Slate Magazine Hails Jamie Barton's 'Diva Treatment' of Bisexual Visibility
“In Barton’s hands, bi visibility got the diva treatment.” The activist mezzo talked to Slate about being an outspoken advocate for LGBTQ rights and body positivity, and what it means to queer the Proms.
September 16, 2019
Slate’s June Thomas sat down for a conversation with American mezzo Jamie Barton about queering classical music, idolizing drag queens, and showing pride at the BBC Proms.
“I’m sitting in a meeting with the BBC last October, and I have purple hair and a side shave and a nose ring, and I’m wondering, are they going to want me to grow my hair out? How conservative do I need to be for this? And from the first moment I said, “You know, the flag that I feel I can get behind and wave during ‘Rule Britannia’ is the Pride flag.” They were like, yes absolutely. So we’re going with the idea of unity and inclusion. These are two very important things to me. I think they are healing things. So I’m proud to be doing it.”
Photo by Chris Christodoulou