Billy Porter on Pride, Donald Trump's 'foolishness' and Kamala Harris
In an interview with ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar, Billy Porter speaks about the evolution of Pride and why this year's US election will be so important
Billy Porter thinks this is the right time to “cuss”.
Asked about whether politics could be a natural next step for this multi-award-winning actor and singer - who is just an Oscar short of the coveted EGOT status held by a handful of performers in the world (winners of an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony award) - he says the fact that he swears so much - or cusses as he puts it - would rule him out of politics for many people today.
But sometimes, he added, “cussing” is the correct response to what’s going on in the world.
The 53-year-old star has accomplished a huge amount on stage, he was the star of the hit musical Kinky Boots - and on TV, where his role in the award winning series Pose about the ball culture, an LGBTQ+ subculture in New York, had the largest transgender cast in TV history.
But he is also a writer and director and one of the best known, and I have to say eloquent, spokespeople for the rights of LGBTQ+ people today.
We meet as he’s preparing to perform at the Brighton Pride celebrations, hailed as the biggest Pride event in the UK.
He has a new album and tour upcoming under his stage alter ego 'the Black Mona Lisa'. But Porter would like remind people what happened to get the US and the UK to this point, where visitors to Pride events can loudly celebrate their identity with others.
Younger people take such freedoms for granted, understandably he says, but the result is sometimes an unwillingness to engage with politics and activism.
He is of course pointing towards the US election, and his fear that a lack of political engagement will return Donald Trump to power.
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Porter does engage with politics, and his concerns for the future are palpable.
We are going backwards he tells me, when it comes to LGBTQ rights.
As someone who survived the Aids pandemic of the 80s, the arrival of lifesaving drugs and the period of celebration that followed at Pride events was understandable, but now he says, it is also the time to remember Pride’s political roots, and start to act so gay people like him are not marginalised and victimised again.
He becomes emotional at the possibility of a black woman becoming US President and responds to Trump’s recent questioning of Kamala Harris’ racial identity with the word “foolishness”.
The Republican candidate recently suggested Harris is Indian, not Black (she says she’s both). Porter despairs at we journalists for even giving the comments the oxygen of publicity.
He has nothing good to say about Trump. The choice for US voters is, he argues, between “black and white, between the prosecutor and the felon”.
It’s clear cut, he said, but instead of chasing Trump voters, the Democrats need to just make sure those people who don’t vote, exercise their rights in November and not take anything for granted.
Porter has found himself often reminding people that although he might wear scene stealing ball gowns on red carpets, and is known for his flamboyance, he is serious and knows his stuff.
But he also knows how to hold an audience in the palm of his hand when he sings on stage. And that is what he is hoping for when he arrives on tour in the UK later this year. Billy Porter wants to be heard and he is not someone you can easily ignore.
His tour begins on October 18 in Swansea, with other dates including Glasgow, Bath, Manchester, London and Brighton.
Unscripted is ITV News' arts and entertainment podcast, brought to you by ITV News Arts Editor Nina Nannar.
In each episode, Nina speaks to a leading name from the world of arts and entertainment.