Tilda Swinton Says She Is Queer
In a new interview with British Vogue, the mystical thespian deity known as Tilda Swinton revealed she identifies as “queer”. She went on to clarify that, for her, the word “queer” is not limited to sexuality; it describes her “sensibility” and worldview. 60-year-old Tilda’s been known to fuck around with gender, performance art, bonkers fashion, and other avante-garde shit. An eccentric, if you will.
Tilda told Vogue (via ET Canada):
“I always felt I was queer,” she said, adding that she found comfort in her career. “I was just looking for my queer circus, and I found it.”
Swinton added, “I’m very clear that queer is actually, for me anyway, to do with sensibility. And having found it, it’s my world.”
“Now I have a family with Wes Anderson, I have a family with Bong Joon-ho, I have a family with Jim Jarmusch, I have a family with Luca Guadagnino, with Lynne Ramsay, with Joanna Hogg.”
Tilda’s children, 23-year-old twins Honor and Xavier, are like, “Um, Mom? You have a family with us too. Right? Right?!” Tilda shares the kids with her 81-year-old ex, playwright John Byrne. She’s been coupled up with 42-year-old painter Sandro Kopp since 2004.
Now, I know it’s been a minute, but back in the day the term “queer” meant “strange” for most. I went to a school called Merwin Greer when I was young, and the kids on the bus home (not from my school) used to yell “Merwin Queer, Merwin Queeeer!” I thought they were calling us “weird”, so I’d whip around and scream, “So what if we’re queer? I love being different!” Then they’d just bully me harder. Well, it would seem those tiny homophobes were onto something, because now the word is pretty much synonymous with one’s sexuality. According to Out.com:
Many people see queer as not only an umbrella term for sexualities, but also a specific worldview. This has led some to disavow terms like “gay” given the sort of “homonormativity” that has arisen within the community, and instead identify as queer. Today, queerness is still almost inextricably linked with sexuality but in decades past, it has been less so. It was seen, by some, as simply alternative point of view.
Eeeenteresting. Now, let’s end on this picture from Tilda’s British Vogue photoshoot, in which she poses with a lovely chicken:
How very queer?
Pic: Wenn.com