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Songwriter/producer
Desmond
Child’s
name
may
not
be
universally
known,
but
chances
are
you’ve
heard
to
one
of
his
songs,
and
probably
have
had
one
of
his
hook-heavy
anthems
stuck
in
your
head
for
days.
Miami-born
of
Cuban
descent,
Child,
54,
has
penned
some
of
the
biggest,
if
not
most
memorable,
songs
in
recent
pop
history
including
Aerosmith’s
“Dude
(Looks
Like
a
Lady),”
“The
Thong
Song”
by
Sisqó,
“Livin’
la
Vida
Loca”
by
Ricky
Martin,
and
his
signature
anthem,
Bon
Jovi’s
“Livin’
on
a
Prayer.”
He’s
considered
a
genius
in
songwriting
circles,
having
written
major
songs
in
just
minutes.
And
on
June
19th,
Child
will
be
inducted
into
the
Songwriter’s
Hall
of
Fame,
joining
music
giants
Stevie
Wonder,
John
Lennon,
and
one
of
Child’s
greatest
musical
heroes,
Joni
Mitchell.
While
one
might
imagine
a
successful
music
career
leading
a
songwriter
of
Child’s
caliber
to
his
own
vida
loca,
Child,
the
father
of
twin
sons,
lives
a
fairly
mundane
life
with
his
partner
of
15
years,
Curtis
Shaw
Child,
splitting
their
time
between
their
home
in
Nashville,
the
songwriting
headquarters
for
the
music
industry,
as
well
as
a
second
home
in
Miami.
As
he
looked
out
over
Biscayne
Bay
from
his
condominium
building
on
the
Venetian
causeway
on
a
recent
afternoon,
it’s
clear
that
he
doesn’t
take
his
more
than
30
years
in
the
industry
for
granted.
He
grew
up
poor
in
a
rough
neighborhood
in
between
Miami’s
Little
Haiti
and
Liberty
City
neighborhoods,
and
considers
his
humble
beginning
the
“ground
zero”
from
which
his
work
ethic
springs.
As
a
gay
man
working
in
the
big-league
music
industry,
he’s
also
felt
the
confines
of
a
glass
ceiling.
“I’ve
been
out
[of
the
closet]
since
1979,
and
I’ve
been
successful,”
he
said.
“But
few
gay
people
have
been
allowed
to
be
producers.”
It
took
a
long
time
to
get
respect
in
the
industry--it
has
only
been
in
the
last
five
years,
Child
said,
years
after
he
launched
Ricky
Martin’s
heterosexually-coy
musical
barrage
on
the
world,
that
he’s
gotten
the
recognition
for
his
artistry.
Yet
he
has
spent
decades
developing
some
of
the
most
sexually-ambiguous
acts
in
popular
music,
including
gay
music
favorites
Mika,
Robbie
Williams,
and
Cher.
“Look
at
the
people
I’ve
been
allowed
to
produce,”
he
says,
dead
serious.
“Cher,
Alice
Cooper,
Joan
Jett,
Meatloaf,
and
Ricky
Martin–the
androgynous
weirdoes.”
He’s
made
his
mark
with
songs
that
allude
to
gender
and
sexuality,
playing
with
American
pop’s
libidinous
obsession.
He
had
to
lobby
hard
for
his
songs
in
what
he
describes
as
the
“straight
boys
club”
in
the
music
industry.
But
Child
has
stayed
true
to
his
own
nature.
and
my
cultural
identity
is
interwoven
in
everything
I
do
and
in
every
moment
of
my
life,”
he
says,
looking
down
at
the
condo
pool
where
his
boys
are
splashing
around.
He
considers
the
boys
named
Nyro
(named
after
Laura
Nyro)
and
Roman
his
greatest
creations,
and
since
their
conception
with
a
surrogate,
has
been
producing
a
documentary,
“Dudes
(Look
Like
Two
Daddies)”
of
their
family
life.
“It’s
about
how
do
you
make
a
gay
family,”
Child
said.
“It’s
about
how
it’s
the
same
and
how
it’s
different.”
Child
and
his
partner
play
traditional
roles.
Curtis
is
the
stay-at-home
dad
and
Child
works.
In
the
milieu
of
McMansion
living,
they
fret
about
the
same
things
every
parent
of
seven-year-old
children
worries
about:
are
they
eating
right,
are
they
spending
enough
quality
time,
is
McDonalds
food
a
necessary
evil?
But
as
the
boys
become
more
cognizant
of
the
world
around
them,
Child
said,
they
are
beginning
to
realize
how
their
family
differs
from
others.
“We
always
told
them
that
our
family
was
different,
and
that
some
people
would
accept
it
and
some
people
won’t,”
Child
said.
“We
have
to
know
that
that’s
always
going
to
be
a
part
of
life.”
Child
and
his
partner
had
to
explain
to
their
children
what
happened
in
2004
when
they
dressed
up
in
tuxedos,
hired
a
limousine
in
San
Francisco
and
drove
to
city
hall
to
get
a
marriage
license.
As
they
were
driving
to
the
Civic
Center,
Child
said,
he
got
a
call
from
his
friend
San
Francisco
Mayor
Gavin
Newsom,
who
told
him
Gov.
Schwarzenegger
had
issued
an
executive
order
prohibiting
any
additional
marriage
licenses
to
gay
couples.
“It
took
us
months
to
get
over
it,”
Child
said.
“We
were
so
excited
and
...
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