unless he was slip something.
1596
01:22:37,126 --> 01:22:41,173
♪ I had to kiss
my baby goodbye ♪
1597
01:22:41,304 --> 01:22:43,393
I believe that Dean would
take the drugs voluntarily,
1598
01:22:43,523 --> 01:22:45,221
you know, but because
of the situation,
1599
01:22:45,351 --> 01:22:47,658
I'll never know whether Steven
slipped them the drugs.
1600
01:22:47,788 --> 01:22:49,703
and it killed him because
he was already on drugs.
1601
01:22:49,834 --> 01:22:51,618
That was enough
to push him over the edge.
1602
01:22:51,749 --> 01:22:53,229
I'll never know
what happened exactly.
1603
01:22:53,359 --> 01:22:55,753
Only one person knows,
and he's not talking.
1604
01:22:58,103 --> 01:23:00,410
I don't think the D.C. police
1605
01:23:00,540 --> 01:23:04,283
have a sterling reputation
when it comes to handling
1606
01:23:04,414 --> 01:23:07,547
issues around, like,
gay people, queer people,
1607
01:23:07,678 --> 01:23:09,854
or sex work.
1608
01:23:09,985 --> 01:23:11,987
Would the police
have treated it differently
1609
01:23:12,117 --> 01:23:15,294
if he wasn't a gay prostitute?
Probably.
1610
01:23:15,425 --> 01:23:17,644
When it comes to whores,
1611
01:23:17,775 --> 01:23:19,777
when it comes to gay people,
1612
01:23:20,908 --> 01:23:24,303
it's not going to be
investigated in the same way.
1613
01:23:24,434 --> 01:23:27,524
I think if you're
looking for fishiness,
1614
01:23:27,654 --> 01:23:29,004
fishiness is there.
1615
01:23:29,134 --> 01:23:31,049
Fishiness
is all over this, you know.
1616
01:23:31,180 --> 01:23:34,487
Criminality? I'm not sure.
1617
01:23:34,618 --> 01:23:36,446
There wasn't like
a real investigation.
1618
01:23:36,576 --> 01:23:40,667
And, and that is this world.
1619
01:23:40,798 --> 01:23:43,235
That is this broken,
broken world.
1620
01:23:44,062 --> 01:23:46,499
It is like a worst
nightmare scenario.
1621
01:23:46,630 --> 01:23:48,414
And the last thing you want
to ever have happen
1622
01:23:48,545 --> 01:23:50,068
to your friend.
1623
01:23:54,507 --> 01:23:57,119
Well, right now it's somebody
else's turn.
1624
01:24:01,079 --> 01:24:03,647
I passed my rite of initiation.
1625
01:24:06,519 --> 01:24:08,869
His death hit me, obviously,
1626
01:24:09,000 --> 01:24:10,784
it hit me really hard.
1627
01:24:10,915 --> 01:24:13,439
Harder than,
than I thought it would
1628
01:24:13,570 --> 01:24:14,962
because it kept lingering.
1629
01:24:15,093 --> 01:24:17,356
You know, there's not...
1630
01:24:17,487 --> 01:24:19,532
When you grow up with someone,
1631
01:24:20,142 --> 01:24:23,058
there's not a part of your life
that they weren't a part of.
1632
01:24:25,016 --> 01:24:27,845
No matter what,
he was a survivor
1633
01:24:27,975 --> 01:24:31,544
living all
those years with HIV.
1634
01:24:31,675 --> 01:24:34,199
He was able to punish
his body the way he did
1635
01:24:34,330 --> 01:24:36,767
and yet come right back
up from the mat.
1636
01:24:39,726 --> 01:24:42,294
And I think
that was also the shock
1637
01:24:42,425 --> 01:24:45,123
of finding out he left us.
1638
01:24:45,254 --> 01:24:47,952
There are certain people
you always think, you know,
1639
01:24:48,083 --> 01:24:50,824
"It's bad, but they'll
come back," you know,
1640
01:24:50,955 --> 01:24:53,740
because they do all the time
1641
01:24:53,871 --> 01:24:55,264
until they don't.
