If there is one stereotype of lesbians I’ve always hated, it’s the vegetarian one. I am very, very proudly not a vegetarian. I was a vegetarian all through high school (though primarily used as a dieting technique, not really a stance on animal rights) but quickly went back to my meat eating ways after my first rugby match in college. Also when I realized that if I wanted to eat in my college’s dining hall and didn’t want to eat tofu, it was going to be time to start eating meat again. After depriving myself for four years, I realized that meat was glorious. I made a few attempts to stop eating meat after that, but I would just quite literally forget that I was a vegetarian.

Some people like to moan, others like dirty talk. Some like verbal abuse while others shower their partners with compliments. Then there are those who prefer total silence. I used to be the latter. Until I slept with a woman. The first time I heard her moan I practically came on the spot. Hearing my partner was so sensual, it sent goosebumps rippling down my spine. I decided I had to let go and reciprocate…

Australian artist Sia Furler was fortunate enough to have two grand unveilings to American audiences. Though she has been releasing music for years, both as herself and as a vocalist for Zero 7, she made a colossal splash in the population at large when her track “Breathe Me” was used to underscore the depression-porn final minutes of HBO’s Six Feet Under. To queer music fans, though, she became an eternal icon/object of jealousy two years ago when news spread that Sia was dating former Le Tiger, and current MEN, member JD Samson.

Sia’s next album “We Are Born” is slated for release this spring and she will be touring the world in support of it. (DC, keep May 4 open.) In the interview below, Sia is her usual unspoken self on the subjects of the music industry, gay rights and the things that she and JD are going to do with David Byrne’s “slippery people.”

When I was a freshman in college, one of my friends on my hall made me an Ani DiFranco mix CD. I guess this was because I was the lesbian who had never listened to Ani; but for whatever reason, she decided it was imperative that I listen to her, and listen to her right then. I tried my best to get into the CD, but could never get past (or through, really) the fifth track. The only songs I could enjoy were “Little Plastic Castle” and the silliness of it, and “Gravel,” which is, let’s face it, is kind of a pretty great I-love-you-even-though-I-shouldn’t-song. Needless to say, I was never an Ani fan. When it comes to things I’m generally not a fan of, it’s folk music that involves feelings.

Fighting for the rights of women isn’t unfair to men because of the institutional belief that “male” is normal and “female” is other. “White” is norm and “Black” or “Asian” equals other. It’s a simple case of privilege in this world and in this country more specifically. I try to be cognizant of the privilege I carry because I am Caucasian, because I come from the middle class, because I have been afforded good education, because I can read, because I have clean drinking water, because my very survival is not the first question posed to me when my eyes open each morning. Unfortunately, my awareness of these issues carries from the depths of issue-driven political stances and seriousness to the lighthearted and stress free moments of play in my life. It’s not the play itself; it’s the constant realization retailers separate “normal” and “other” in perpetuity.

I know. Gay Face? What is Gay Face?
Gay Face is a very real thing. It is when someone just has a gay looking face.

You already share clothes, use the same brand toothpaste and eat at the same restaurants. You probably use the same shampoo and face wash, too –I mean, it’s just more convenient. There are already so many similarities you’ll have with your significant other that you can’t avoid — why not seek out someone who is nothing like you to begin with? Is the old adage true? Do opposites really attract?

In an effort to change it up a little this week, I offer a piece of narrative nonfiction, rather than my usual issue-based commentary. Hope you enjoy.