Just. Be. V.

After sold-out performances in New York and Paris, Justin Vivian Bond's "Love is Crazy" comes to Feinstein's at the Nikko June 21 and 22. With the Emmy Award winning composer Lance Horne on piano (Horne is also the show's musical director), the show features original songs from Mx Bond's albums, along with songs associated with v's stage and film appearances, including John Cameron Mitchell's Shortbus and the off-Broadway hit Bertolt Brecht's A Man's A Man.

We recently caught up via email with the busy Bond and asked about all things V, including v's wade into the boiling "t-word" controversy.

Joshua Klipp: Justin, what brought you to San Francisco in 1987, and why did you leave?

Justin Vivian Bond: I moved to San Francisco because my girlfriend Nancy said that I should. She said, "Honey, New York is the father and San Fran is the mother and you need some motherin', so get out here ASAP!" And I took her advice and never regretted it. I left San Francisco because I had dreams of being a star on Broadway and I knew if I wanted that to happen I would have to leave. I did and it did.

How did you evolve as an artist in San Francisco, and how have you evolved since?

I found my voice in San Francisco and I made a commitment to keep the importance of the political beliefs I developed while living here front and center in my work because in those days the voices of LGBTQ (those were the letters in those days) artists were being silenced and censored by the media and the government. Ironically, we're now being asked to censor ourselves from within.

Personally, I'm a lot less angry and sad than I used to be because everyone I know isn't dropping dead around me. As I get older that will probably come back though.

How is performing in San Francisco different from performing in other parts of the country?

Even more than in New York, I feel like I have a really intimate relationship with my San Francisco audience, because they shaped who I am during the most intense years of my young life as an artist.

How would you describe your new show, "Love is Crazy?"

"Love is Crazy" is a show about desire, passion, romance and the insanity that goes along with those things - some of my favorite topics.

Of all the art you've created, what impacted you the most and why? What impacted your audience(s) the most and why?

The show that had the most impact on me personally was Kate Bornstein's "Hidden: A Gender" which premiered at Theater Rhinoceros in 1989. That show changed my life because it's when I really became comfortable with my trans identity for the first time. I got to discuss really important issues with super-smart people around the country, I came out as trans to my family and I made my performance debut in NYC at PS 122 all because of that show and now I sit on the board of PS 122! Kate Bornstein gave me life.

Is there a distinction between V the artist and V the person?

Your readers don't need to know those distinctions; only my close friends and family do.

What, if any, are your artistic limitations?

I limit my engagements to those for which I am paid.

What do you consider the greatest feedback you've ever received on your work?

The rave review in The New York Times on opening night of "Kiki and Herb: Alive on Broadway" wasn't bad.

Do you ever get tired of having to explain your identity?

Ha! I would if my identity was as stagnant as the questions about it are.

How do you answer those questions?

Keep is sassy!

What would you do if you weren't an artist?

I'd be a statistic.

How do you see "tranny" as different from or similar to other terms that have been used negatively toward historically persecuted minorities?

I came of age during the Queer Nation years of "queers bash back," where we were throwing down the gauntlet and refusing to be seen as victims. In my opinion, no words used to accurately describe the people I love can be seen as negative. I don't identify as male or female, therefore "tranny" is a word that can accurately be applied to me.

Is it the first word I would choose for myself? No, I might choose "Beauty" or "Cake Face," but I have no problem with "tranny."

People that identify as male or female should not be called tranny because it's an inaccurate word for them. I would never call a person tranny if they wish to operate and live within the gender binary system, and I don't think anyone else should. But the rest of us aren't going to just disappear so that they can feel more comfortable. Censoring words is a conservative, fear-based, victimizing approach to problem solving and I don't operate in that arena.

If you could fashion the resolution to this controversy in three sentences or less, what would it be?

Just. Be. Nice.

Justin Vivian Bond performs 'Love is Crazy,' Sat. June 21 and Sun. June 22, 7pm,

Joshua Klipp is a writer and sings with his jazz band, The Klipptones.