Kate Clinton (born November 9, 1947) is an American

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

specializing in political commentary from a

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

lesbian A lesbian is a homosexual woman or girl. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate nouns with female homosexu ...

point of view.

Early life and education

Clinton was born in

Buffalo, New York Buffalo is a Administrative divisions of New York (state), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and county seat of Erie County, New York, Erie County. It lies in Western New York at the eastern end of Lake Erie, at the head of ...

. She was raised in a large

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

family in the state of New York. She attended

Le Moyne College Le Moyne College is a private Jesuit college mostly in DeWitt, New York. It was founded by the Society of Jesus in 1946, and named after Jesuit missionary Simon Le Moyne. Le Moyne was the first co-educational Jesuit college in the United Sta ...

, a small Jesuit liberal arts college in

Syracuse, New York Syracuse ( ) is a City (New York), city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States. With a population of 148,620 and a Syracuse metropolitan area, metropolitan area of 662,057, it is the fifth-most populated city and 13 ...

and received her master's degree from

Colgate University Colgate University is a Private university, private college in Hamilton, New York, United States. The Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York ...

in the Village of Hamilton. Clinton went on to teach high school English for eight years before becoming a comedian.

Career

She began her stand-up career in 1981 using her lesbianism, Catholicism and current politics for her jokes. Clinton is a self-described "fumerist," or feminist humorist. In addition to comedy appearances and one-woman-shows such as ''Lady Ha Ha'', ''Climate Change'', ''Correct Me If I'm Right'', ''All Het Up'' and ''Kate´s Out Is In'', she has written three books, ''Don't Get Me Started''; ''What the L'' and ''I Told You So''. She performed at the inaugural

We're Funny That Way! ''We're Funny That Way'' began as an annual charity comedy festival in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, in 1996. Launched in 1996 by Maggie Cassella, the festival featured stand-up and sketch comedy shows by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender come ...

comedy festival in 1997, and appeared in the festival's documentary film in 1998."Laughing out loud: Gay and lesbian comics go the extra comedic mile on TV special". '' The Gazette'', February 9, 1999. Clinton has eight CDs including ''Climate Change'' and has two DVDs available. She is a regular columnist for the national monthly magazine ''

The Progressive ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Foll ...

'' and has been a past columnist for the national gay news magazine ''

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * The Advocate (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

''. Her blogs can be found on ''

HuffPost ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

''. She has made numerous appearances on television, and has served as grand marshal of gay pride parades.. When the U.S. invasion of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

began, she was a part-time commentator on

CNN Cable News Network (CNN) is a multinational news organization operating, most notably, a website and a TV channel headquartered in Atlanta. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable ne ...

. Clinton performed on

Cyndi Lauper Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...

's '' True Colors Tour 2008''. Also in 2008, she went on her "Hilarity Clinton" one person show tour. Clinton is a regular emcee at the Out & Equal Workplace Awards Dinner and performed at the 2010 Workplace Awards Dinner in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

Personal life

Clinton lived in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

Provincetown, Massachusetts Provincetown () is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States census, Provi ...

, with her partner Urvashi Vaid from 1988 until Vaid's death in 2022. Vaid was Executive Director of the

National Gay and Lesbian Task Force The National LGBTQ Task Force (formerly National Gay Task Force; National Gay and Lesbian Task Force) is an American social justice advocacy non-profit organizing the grassroots power of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBT ...

(1988–92) and subsequently worked as an activist and writer. Clinton's 2006 tour marked her 25th anniversary as a professional stand-up comedian. Clinton works extensively with social justice and nonprofit organizations and has been a regular emcee at major fundraising events and dinners for groups like the NYC LGBT Center (at its Annual Garden Party), the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the

ACLU The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is an American nonprofit civil rights organization founded in 1920. ACLU affiliates are active in all 50 states, Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico. The budget of the ACLU in 2024 was $383 million. ...

, and Out & Equal, among others.

References

External links

Official Site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clinton, Kate 1947 births Living people 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians American feminists American lesbian actresses American women comedians American women non-fiction writers American lesbian artists Lesbian feminists Lesbian Christians Lesbian comedians American women columnists LGBTQ people from New York (state) HuffPost writers and columnists Colgate University alumni Le Moyne College alumni 21st-century American actresses American LGBTQ comedians Comedians from New York (state)