Andrew Denton interviews Sir Elton John

Now I really thought this would be boring and a dud, but it proved not to be the case. This bit should be framed and put on a wall. I will do the next best thing and blog it. If anyone ever wondered what “Gay Pride” means, here is your chance to find out.

ANDREW DENTON: It’s interesting, you wrote an article for the New Statesman earlier this year about gay prejudice…
SIR ELTON JOHN: Mm mm…
ANDREW DENTON: In different parts of the world and I noted that when you perform in Poland where quite a right wing…
SIR ELTON JOHN: Yeah I said something in Poland…
ANDREW DENTON: You said something on stage and this, the administration actually attempted to shut down homosexuality and any public since…
SIR ELTON JOHN: Yeah…
ANDREW DENTON: That seems an uncharacteristically political thing for you to do on stage. What was that like for you?
SIR ELTON JOHN: I’m at a point in my life where I have to make a stand. I mean this was going on in Poland and I said it in front of a televised audience. I said, “Listen, I’m a gay man. I’ve come here. You people, you’ve applauded me and you know you have to be more tolerant. Well you know we’re not the enemy”. If we’re living in the 21st century and people are still worried about homosexuality being evil, when the Catholic Church has covered child molestation for the last 25 years and done nothing about it, then we live in a funny society. I just don’t get it and the older I get, I just don’t get what’s going on in the world, the anger towards people that don’t deserve anger. When there’s not enough focus on people like Robert Mugabe… To deserve to be gotten out of the way and gotten rid of, it’s just we live in a crazy world. I’ve become very disillusion by it. But I have to speak out. I have to speak my mind because as a gay man now I have a responsibility to. I sat back too long. I mean when Act Up were going in and trying to change the face of AIDS awareness in America because nobody else was doing it, I sat back and did nothing…