Mister Rogerss Gay, Black Friend François Clemmons Wears Tiaras Now

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François Clemmons couldnt practice everything Mr. Rogers preached. True, Clemmons became one of the first African-Americans with a recurring role on a kids TV series in 1968, when he joined Mister Rogers Neighborhood. As Officer Clemmons, the trained opera singer charmed children and found refuge in the shows driving force, his friend—our friend—Fred Rogers.

But while the civil-rights movement was in full swing by 1968, the L.G.B.T.Q. liberation movement was still in its infancy. Clemmons, a Birmingham, Alabama native, made a bold statement with Rogers in 1969, when the two of them shared a foot bath during an episode that aired at the height of desegregation—but at the same time, Clemmons was asked to keep quiet about his identity as a gay man. Rogers requested that his co-star stay away from gay clubs—not because he was homophobic, says Clemmons, but to avoid potentially alienating the programs conservative viewers.

Viewers who have seen director Morgan Nevilles heartening new documentary Wont You Be My Neighbor?, know that much. In the film, now playing in major markets and expanding into more theaters in July, Clemmons speaks lovingly about Rogers, alongside the late performers closest family members and co-workers. But Clemmons also acknowledges the sacrifices he had to make for the show, a point Clemmons says has been scrutinized without proper historical context from media outlets since the movies release.

So the Grammy-winning tenor—who was briefly married to a woman decades ago, a union prompted partly by a suggestion from Rogers—has decided to tell his full story in a memoir called DivaMan: My Life in Song. The book will reflect the reality of living as a young, gay person at a time when he had no role models, or much sympathy for his plight—particularly from the Baptist church in which he was raised.

“I judge a lot by my memory, and it seems to be coming back like gangbusters,” said the 73-year-old, who officially retired in 2013 after 15 years as Middlebury Colleges artist-in-residence and director of its Martin Luther King Spiritual Choir. Clemmons continues to serve as a vocal and unofficial life coach for students, whom he calls his “cosmic children.” He still lives in Middlebury, and like any good diva, houses his flashy jackets and dresses in a special closet he added to the three-bedroom home he shares with his constant companion, a nine-year-old Tibetan terrier named Princess.

In a recent phone interview, Clemmons reflected on his close relationship with Rogers, whom he calls his surrogate father; sneaking to the Stonewall Inn in the 60s; and how it feels to dress himself in African chieftain robes and shiny tiaras—after wearing a police uniform for 25 years on childrens TV.

Vanity Fair: What did you miss out on during the years that Mr. Rogers asked you to stay in the closet?

François Clemmons: Something romantic. But I think I missed out on romance as a normal kid. I didnt get to take my boyfriend to the prom, and college was the same basic experience, being in the closet. Then after that, you go to graduate school, which is where I was when I met Fred Rogers. And I was not romantically involved with someone [of the same sex] who I loved deeply. I had infatuations with boys, and I was about 9 or 10 when I realized how incredibly satisfying, how comfortable and fulfilling, it was to spend time with my same sex. But I never had a romantic relationship.

Did you have a romantic relationship with a man after the show?

Basically, no. I couldnt find the François that could give them what they deserve. . . . And [during the show], I could not handle people having an open discussion about the fact that François Clemmons is living with his lover. I did feel like I was risking [something], because people knew who I was. I had a full conversation with Fred about what it could possibly do to the program and to my role on the program, and I didnt feel I wanted to risk it. You know, the articles that have talked about me, I dont think theyve taken into full account that societal norms were vastly different than what they are right now.

Considering he didnt want you to be who you are in public, how did you grapple with the limits of Mr. Rogerss “I love you just the way you are” philosophy?

Sacrifice was a part of my destiny. In other words, I did not want to be a shame to my race. I didnt want to be a scandal to the show. I didnt want to hurt the man who was giving me so much, and I also knew the value as a black performer of having this show, this platform. Black actors and actresses—SAG and Equity—90 percent of them are not working. If you know that and here you are, on a national platform youre gonna sabotage yourself?

I weighed this thing, the pros and the cons. And I thought, I not only have a national platform, Im getting paid. I was also getting a promotion that I simply could not have afforded to pay for. Every time I did the show, and every time Fred took us across the country to do three, four, five personal appearances, my name was being written into somebodys heart—some little kid who would grow up and say, “Oh, I remember him, I remember that he could sing, I remember that he was on Mister Rogers Neighborhood.” I didnt have the money to pay for that, but I was getting it free. There were so many things that I got back for that sacrifice that I kept my big mouth shut, kept my head down, kept my shoulder to the plough.

I dont think there are many people willing to make that same sacrifice in 2018.

Thats right. The times have changed significantly. But you cannot underestimate the shunning that was happening to people who had the audacity to express their love for the same-sex back in 1965, 67, 68, 69. That era—there was so much negative activity in this country against gay people

In 1969, the whole nations eyes were on the Village. There were gay people and drag queens, black gay people, Spanish gay people who said, “We have had enough.” All of them banded with our white sisters, and they went out there and they fought those policemen. Everyone was watching.

I moved to New York in 1969, and I went down to the Village just to look and see. Frankly, I was sneaking down to the village, to tell the truth. I didnt want anybody to see me going down to the Stonewall. I was asking very surreptitiously, “Where is it?” So when I found it, I thought, This is a nondescript place. It didnt look like anything. This is where they were fighting and carrying on?

