Fashion
Why Billy Porter Will Wear a Gown Whenever He Damn Well Pleases
“So, a man puts on a dress, and it’s disgusting?”
July 12 2019 6:10 PM EST
May 31 2023 5:04 PM EST
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“So, a man puts on a dress, and it’s disgusting?”
He can sing, he can act, he can kill it in a Christian Siriano tuxedo gown -- is there anything Billy Porter can't do? In fact there is: say things that aren't brilliant in interviews! Literally! Every single thing he's said in every single one is so good!
Porter's back to blow our minds this week with a new on-camera interview with British LGBTQ+ news site Pink News. Published Friday, the clip covers a lot of ground in its under two-minute runtime, hopping from the Tony Award-winning Pose star's glamorous red carpet fashions to the homophobic backlash he gets for wearing gowns.
\u201cWearing a dress is a "political act," says @theebillyporter. https://t.co/YQ9PaFP3U6\u201d— PinkNews (@PinkNews) 1562918228
"I want to be a walking piece of political art when I show up," Porter tells the outlet. "If I'm over here wearing a dress, why does it matter? Any woman who puts on pants is considered strong because pants are associated with the patriarchy. It's like some sort of superiority complex. So, a man puts on a dress, and it's disgusting? So, what you're saying is 'men are fabulous,' 'women are disgusting?' I'm not doing that anymore."
Of all the outfits he's worn of late, Porter says his favorites are probably his gold Met Gala goddess look, the "uterus dress" he wore to the Tonys, and the aforementioned Christian Siriano tuxedo gown from the Oscars.
Elsewhere in the clip, the actor responds to accusations that he's "the cause for the emasculation of the Black man," something he's apparently heard a lot since breaking through with Pose.
"I didn't know that I had that much power," Porter says. "But now that I know that I do, you can expect me to be wielding it every fucking chance that I get."
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