1642
01:24:56,961 --> 01:25:01,096
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
1643
01:25:01,226 --> 01:25:05,839
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
1644
01:25:05,970 --> 01:25:10,279
♪ Oh, oh, oh ♪
1645
01:25:16,067 --> 01:25:17,460
Young people,
I'll tell you right now,
1646
01:25:17,590 --> 01:25:19,853
you're standing
on his shoulders.
1647
01:25:19,984 --> 01:25:23,466
It really was a death of a lot
of the New York nightlife
1648
01:25:23,596 --> 01:25:25,424
that we know.
1649
01:25:25,555 --> 01:25:27,078
There are parties
and stuff now,
1650
01:25:27,209 --> 01:25:30,777
but with Dean
it was more of a spectacle.
1651
01:25:30,908 --> 01:25:33,302
It really
was a three-ring circus.
1652
01:25:34,129 --> 01:25:38,176
It did feel like the end of
an era, in a way, losing Dean,
1653
01:25:38,307 --> 01:25:40,222
you know, he was part
of this renaissance
1654
01:25:40,352 --> 01:25:42,180
of the East Village,
1655
01:25:42,311 --> 01:25:44,835
and we lost our,
you know, our king.
1656
01:26:09,294 --> 01:26:11,253
I had to get
a gravestone for him.
1657
01:26:14,908 --> 01:26:16,606
It's in a little
family plot in Maine.
1658
01:26:16,736 --> 01:26:18,260
Right behind my mom.
1659
01:26:22,786 --> 01:26:24,004
So, of course, everybody
wanted me to put "Fuck You"
1660
01:26:24,135 --> 01:26:25,484
on it.
1661
01:26:28,313 --> 01:26:30,185
Which I think
would have been great,
1662
01:26:30,315 --> 01:26:31,447
but in this little family
plot, you know, so I put,
1663
01:26:31,577 --> 01:26:33,579
"He gave a voice
to the voiceless."
1664
01:26:36,060 --> 01:26:37,496
Because I feel like he did.
1665
01:26:41,674 --> 01:26:43,546
If you knew Dean,
you knew that, like,
1666
01:26:43,676 --> 01:26:45,765
there was very little time
that you were with him,
1667
01:26:45,896 --> 01:26:49,160
that you didn't just melt
into a human with him.
1668
01:26:49,291 --> 01:26:50,640
That's the thing about him.
1669
01:26:50,770 --> 01:26:53,033
He just undid you.
1670
01:26:53,164 --> 01:26:55,384
He will always
have a place in our history.
1671
01:26:55,514 --> 01:26:57,734
As somebody
who showed the world
1672
01:26:57,864 --> 01:26:59,953
that you can have a good time
1673
01:27:00,084 --> 01:27:02,521
and you can be
out of your mind.
1674
01:27:02,652 --> 01:27:05,132
You can be strange,
you can be an alien creature,
1675
01:27:05,263 --> 01:27:07,657
and you can live
the fantasy, man.
1676
01:27:07,787 --> 01:27:09,702
Express yourself
however the hell you want to.
1677
01:27:09,833 --> 01:27:12,662
Play the game on your own terms.
1678
01:27:13,271 --> 01:27:15,491
He couldn't have been
in New York at a better time
1679
01:27:15,621 --> 01:27:17,493
for a person like him
to take over,
1680
01:27:17,623 --> 01:27:20,017
and so if there
is any poetry to his life,
1681
01:27:20,147 --> 01:27:23,629
I think he was on the planet
at exactly the right moment
1682
01:27:24,413 --> 01:27:27,067
Underneath all of this outrageousness.
1683
01:27:27,198 --> 01:27:28,765
And just like this,
like, flamboyance
1684
01:27:28,895 --> 01:27:30,157
and also
this sort of confidence
1685
01:27:30,288 --> 01:27:31,811
and everything, there was just
1686
01:27:31,942 --> 01:27:34,031
he had this like deep desire,
like all the rest of us,
1687
01:27:34,161 --> 01:27:35,772
just to be loved.
1688
01:27:35,902 --> 01:27:37,252
Just like he never stopped
trying to believe that.
1689
01:27:37,382 --> 01:27:38,862
Like he could find
that true love.
