{"id":95409,"date":"2026-08-31T00:06:04","date_gmt":"2026-08-31T07:06:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/?p=95409"},"modified":"2026-08-31T00:13:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T07:13:07","slug":"parting-glances-for-dolly","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/blog\/2026\/08\/31\/parting-glances-for-dolly\/","title":{"rendered":"Parting Glances For Dolly"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow do you know what the fuck I am? 
\nI don\u2019t ever share that part of my life.\u201d <\/em>
\n\u2013 <\/em>Chaka Khan<\/strong>\u2019s response when an interviewer called her a \u201cstraight icon\u201d. 
\nShe added, \u201cI am for everybody.  I don\u2019t care what you sleep with at night. 
\nIf your heart is in the right place, that\u2019s all I care about.\u201d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know anyone who disliked Dolly Parton<\/strong>.  People around the world have paid tribute to her.  Yes, we all heard about the Empire State Building <\/em><\/strong>lighting up pink in her honor.  Massachusetts\u2019 largest bridges did the same.  A candlelight vigil took place in the Castro <\/em>with instructions for people to wear wigs.  Provincetown had dozens show up in pink.  Dolly was a patron saint to the gay community.  She sang the Oscar<\/em>-nominated song, \u201cTravelin\u2019 Thru\u201d for the film Transamerica<\/em><\/strong>.  When asked specifically about gay and trans rights, she said she loved all people.  And she had no time for Christians who condemned her for supporting our community.  \u201cIf people want to pass judgment, they\u2019re already sinning.  I try to love everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

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From advocating for the rights of all people to literacy to helping fund the Covid vaccine, Dolly was always giving.  Even those who didn\u2019t agree with her views mourned her passing.  One of the most vocal is Ricky Schroder<\/strong>, who posted this: \u201cI didnt agree with her advocating for Transgender & Covid Vaccine support…but Loved her anyway.  Thank you for choosing me Dolly to be your Movie Daddy.\u201d  For those who don\u2019t know, Ricky played Dolly\u2019s dad in the film Dolly Parton\u2019s Coat of Many Colors<\/em><\/strong> and Dolly Parton\u2019s Christmas of Many Colors<\/em><\/strong>.  His casting says something very important about both \u2013 Dolly did \u201clove everybody\u201d, while Ricky went against his beliefs for a gig!  His post went viral and many weighed in.  Boy George <\/strong>said, \u201cOh, shut up,\u201d while Katie Couric <\/strong>simply said: \u201cIck.\u201d  On a personal note, I was once at an abutting urinal to Ricky Schroder.  While I didn\u2019t sneak a peek, he did seem terribly uncomfortable.  I finished first (as usual) and Ricky\u2019s discomfort was magnified when he exited the restroom to find me chatting with his delightful then-wife, Andrea Bernard<\/strong>.  He pulled her away…quickly.<\/p>\n

Parton\u2019s appeal transcended music.  Despite her appearance, she always gave off warmth and authenticity and was brimming with love for all things.  Her physical appearance was not based on a single genuine attribute \u2013 but her heart was brimming with genuine love.  And she never forgot where she came from and retained her down-home style.  It\u2019s almost poetic that her final appearance was at a truck stop.  I think that would have tickled her!  I met her a few times, the most notable being at the opening night of the musical version of 9 to 5<\/em><\/strong> at the Ahmanson Theatre <\/em>in Los Angeles (I was there due to the largess of the wise and powerful publicist, Ken Werther<\/strong>).  Dolly never said no to a fan \u2013 so much so that a team of security people had been hired to keep her sequestered.  At one point, Dolly had to walk through the crowd and someone yelled, \u201cMake a hole\u201d \u2013 something I\u2019ve heard at more gatherings than I can count.  Suddenly, security surrounded her with a human shield.  Only one problem \u2013 I was inside the shield!  Dolly looked at me and said, \u201cYou must be pretty special to be in the inner circle.\u201d  I said, \u201cThe best circle yet \u2013 and I\u2019ve been in my share of circles!\u201d  And we laughed \u2013 probably for different reasons.  Rest in peace, Dolly.<\/p>\n

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On the day Dolly died, a federal judge in Texas brought up her name in ruling on the interpretation of a bill which was passed in 2023.  People like Texas attorney general Ken Paxton <\/strong>have used this bill to restrict drag shows.  Judge David Hittner <\/strong>ruled that the bill restricts free speech and violates the First Amendment.  \u201cJust as many people criticized Elvis<\/strong>\u2019s signature hip gyrations and were offended by his display of male sexuality, [and] chastised Dolly Parton as a voluptuous sex symbol because of her big hair, flamboyant clothes and breast exposure…there are \u2018erotic\u2019 elements in countless popular performances that could be subject to both civil and criminal penalties.\u201d  In his ruling, he had some advice.  \u201cFor those who find such activities as described in this case offensive, the solution is relatively simple…just don\u2019t go.\u201d  <\/p>\n

Later that same day, Tim Curry <\/strong>also died.  Like Dolly, he was also 80.  Someone remarked that two notable drag queens died on the same day.  And it\u2019s true \u2013 Curry\u2019s most notable character was in The Rocky Horror Picture Show<\/em><\/strong>.  And Dolly often said, \u201cIf I weren\u2019t a woman, I\u2019d have been a drag queen\u201d.  Tim was definitely one of a kind and a formidable talent.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cHow do you know what the fuck I am?  I don\u2019t ever share that part of my life.\u201d  \u2013 Chaka Khan\u2019s response when an interviewer called her a \u201cstraight icon\u201d.  She added, \u201cI am for everybody.  I don\u2019t care what you sleep with at night.  If your heart is in the right place, that\u2019s all<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Parting Glances For Dolly","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breaking"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95409","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95409"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95409\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":95418,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95409\/revisions\/95418"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95409"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95409"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.billymasters.com\/custom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95409"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}