June 4, 2004

Well, she doesn’t talk much about politics, but they appear to be more toward the liberal side than conservative. When asked pointblank in 2003 by conservative talk show host Bill O’Reilly on his program if she was a conservative, she replied, “Not really,” adding that she’s “more patriotic than political.” She often says that she doesn’t believe in judging anyone for the way they live their lives, and even made some comments in support of prostitution when she made The Best Little Whorehouse In Texas.

Although she has said she’d never pose nude, she doesn’t see a problem in drawing attention to her own body with her outfits or when other women pose nude, even agreeing to appear in a self-designed Playboy bunny outfit on the cover of that men’s magazine known for its centerfolds.

She has long advocated racial harmony and said she was a strong supporter and believer in John F. Kennedy in the 1960s. She and Porter even recorded a song in 1973 to promote the bicentennial Freedom Train, and the lyrics spoke admirably about JFK and Robert F. Kennedy as well as Martin Luther King, Jr., a rare occurrence in the conservative country community during that era.
She’s long been a supporter of equality for women, with several semi-feminist themed songs.

She also has been a quiet (and sometimes not-so-quiet) supporter of gay rights and AIDS issues for many years. Her former longtime manager and business partner Sandy Gallin is an out gay man and one of her closest friends, and their production company’s first project was an Academy Award-winning documentary on the AIDS quilt. She appeared on the cover of the gay magazine Out in 1997 and the AIDS magazine A&U in 2003. In the New York gay magazine Next a couple of years ago, she offered the following opinion on homosexuality: “I think it’s great when people accept themselves for exactly who they are and accept other people. I think that’s the key to happiness and success. It doesn’t matter who you are, as long as you do that really good. We’re all God’s children. He loves us all the same. We have to learn to love each other and ourselves a little better.” In Out, she noted that she has straight fans and gay fans. “It’s two different worlds,” she said. “And I understand them both and love them both.” She is also considered one of the top gay icons. (While not as big as Barbara Streisand, Judy Garland or Liza Minnelli, Dolly ranks up there with Bette Midler and Cher with a huge gay following.) And in 2003 on Oprah with Melissa Etheridge, she congratulated the lesbian singer on her recent marriage to another woman and said she supports gay marriage, joking that gay people should have the right to be “as miserable” as married straight people are.