Back when I wrote about Billy Dee Williams, I established my policy that I would be writing about nonbinary/genderfluid people in the week I use for men. Regardless of the gender the person was assigned at birth. Now, John Cameron Mitchell uses he/him pronouns still despite having come out as NB, but I would like to assure him that I’m not trying to misgender him. I’m really not. I respect his gender identity on the grounds that he assuredly knows his gender better than I, who have never even met him, possibly could. My policy does not have anything to do with any individual person; it has to do with the fact that more attention historically is paid to men than women, and we can stand to make them miss a turn.

It’s easy to forget Mitchell’s early years with the Typical Hollywood TV Career. His first appearance was in a made-for-TV movie starring Lance Guest (the last starfighter) and Barry Miller (Ralph Garcey of Fame fame). He did an Afterschool Special with Malcolm Jamal-Warner. He did The Equalizer and MacGuyver. He did, sigh, Head of the Class, a show I loved and can’t watch anymore because one of its leads is so awful. At the same time, he was also doing a lot of stage, appearing on a couple of Original Cast Recordings. He received several Drama Desk nominations in those years.

And in 1998, he worked with Stephen Trask on a little thing called Hedwig and the Angry Inch. It was originally an autobiographical work with Tommy as the main character, with Hedwig based on a babysitter he’d had when he was young. However, the character of Hedwig developed beyond his original plans and kind of took over to the extent that one of my friends saw it while pregnant and got her belly signed by Neil Patrick Harris, who was playing it in that production. The LA production was in part financed by none other than David Bowie.

It’s not that the phenomenal success allowed him to write his own ticket. Of course it didn’t. However, in certain circles, it opened up a whole lot of opportunities. He’s certainly been working steadily ever since. Shortbus went to Cannes. Rabbit Hole got Nicole Kidman an Oscar nomination. He does podcasts, several of which have become filmed productions. He’s active in front of the camera and behind it, not as famous as a lot of indie directors but a big name nonetheless. And he’ll always live on as Hedwig, of course.

Also, today I learned about the existence of the Radical Faeries movement, which seems to be a combination of gay pride, specifically focusing on gay men, and the neo-Paganism movement. I have a friend I can’t help thinking of as I read about it, honestly; it sounds like just his jam. Mitchell considers himself part of the movement, which combines anarchism, environmentalism, and secular spirituality. It was in part an attempt to separate gay identity form gay bars, to give gay men another place to meet one another and connect. I can definitely see why it would appeal. The movement has apparently broadened since then to cover more gender identities and sexual preferences, which in my opinion is even better.

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