“Despite the way things turned out [AIDS], I’m still proud of those days [when I got my start singing at the gay bathhouses in New York City]. I feel like I was at the forefront of the gay liberation movement, and I hope I did my part to help it move forward. So, I kind of wear the label of `Bathhouse Betty’ with pride.”


![Despite the way things turned out [AIDS], I’m still proud of those days [when I got my start singing at the gay bathhouses in New York City]... Bette Midler: Bootleg Betty's photo.](https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-xlp1/v/l/t1.0-0/s480x480/12801540_994617617295304_4841462579992550732_n.jpg?oh=23d321183b8a4378efab8d38308785e7&oe=5781956D)




