David Furnish cover June 2015 IN mag

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FROMTHTHffiPRIDE TORONTO'S PARADE MARSHAL PUTS HIS CELEBRITY TO

WORK IN THE CAUSE OF HUMAI{ RIGHTS

BY PAUL GALLANT

(lt was John's second marriage; his first, to a woman, ended in 1988.)

Theirtwo children,Zachary,4, and Elijah,2, were conceived by in vitro

fertilization (lVF) with a donor egg and mixture of the couple's sperm,

prompting Furnish and John to call for a boycott of Dolce 6 Gabbana

earlier th is year when the ltalian designers suggested that IVF children

were "sVnthetic."

What kind of personality is required to be husband and business

partner with one of the world's most flamboyant celebrities?

Judging by //V's one-on-one with Furnish, it takes quiet confidence,

unflappability, an understated sense of style and a decidedly team-

^lrr'^v -++i+'ri^PrcyEr oLrrruuE.

l/\l What was your gut reaction when you were invited to be Pride

Toronto's grand marshal?

DAVID FURNISH lt didn't take me very long to think about it. I was

very honoured. I grew up in Toronto and was largely based here until

avid Furnish lived a double life during his 20s in

Toronto, saying good-night to his girlfriend before

running off to Church Street in "the village." Though

he grew up in a Scarborough home where he knew

"only happiness and stability," he didn't trust thatgay life in Canada would work out for him. "l look back and know I

was running away," says Furnish, now a S2-year-old film and theatre

producer and chair of the Elton John AIDS Foundation.

But the Prodigal Son is back, this time to lead Toronto's 2015 Pride

Parade as Crand Marshal.

Commanding the spotlight can't come easy when you're married to

one of the most famous people on the planet. Furnish and Elton John,

58, have been together since 1993, a relationship sealed by a 2005 civil

union (whatthe U.K. offered same-sexcouples atthetime) and a star-

studded wedding last December at their home in Windsor, England.

INMAGAZINE.€A 23

I was 27, then I kind of ran away. Sometimes you need a little distance to

appreciate things fully. l've seen Canada go through amazing political and

social change. I didn't think Canada was very cool when I left. lt got much

cooler while I was away.

ll\l What's your marshalling strategy?

DF l've never been in a parade before. I haven't picked out my wardrobe,

though a few people have offered to make me an outfit. l'lltryto be me, really.

A lot of my friends from the States and the U.K. are coming to support me.

ll\l ls there a particular message you'd like to get across?

DF What I would most like to draw attention to is the 81 countries in the

world where lesbians and gays are criminalized. 0n a human-rights level,

I'm appalled bV that. And then when you put these homophobic laws in

place, they create a culture of fear, stigmatizing people on the basis of their

sexuality. What happens is HIV/AIDS is associated with being a "gay disease."

People don't feel confident to present for an AIDS test, to reveal their status,

to pick up their medication or adhere to it. Not only is it wrong from a civil-

rights perspective, it's killing people, Elton and I met in the Oval 0ffice with

President Barack 0bama [last month], and that was the first thing we brought

uo with him.

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lN Do you consider yourself a role model?

DF I guess I am, yeah. llaughs.]

llV Do you feel like a celebrity?

DF I was just up and down on the subway to see my parents, who live in a

retirement home in North York. Isit on the subway, and I'm absolutely, perfectly

fine. People don't come up and ask for a selfie. People don't run down the street

asking for mV autograph. I don't have that kind of celebrity, and I really don't

want that kind of celebrity.

t , I've seen paparazzi photos of you,

DF A paparazzi photo of David Furnish walking down the street is not

worth very much money. A paparazzi photo of David Furnish with Elton or

with his children orwith another celebrity or in what they may judge to be an

incriminating or embarrassing situation, the price goes up. But my value? | just

think l'm kind of a by-product. Elton is a global icon and a musical legend. I have

a lot of profile from my marriage to him and my association with him. Where

I have an opportunity to do something good with that, I'm very grateful for it.

llll How do you make time for family?

DF The golden rule for us is, unless we're out of town, that we never, ever

miss the boys' bath time and story time and putting them to bed at night.

24 IN MAGAZINE IUNE 2015

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t WELL C0NNECTE0 t urnish, lop, wilh husband tltor lol^n, and above. wilhU.S. presidential candidate Hillary Clinton.

When we travel, we've been fortunate that we can tal(e the children with us.

You keep the routine consistent. When Elton was doing his show at Caesars

Palace in Las Vegas, we took an anteroom off his dressing room and convefted

it into a bath and bedtime area with an inflatable duck tub, a rocker-glider and

some storybool(s. They put on their pyjamas, they say good-night to Daddy,

and then Daddy goes on stage and does his show.

lN Are you the good cop dad or the bad rop?

DF I'm probably a tiny bit more practical in my approach with the children.

There are certain things with them that it's very difficult for Elton to do, out in

public, without it turning into a circus show. I'm the one who gets down on the

ground and gets really rough and tumble, kicking the football.

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lN Have you forgiven Dolce 6 Gabbana for their "synthetic" comments?

0F The reason they stung-and l'm not going to wade into a debate

with anybody on traditional families, because if you want to make those

judgements, history is going to prove you wrong-is that they were branding

any child born of IVF as being synthetic. lt is a crime to sticl( a label on a

child the same way it's wrong to stigmatize someone by their sexuality or

the colour of their skin, by their work, by their family bacl<ground, by their

income. I would welcome the opportunity to sit down with them and clear

the air.

ll\l Did your marriage last December change anything between you and

Elton?

DF The [2005] civil partnership sure changed things. We had no idea how

the world was goinq to respond to that, We didn't know if we were going

to get picketed or flour bombed, but we had a real outpouring of support.

The marriage this time around was less profound. lt was just so funny for

me to wake up the morning after, because when you've been together with

someone for 21 years, you don't wake up and think, "0h God, I hope I manied

the right person."

ll\l At least you can officially call each other "husband,"0F lt still feels a little funny. I didn't want to be disrespectfulwhen lwas

a civil partner by referring to myself as a "husband," because I didn't want to

suggest it was total equality when it was not. But now I am his husband and

Elton is mine, Elton was onstage the other night. Hb said, "l have a wonderful

life with my partner-husband." When he came offstage ltold him, "You can

drop the'partner' part now."

TAIK BRCK Feel free to share your comments on ll{ or articles in the magazine by

emailing us at editor(alinmagazine.ca.

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