BANG Showbiz English
Harvey Fierstein is “confused” about his gender.
The 67-year-old Broadway legend – who is known for originating the drag role of Edna Turnblad in the musical ‘Hairspray’ – admitted he “didn’t feel like” a boy when he was a child until he learned about homosexuality, but still “doesn’t have the answers” now.
He said: “I’m still confused as to whether I’m a man or a woman. I don’t have answers for anybody else ’cause I don’t have answers for myself. When I was a kid, I was attracted to men. I didn’t feel like a boy was supposed to feel. Then I found out about gay. So that was enough for me for then.”
The ‘Mrs Doubtfire’ actor then went on to explain that after a lifetime of playing characters both in and out of drag, he is unsure of who he is but is “bothered” by gender neutral terminology.
He said: “No one has ever been happier walking around with a beard and five daughters and having everyone call me papa [in ‘Fiddler on the Roof’] or as Edna [in ‘Hairspray’]. I don’t know who I am. You wanna tell me who I am?. I think about whether I am non-binary a lot but it’s the term that bothers me.”
However, the Tony Award winner then explained that despite his confusion, he doesn’t feel as if he has “missed out” on anything as he insisted that the “everything” is possible.
He told PEOPLE: “But let’s put it this way. I don’t think I’ve missed anything by not making up my mind!
No two of us are the same, not any of us. I’m 67 years old, and still everything’s possible. I can get up tomorrow if I wanted to, and shave really close and put on a bunch of makeup and walk around my town and see what that’s like.
Having done drag as many years as I’ve done drag, I know it’s a lot of f****** work to be pretty.”