1690
01:27:38,992 --> 01:27:40,733
And I think it led him
down these pathways
1691
01:27:40,864 --> 01:27:42,126
that just weren't,
1692
01:27:42,257 --> 01:27:43,345
he wasn't seeing clearly.
1693
01:27:46,348 --> 01:27:49,568
♪ I'll find myself a lover
Who is old and fat ♪
1694
01:27:49,699 --> 01:27:51,527
♪ And they'll all
Tell my lover ♪
1695
01:27:51,657 --> 01:27:53,746
♪ Hey, your boyfriend
Is all that! ♪
1696
01:27:53,877 --> 01:27:55,922
♪ You're a heavenly body ♪
1697
01:27:56,053 --> 01:27:58,403
♪ And your face
Is like a dream ♪
1698
01:27:58,534 --> 01:28:01,188
♪ But loving you
Is damaging my sense ♪
1699
01:28:01,319 --> 01:28:03,016
♪ Of self-esteem ♪
1700
01:28:03,147 --> 01:28:06,019
He took some risks, so that
I could take some risks.
1701
01:28:06,150 --> 01:28:07,847
And then I'm taking risks,
so these other queens
1702
01:28:07,978 --> 01:28:09,414
can take risks.
1703
01:28:09,545 --> 01:28:11,024
Way back when, like Stonewall,
1704
01:28:11,155 --> 01:28:12,809
when people first busted
through that wall,
1705
01:28:12,939 --> 01:28:15,551
they got all cut up
and it was really fucking hard
1706
01:28:15,681 --> 01:28:16,987
getting through that wall
1707
01:28:17,117 --> 01:28:18,771
because it was
such a solid wall.
1708
01:28:18,902 --> 01:28:20,512
And then people started
squeezing through after that,
1709
01:28:20,643 --> 01:28:22,209
and it wasn't quite as hard,
1710
01:28:22,340 --> 01:28:24,168
you know, you got cut up,
but not as badly.
1711
01:28:24,299 --> 01:28:27,432
So it's just really important
to keep that history alive,
1712
01:28:27,563 --> 01:28:29,869
you know, so that wall
doesn't go back up.
1713
01:28:31,393 --> 01:28:33,960
You could say he wore a dress
1714
01:28:34,091 --> 01:28:38,095
or he was HIV positive,
1715
01:28:38,225 --> 01:28:41,838
or he was a
rock n roll singer.
1716
01:28:42,317 --> 01:28:45,711
But none of those things really
explain what he was doing.
1717
01:28:45,842 --> 01:28:47,800
It was,
1718
01:28:47,931 --> 01:28:49,802
he was like, uh,
1719
01:28:50,455 --> 01:28:52,718
like he was just
throwing a party,
1720
01:28:52,849 --> 01:28:55,155
and he was, like,
inviting everybody
1721
01:28:55,286 --> 01:28:56,635
to join it.
1722
01:28:58,333 --> 01:29:01,466
The real Big Johnson
was his heart.
1723
01:29:14,218 --> 01:29:18,527
Dean Johnson was
a downtown legend.
1724
01:29:18,657 --> 01:29:20,616
A queer core, glam, punk
1725
01:29:20,746 --> 01:29:22,226
drag queen, party king,
1726
01:29:22,357 --> 01:29:23,749
porn performer,
1727
01:29:23,880 --> 01:29:27,231
and hustler on drama-therapy
reenactmenting.
1728
01:29:30,887 --> 01:29:32,541
We are here to celebrate
1729
01:29:32,671 --> 01:29:34,020
Dean Johnson.
1730
01:29:36,719 --> 01:29:41,332
We are to show
our love and respect.
