Dolly Parton reflects on Orlando shooting, gives nod to her drag impersonators
Posted June 13, 2016 12:38 pm.
Last Updated June 13, 2016 2:24 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO – Dolly Parton took a moment to recognize the LGBT community on Monday in the wake of the mass shooting at an Orlando gay nightclub that left 49 people dead.
“That’s horrible — it wouldn’t matter what kind of club it was,” the country legend told reporters at a news conference in Toronto, where she was promoting her upcoming North American tour.
“I’m not God, I’m no judge. I just know that God loves us all.”
Parton noted she’s had a long relationship with the LGBT community, and is flattered by the number of drag queen impersonators who have paid tribute to her.
“I’m a patron saint for a lot of them guys and it makes me feel good,” she said.
“All those drag queens, sometimes I’ve seen some of them look like me more than I do.”
Parton also recalled the time she secretly enrolled in a Dolly Parton drag look-alike contest in Los Angeles on a dare from her friends.
“I kind of exaggerated myself, made my beauty mark a little bigger — but it was still me,” she said.
The audience wasn’t so impressed with the covert country singer’s version of herself.
“I got the least applause of anybody,” she said.
Parton also denounced the North Carolina bathroom bill that bans transgender people from using washrooms in federal buildings for the gender of which they identify.
“Everybody should be comfortable in their world, whatever they do,” she said of the bill.
“I really do think we’ve got to make some better rules, we’ve got to take care of each other a little better.”
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