During her multi-day visit to Stockholm, Sweden, Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst has been giving lots of interviews to Swedish news media. While most of her interviews concentrate on the usual stuff – why she dresses as a woman with a beard, how her life has changed since Eurovision – one interview in particular was different.
This interview, due to both the Swedish journalist conducting it and Conchita being willing to answer the questions honestly, ended up being Conchita Wurst’s most political interview yet. And, boy, does she sound intelligent in it.
The interview starts out with a question about Conchita’s fans, which she answers by saying
“They mean very much to me, because I really wanted to create a community of people who believe in a future without hatred…. who believe in a future with positivity and where it’s not important to be mean to have success”.
She then broadens the focus of what she’s saying by talking about how “good will always win”, the impact she had at Eurovision, and about how what Russia is doing with their anti-gay laws is “stupid”. By that she means, it’s impossible to legislate who someone loves or, as she so eloquently puts it,
“Above it all, we’re talking about the right to love whoever you want to love. You can’t forbid somebody to not love. You can’t do that. That’s just not possible. Even if they try. You can’t change the heart of a human being. You can’t.”
The rest of the interview goes on in the same vein, and it is absolutely beautiful. In it, she’s eloquent, she’s intelligent, and she really explains why she does what she does and why she speaks out about her beliefs at every opportunity.
As for me, someone who has been involved working for gay rights and human rights issues for decades, I may be a massive Conchita Wurst fan already, but I have to say when I hear interviews like this one, it really solidifies for me why I admire her so much.
And why I think she’s incredibly important for the positive outcome of so many things I believe in. Basic human rights issues that should be important to all of us
You can listen to the interview in the video below. Expect to come away with a whole new appreciation for Ms. Conchita Wurst and how she’s living her life. And with the belief she really is ‘unstoppable’.
And, if you want to help her be that, here is one small thing you can do.