Joan Rivers On Gay Celebrities Coming Out

In the wake of the Newsweek controversy, is Joan Rivers also urging young actors to stay in the closet? The Advocate’s Brandon Voss talked to Rivers about this, why AIDS jokes are funny, and Melissa as her love interest:

ADVOCATE: Should young gay performers still keep their sexuality a secret?
RIVERS: It’s part of the game. If you’re going to be a romantic idol and try to get every teenage girl to love you, then you’d be an ass to come out and say you’re gay. That’s why Ricky Martin was so smart — he did what he did, he made his millions, and then he said, “Guess what, everybody? I’m gay, I’m having this life, and here are my children.” It didn’t matter anymore because he didn’t have to bring in 16-year-old girls.
ADV: You’ve had AIDS jokes in your act. That’s a pretty risky subject for comedy, no?
JR: Why? Didn’t you see the documentary? That’s the whole point. Comedy is how you deal with things. If you can laugh at it, you can deal with it.
ADV: In the late ’50s, you played a lesbian opposite Barbra Streisand in the off-off-Broadway play Driftwood. If you played another lesbian role today, whom would you want cast as your love interest?
JR: My daughter Melissa. Let’s really make it good.