Pink covers the October issue of The Advocate to promote her sixth album, The Truth About Love. Let me start off first by stating that I’m a relatively huge fan of Pink even though, embarrassingly enough, I would probably only instantly recognize two of her songs — “Get This Party Started” and “Lady Marmalade” — on the radio. Instead of focusing on her music (which is a convenient excuse for someone who isn’t wholly familiar with today’s pop music), I choose to respect her attitude. In turn, it is also quite clear that The Advocate respects Pink a great deal as well, and this article takes great pains to describe Pink as the overriding influence (for better or worse) for the likes of Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, and Rihanna. In the interview, Pink discusses her (at times) rambunctious marriage to Carey Hart, motherhood, sexual orientation, and music. Here are some excerpts:

On being named Forbes’ 27th most powerful celeb: “I still look at that shit and think it’s hilarious. I feel my power as a female and as a human being. I definitely do not feel my power as whatever Forbes was talking about.”

On influencing Adele: “That’s so huge for me. I’m a fellow outcast, and for somebody to say that they were at my party once is like, Really? That’s so cool, they were there. F*k, she was 13 — how old does that make me? If I had to influence anybody, I’m so grateful it’s her.”

Thoughts on the Occupy movement: “I just know that half of my family is pissed off, and we’re all working-class people. My mom is a nurse, and my dad was an insurance salesman, and my brother works for pennies for the military, and some of my family is unemployed. My friend got laid off from her insurance company that she worked at for 15 years and she’s a single mom with two kids. So yeah, I hear about it loud and clear. People are like, ‘You live in a f–king bubble, you live in Hollywood.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, I’ve got money now.'”

On marital counseling: “It’s usually that you feel vulnerable, that you feel powerless, that you feel out of control, that you feel scared. I’m a pit bull, but I’m a toothless pit bull. I will totally attack, but I just really wanted you to rub my tummy. Why when I bite you do you not understand that I just want you to rub my tummy?”

On her sexuality: “Honestly, I’ve never defined myself. I’ve never felt the need to. I still don’t. It’s just like how everyone’s like, ‘Well, what kind of music do you do?’ And I’m like, ‘I don’t. I just do it.’ And f*k it, if you can’t understand it, I’m a mystery bag. When I first moved to Los Angeles, I was an honorary lesbian of Los Angeles. I wasn’t gay, but all my girlfriends were. So no, it wasn’t a big deal for me, but when [a tabloid] comes out and says, I just said I was bisexual, it’s like what? That wasn’t my truth, and I like truth. I like absolute truth.”

When fans identify with her: “I’m like, Really? You went through the exact same thing I went through? I’ve become less lonely, and through it, they’ve become less lonely, and I think it’s absolutely important that we’re all sharing our experiences, because in [many places] it’s hard to be gay. In a lot of places it’s hard to be black, and in a lot of places it’s hard to be female. I’m in California now, it’s hard to be Mexican.”

On LGBT fans: “They’ve been the most loyal part of what I do. They’ve been my most loyal friends, to be honest. I’ve had a lot of my gay boys around, but my gay girls are my rootstalk. They’re my honesty in an ocean of bullsh-t. I should be gay by the way that I look and the way that I am. I just happen to not be. But it just makes perfect and complete sense.”

On her androgynous look: “F–king-A right! [W]e can be androgynous and be butch and be muscular and be one of the guys but also be feminine and beautiful and do all this crazy sh-t and talk sh-t. It’s awesome.”

[From The Advocate]

God, I love Pink. She just seems so bloody well adjusted for someone who’s been in the entertainment business for well over a decade, and I feel like she’s a great example for my tween daughter, who insists that she’s not a “girly girl,” yet she still likes boys (and yes, she’s gotten over her requisite Edward Cullen crush). Okay, I’m sold … off to buy a few Pink albums now.

Photos courtesy of The Advocate