Give Him More

Chris Crocker took his own advice -- he left Britney alone. Months after his delirious YouTube video launched and scored almost 18 million hits (and throngs of parodies), the platinum-topped 20-year-old from Pentecostal Tennessee speaks with The Advocate about his reality show, Britney Spears, damage control, and the antigay abuse he endures frequently, as detailed in our recent article “Homophobosphere.” In his latest YouTube video, he discussed The Advocate and bemoaned Internet homophobia and threats to the safety of video bloggers. Yep, even that earned him a few scoops of Internet flak.

Has your reaction to antigay hate mail changed since you launched into the public eye?

Well, you know, I’m used to the threats online, and I always have been. That’s always been there, the gay bashing. The gay bashers come out to play on my comment threads. I never took them seriously because I’ve never been threatened that way in person, but it’s just -- it’s not OK, because had I not gained a sense of self a long time ago or known how to protect myself, then I might be a really scared person right now. It just kind of concerns me for all the 14-, 15-, and 16-year-old video bloggers out there who are gay that might encounter this. I’m not so scared, but it scares me for people who have to encounter this who maybe don’t have a sense of self or, you know, know how to protect themselves.

Do you still operate from Tennessee?

Actually, I’m only in Tennessee in one week out of the month. I’m mostly in L.A.

How has life in Tennessee changed for you?

You know what, it’s like -- well, obviously, when I fly back [to Tennessee] it’s like flying back to the future, but I think, Oh, I’ll have time to wind down and catch up on my sleep. But it’s really hard to just go out at all, because now I’m getting, like, middle-aged men at the mall making comments. The harassment is real in real life, but it’s never as extreme as online.

What do those guys say when they spot you at the mall?

It’s usually just sort of comments like “Oh, there’s that fag from online.”

What’s up with the status of your reality show?

I actually find out this week about the status of that. We filmed for three or four months, just doing the pilot. We turned that in for review.

If the reality show works out, will you relocate to L.A. permanently?

At first I was like, I don’t want to film at all in Tennessee. I’m done with that chapter of my life. I have no unfinished business here. I’m ready to move on. But now I think I really need to sort of let people see what small-town gay-boy life is still like in 2008. So I think I want to do more filming here if it’s picked up.

You used to say the only gay pride in your hometown was in your own bedroom. Have you found any gay allies back home?

I have friends here, but when you’re gay in a small town, you’re just friends with the other gay people, but not because you have common interests, it’s more … you’re both gay, you’re stuck here, let’s just be friends. But I have some gay friends here.

By and large, how do gays respond to you?

It’s mostly positive, at least. The people that don’t like me usually don’t say anything, so I wouldn’t know. The people I talk to are usually positive.