Speaking with Steven Polito, a.k.a. Hedda Lettuce, is like interviewing a couple that keeps finishing each other’s sentences. The gay man slips in and out of character without warning, yet it’s clear when he’s himself and when he’s channeling the controversial comedienne.

The six time New York drag queen of the year—who has appeared on numerous television shows—got into hot water hosting Boston’s 2006 Gay Pride. Asked to stall for headliner Shannon, who was running 30 minutes late, Lettuce dove into her routine only to be interrupted by someone from the pride committee who requested that she “tone it down.”

“And I personally didn’t feel like doing that, and I kind of exploded on stage,” Lettuce admits, not entirely proud of her response. “I really went down to the lowest common denominator. If they had told me, ‘Hedda, there may be families out there, can you do your PG routine?’ or something to that effect, that would have been different. But there was never a conversation about that.”

When parents bring children to such events, Polito argues, they should know the kids might be exposed to everything from scantly dressed leather men to Lettuce’s brand of satirical comedy. “Pride events are historically based on activism, and now if we have to start dumbing ourselves down for children, then we’re dead meat,” he insists.

Just as the controversy over Boston’s pride simmered down, Lettuce jumped into the frying pan with an online riff on Bears. “I wrote something about chipmunks,” Lettuce explains. “There were a few Bears that were offended but then it was like lightning: it went all over the country.”

Lettuce says the vehemence of the responses shocked her: “I’m a comedian. What I wrote was very light. It wasn’t politically critical [and] I’m not a political leader. I’m Hedda Lettuce, and I do think we need people, occasionally, who comment on the ridiculousness of our community.”

Never one to shy away from controversy, Polito also criticizes gay men and lesbians. “It used to be when you were lesbian you were an activist,” he says, arguing that now lesbians have become “as shallow as gay men,” blocking out the post 9/11 world through consumerism. Polito characterizes white gay men: “As long as they have their certain things that make them comfortable, they’re more than comfortable to shut up.”

The 30-something Polito, who’s been doing drag since he was 21, doesn’t consider himself transgender, although he considers Lettuce more than just a character. He is a proud drag queen—despite the downsides. “I’m very happy being an activist and being more than just a performer, being a voice… because drag is activism. You’re not just a clown, you’re pushing buttons.” But on the other hand, Polito sighs, “I’ve acknowledged the fact that on the food chain of homosexuality, I’m pretty much on the bottom.”

Criticized for showing up in drag to a New York rally after Kevin Ambience was bashed, Polito retorts: “I walk to work in drag. I live part of my life as this character. [Since] it was a drag queen that got bashed—every drag queen and their mother should have been out there. We shouldn’t hide in the shadows.”

Polito worries that the LGBT is becoming increasingly conservative, especially when it comes to marriage and family values. “I’m not saying we shouldn’t have the choice, but I don’t believe we should think they are the only choices. It scares me…because we are trying to emulate our oppressors and we’re not even aware we’re doing it…you can’t live to appease a community that never liked us in the first place. We need to live for ourselves and create our own way of living; our own set of codes and rules.”

Trans writer Jacob Anderson-Minshall can be reached at jake@trans-nation.org