1731
01:29:41,463 --> 01:29:44,988
♪ You make me feel
Like Coco Chanel ♪
1732
01:29:45,118 --> 01:29:47,643
♪ But loving you I know
I'm going through hell ♪
1733
01:30:01,874 --> 01:30:06,923
♪ Coco Chanel ♪
1734
01:30:08,577 --> 01:30:10,753
♪ Oh ♪
1735
01:30:10,883 --> 01:30:14,104
♪ You make me feel
Like Tammy Faye ♪
1736
01:30:14,234 --> 01:30:17,368
♪ Praying to God that
You won't go away ♪
1737
01:30:17,499 --> 01:30:21,807
♪ And now I'm addicted
To Mary K ♪
1738
01:30:21,938 --> 01:30:25,202
♪ You make me feel
Like Tammy Faye ♪
1739
01:30:25,332 --> 01:30:31,164
♪ Tammy Faye ♪
1740
01:30:31,295 --> 01:30:32,905
♪ Tammy Faye ♪
1741
01:30:33,036 --> 01:30:39,999
♪ Tammy Faye ♪
1742
01:30:40,130 --> 01:30:43,307
♪ You make me feel
Like Hillary ♪
1743
01:30:43,438 --> 01:30:44,830
♪ Now all of my friends ♪
1744
01:30:47,224 --> 01:30:50,967
♪ Letting you treat me
Shallowly ♪
1745
01:30:51,097 --> 01:30:55,188
♪ You make me feel
Like Hillary ♪
1746
01:30:55,319 --> 01:31:01,194
♪ Hillary ♪
1747
01:31:01,325 --> 01:31:02,848
♪ You make me feel ♪
1748
01:31:02,979 --> 01:31:08,550
♪ Hillary ♪
1749
01:31:16,253 --> 01:31:18,603
I think I respect
Dean's sweet spots.
1750
01:31:21,214 --> 01:31:25,523
And I think we made out.
1751
01:31:25,654 --> 01:31:27,830
Yeah, I remember,
"When are we gonna fuck?"
1752
01:31:28,700 --> 01:31:30,180
It was really sad.
1753
01:31:30,310 --> 01:31:31,181
Please
put your hands together
1754
01:31:31,311 --> 01:31:32,748
for master illusionist
1755
01:31:32,878 --> 01:31:36,055
Chunky Jones!
1756
01:31:36,186 --> 01:31:38,014
Hi, everyone,
I'm Chunky Jones.
1757
01:31:38,144 --> 01:31:39,624
Welcome to the show.
1758
01:31:40,799 --> 01:31:42,366
And tell me what's inside.
1759
01:31:42,497 --> 01:31:44,803
Licorice and a syringe.
1760
01:31:44,934 --> 01:31:46,849
Licorice and a syringe?
1761
01:31:46,979 --> 01:31:48,894
Mom, is that you?
1762
01:31:54,204 --> 01:31:57,120
♪ You make me feel
Like Happy Lee ♪
1763
01:31:57,250 --> 01:32:00,471
♪ I was a parrot
Full of dignity ♪
1764
01:32:00,602 --> 01:32:04,388
♪ Until you came along
And made a fool out of me ♪
1765
01:32:04,519 --> 01:32:08,218
♪ You make me feel
Like Happy Lee ♪
1766
01:32:08,348 --> 01:32:11,961
♪ You make me feel
Like Mary Jo ♪
1767
01:32:12,091 --> 01:32:15,921
♪ You are such a heel
And I'm the last to know ♪
1768
01:32:16,052 --> 01:32:19,229
♪ I wanna leave you
But I can't let go ♪
1769
01:32:19,359 --> 01:32:22,362
♪ You make me feel
Like Mary Jo ♪
1770
01:32:22,493 --> 01:32:23,799
♪ You make me feel like... ♪
1771
01:32:23,929 --> 01:32:25,583
Jackie, come here
and stand judgement.
1772
01:32:25,714 --> 01:32:27,803
Dean Johnson...
1773
01:32:27,933 --> 01:32:30,153
Harry Smith.
1774
01:32:30,283 --> 01:32:31,937
They took it on themselves.
1775
01:32:32,068 --> 01:32:33,896
They took it on themselves.
1776
01:32:34,026 --> 01:32:36,115
They took it on the,
they took it on the,
1777
01:32:36,246 --> 01:32:37,943
took it on themselves.
1778
01:32:45,211 --> 01:32:47,518
Please, welcome to the stage.
1779
01:32:47,649 --> 01:32:48,824
The Weenies.
1780
01:34:48,073 --> 01:34:50,902
I know how to handle
an audience, honey.
1781
01:34:51,033 --> 01:34:52,251
I had one in my bed last night.