Werent you terrified of being caught?

Yes. Anybody could recognize me—which they didnt, and they probably werent going to. It was all in my mind, but it was enough to cause a nightmare. Plus, I was still married at that time [to Carol Clemmons, whom he divorced in 1974], and I didnt want my former wife to know where I was.

What kind of pressure was on you to marry a woman?

Thats the other thing that newspaper and the television interviews have not taken into full account: it wasnt just Fred who suggested, “You might consider getting married.” It was the church. I was very active in the Baptist church. . . . I confided in a couple of friends who said, “Dont ever mention that again around so-and-so, because if you do, its over for you.” So they were even more condemning than Fred was: “You do not want to be called a faggot. You dont want the word to get out.”

Francois Clemmons and Fred Rogers in 1972.

From Everett Collection.

But did Mr. Rogers ever condemn you?

No. He said, “Sometimes people do get married and they settle down, they live a different life. You cant go to the those [gay] clubs. . .That may not be the answer for you, Franc; you have to consider something else. What, Im not sure. But that may not be the route for you.”

In what other ways did Mr. Rogers ask you to mask your sexuality? I read he didnt allow you to wear your earring.

Yes, I had my ear pierced and he said, "You cant wear that on the program. There might be the wrong people who would pick up the signal." I wanted to wear the earring on the program, and he vetoed that.

Seeing you in the film, it seems you enjoy expressing yourself through fashion these days.

Yeah!

Was your personal style ever something he asked you to tone down?

No. Fred was a suit-and-tie man, and it was implied. But I knew I was going to be in Officer Clemmonss jacket and pants and shoes, so there was a part of me that felt, if youre gonna prosper, if youre gonna benefit, you need to go along, François. If I came in there dressed up as RuPaul, it never wouldve gone over. [Laughs] Not even a mild version of RuPaul!

In the 80s, I started dressing the way I wanted to dress, and nobody said anything to me. When I performed, I didnt perform in a tuxedo or tails. I always wore an African chieftain outfits. I love the way they flow, the material, the variety, the color. All of those things appeal to me enormously.

Wearing those clothes, did you feel more yourself then than you did during Mister Rogers?

Yes. I feel like royalty. As soon as I put on my one of those African dashikis, especially long robes that have two or three layers, all I have to do is put the tiara on and I am royalty.

Tell me you really do have a tiara.

I have three or four, are you kidding? [Laughs] And people start bowing! “Hello, sir.” Oh, I get a lot when I put those tiaras on with my outfits. You dont know the half of it! I also have an alter ego at Halloween and other parties: I play the black Queen Victoria. Oh dear, we have so much fun! So yeah, I dress the way I want to now. I wouldnt tolerate somebody telling me how to dress.

In one doc clip, Mr. Rogers is asked if he is “square” during an interview with Tom Snyder. Why did people think Mr. Rogers might be gay?

He was a soft man. But our society is changing. Women are standing taller and men are leaning in that direction. . . . Im strongest when Im feminine.

His wife, Joanne Rogers, says in the film that she and Mr. Rogers had many gay friends. Did you know this to be true?

Yes, I knew a couple of them! I knew them very well. Not just casually, but very well. We havent mentioned their names because a couple of them have died, and also if they wanted to be more public, they would [have] said so or done so, and so I do it out of respect for them. Because there was a time when nobody came out.

In the documentary, you refer to Mr. Rogers as your “surrogate father.” When did you know that he was someone you could confide in as a father figure?

Oh, I know exactly when that was: on April 4, after Dr. King was assassinated in 1968. That was a tremendous blow to me personally and politically and emotionally. My world was absolutely shattered. And I was living in what they call Schenley Heights in Pittsburgh, a black bougie neighborhood. . . . When April 4 came and Dr. King was assassinated, they were burning down the Hill District [a historically black neighborhood in Pittsburgh], which was six, seven blocks from [me]. I had only been there eight or nine months, and I was terrified of what was going to happen. I remember Fred Rogers called me and said, “Franc, what are you doing? How are you doing?” He knew where I lived. And at one point he said, “Were concerned about your safety. We dont like that youre over there. Im coming to get you.”

And he got you?

Yeah. I never had someone express that kind of deep sense of protection for me . . . and that experience drew Fred and me really, really close. I thought, Well, this is the real thing right here.

How do you think Mr. Rogers spoke to kids who were gay or one day would realize they were?

I think what you get from Fred—I certainly did—is that he didnt judge. . . . I talked to him about something I had never spoken to anybody about, and that is that I wanted to have children. Hes the one who said to me, “You need to think very clearly about this, what it is that you want.” What I was doing, I realize more and more, was I was nurturing children as though I were a women. . . . I started mothering children in my community who were abandoned or near abandoned or very, very neglected. Thats how I began to have cosmic children—thats what I call them.

Now, I have at least 700, 800 cosmic children up here at Middlebury College, because what you realize that is that money isnt everything. Poor little rich kids do exist. I finally satisfied that hunger inside of myself to give this kind of love to the world—and Fred was the one who said to me, “Be very clear on what you want to do, and do it, understanding that there will be those who can accept and those who cannot.” Fortunately, Ive never found anybody who did not accept it.

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