Katy Perry talks about gay rights in interview with CGG

via starpulse.com Grammy nominated Katy Perry isn't kissing any girls, but she definitely doesn't have a problem with it! Katy tells CGG all about her support for the LGBT cause (“I voted No on [California’s gay marriage amendment] Prop 8, of course”) and gives us tips for healthy living in our recent phone interview with the spunky star, 25. The petite singer with the self-confessed “giant personality” is having a busy year. Currently on the road for her "Hello Katy Tour,” Katy will head to LA for Sunday’s Grammy Awards, where she's up for the Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for, you guessed it, her international chart topper "I Kissed a Girl." But could you believe Katy wasn't even allowed to listen to pop or rock growing up?! The product of a strict Christian upbringing in Santa Barbara, California, it wasn't until she stumbled upon some Queen jams at a friend's house that she discovered the power of music. "It's a very healthy therapeutic thing,” Katy tells us. “It's beautiful when you can see someone kind of let go and have the music take over.” What is your star secret for keeping in shape and living healthy? KP: When I’m on the road, my metabolism is up and already kind of full throttle, and I’m getting a bit of a workout being on stage for 45 minutes to an hour every night. So I don’t have to really do a whole lot. Drinking water is like the easiest trick in the game; I mean, drinking tons and tons of water. No fruit juices, just water, you know? I drink maybe eight bottles a day sometimes when I can. Sometimes, I’ll add a little bit of apple cider vinegar; my mom impressed that upon me. Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar: I drink that a lot. It helps my throat if I have any congestion and with my circulation. Also, one thing I can swear by is jumping rope. I hate working out, but I love jumping rope. I think it’s because it’s like dancing; there’s a rhythm. And I love dancing, going out dancing., I’m a really good rope jumper. I can double jump, I can cross, I can do all of it. I look like Rocky when I jump rope! We’ve heard you had a pretty strict religious upbringing. Tell us about it. KP: I was raised non-denominational Christian…but it’s a little bit more Evangelical, I guess. I was raised with certain ideas, what the Bible says. But as an adult I definitely have different perspectives and I’m very much not a poster child for anything perfect or organized or cookie cutter. I have my own relationship and my own beliefs and I’m continually on an upward search with all of that. I really don’t know the answers, nor do I like to impress them on anybody else. You have a big gay following and a lot of it’s probably attributed to your song [“I Kissed a Girl”]. Are there other reasons that you think that you have a gay following? KP: I have a lot of different followings. I appreciate my gay following, thank you. It’s one of those things where I’m attracted to big personalities and I like to emulate big personalities. Whether I [had] the opportunity to become a successful artist or not, I was always going to be hot. Maybe [I’m a gay icon] because of my big personality and my use of color and frankness and, you know, kitschiness; if kitsch could be my middle name, I definitely would take that! What do you see as your role within the gay community, if anything? Are you an activist? Do you have a role with the gay community? KP: I am a gay activist and I say that proudly. I voted no on Prop 8 [California’s Nov. 4, 2008 amendment declaring that marriage is definied as a union solely between a man and a woman], of course. I’ve come a long way from where I was raised, and I think specifically I realized that when I moved out of my home and I started meeting lots of different types of people – all kinds of different people; it doesn’t matter what their sexual orientation [is]. I’ve always been very open-minded person, but I definitely believe in equality.