New York institution and Wigstock founder Lady Bunny sounds off about Madonna, Paris Hilton and Armageddon. Katrina Fox listened in.

"Madonna is all hype. She's not a great singer, she's not a great dancer; she's pretty, but so is my mother." It's comments like this that prompted a deluge of irate responses from the gay community to the blog of drag queen extraordinaire Lady Bunny recently. Speaking to SX from her home in New York, the multi-skilled performer (her talents include MC, DJ, songwriter and stand-up comedian), admits she was shocked that her criticism of the pop singer was seen as blasphemy by so many queer people. "What ticked me off was Madonna's use of the crucifix, not because I have any allegiance to Catholicism or Christianity, I just think it's so fucking cheap," Bunny says. "It's empty controversy calculated to raise eyebrows and sell tickets. For some reason that I don't understand, people are so attached to Madonna that they couldn't even listen to what I was saying. They would continue to attack me, saying 'you're fat', 'you could never fill Madison Square Garden like Madonna does'. But that doesn't make my opinion any less valid - it shows people have been brainwashed by Madonna's very effective marketing strategy."

To say Lady Bunny is an in-your-face sort of person would be an understatement. Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she moved to Atlanta where she roomed with Ru Paul before moving to New York in the early '80s and honing her performance skills. These include lip synching to karaoke versions of pop songs over which she has recorded her own raunchy parodies of the original lyrics, such as 'Don't Let Your Son Go Down on Me' and releasing disco singles such as 'Shame, Shame, Shame'. Her comic talents landed her aspot as a roaster on Comedy Central's roast of Pamela Anderson; she made a special guest appearance in Sex and theCity, was mentioned in an episode of Will & Grace, introduced Britney Spears on MTV, has shared the stage with Cyndi Lauper and k.d. lang, and is about to start a regular blog on out.com.

This is all in addition to the annual outdoor Wigstock extravaganza she's organised for over 20 years, which has seen the likes of Debbie Harry make guest appearances in front of an audience of thousands and was the subject of a 1995 film. "One year we had contracted a speed addict to create this hanging mobil above the stage and halfway through the show it fell into the middle of a drag queen's number," Bunny recalls, laughing. "I was flipping out thinking what we were going to do and this one queen pulled a gigantic knife out of her purse - a great big fucking machete - and cut the thing down! It wasn't very ladylike but it certainly came in handy."

Bunny's efforts are all part of her quest for worldwide superstardom, but unlike Paris Hilton who she describes as "an empty idol for an empty generation", Bunny is the real deal. "Paris doesn't stand for anything," she says. "It's a clear demonstration of how low the bar is. I grew up with TV shows that featured incredible writers who made you laugh, cry and think and I'm sorry but Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie rolling around in a pig sty on The Simple Life is really not very thought-provoking other than provoking the thought 'Where is my biggest high heel? I want to throw it at the screen!' If all you've ever known is shit, you'll never even know to want anything else - you'll never know how cheated you've been."

While Bunny is an astute commentator on the cult of celebrity, she also has plenty to say about the push by some in the GLBTI community for same-sex marriage and wanting to be in the military. "Even though I feel gays should have same rights as everyone else I don't quite understand why gays would want to be in the military - although you don't hear too many gays saying they want to be in the military now there's a war on, the fucking sissies!" she laughs. "Not being able to visit your dying loved one when shunned by their families, that must be ghastly and heartbreaking, but I have to prioritise my battles. And what is most important to me right now is declawing this abominable administration that is spending my tax dollars to murder people, our people, in Iraq for greed and until that is in some way defused, I'm sorry gays but I really can't focus on who's inheriting the silverware. I know that's belittling the issue of gay marriage but with my fear that that twisted George Bush may be setting the stage for Armageddon in his crazy mind, I just think Armageddon is a little bit more frightening than not having marriage vows."

Meanwhile Bunny, who describes herself as an "in-betweener" with "a hint of transgenderism", continues to champion innovative drag performance. "New York City is still the capital in the US of the type of drag which pushes the envelope," she argues, citing Justin Bond aka Kiki (of Kiki & Herb) as an example. "These people are creating their own characters, which is a lot more interesting than a lip synch to Whitney Houston's latest hit." Or Madonna's, no doubt.

Lady Bunny's X-Rated DVD is available from her website at www.ladybunny.net where you can view a trailer and enjoy her blog.

SX News is one of Australia's leading gay and lesbian arts, entertainment, news and culture magazines For more information visit the magazine's website at www.sxnews.com.au