S. Samuel
Hollywood star/rapper Queen Latifah has stepped up to clear the air on recent reports claiming she came out as a lesbian woman at a Gay Pride event last month in California.
Although confirming she appeared at the Long Beach Gay Pride festivities in May, Latifah denying using the event as a coming out opportunity.
“That definitely wasn’t the case,” she tells EW. “I’ve never dealt with the question of my personal life in public. It’s just not gonna happen.” That said, the 42-year old was thrilled to participate in the event and even recalled an earlier performance for gay audiences. “To me, doing a gay pride show is one of the most fun things,” she says. “My first show that paid more than $10,000 was in a gay club on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco. Tupac happened to be in town, so he came to kick it with me. This was the early ’90s. And the boys were like, ‘Take your shirt off, Tupac!’ He wasn’t doing that. But we had a blast in there.” Latifah — who’s starring in an upcoming remake of Steel Magnolias for Lifetime — also reiterated her support for her gay fans. “I know that the most important thing and the only thing I have to give is love. When people are going through hatred and bullying, the biggest thing to fight that is love,” she says. “So that’s all I encouraged my audience to do that night: to share their light and share their love. Period.” (Entertainment Weekly)
At the event, Latifah energized fans by performing various hits.
Queen Latifah performed at Long Beach Gay Pride and publicly came out as lesbian for the first time with a big, telling gesture on Saturday (May 19). Truthquake.com staff was in the audience to watch her rap, sing and offer some supportive information as the headliner for the LGBT festival. The Truthquake.com exclusive video and photo, which can be seen below, shows the moment Queen Latifah seemingly came out as gay publicly. (Truthquake)
Reports of her participation at the recent Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival emerged online in late May.
As the 4th largest gay pride celebration in the country, the Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride event takes place every year and draws tens of thousands of folks from all over. When Latifah took the stage, she sang memorable hits, such as U.N.I.T.Y. and “Ladies First.” She reportedly was full of energy, vibrancy, and echoed positive verses as “conquer hate with love.” The oft-gossiped-about performer, who has been haunted by years of whispers about her cloaked sexuality, said, “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time,” and then added that she was proud to be among “her people.” (News One)
Despite the remarks, there was still uncertainty on whether or not Latifah actually came out.
She told the audience “I’ve been waiting to do this for a long time” and “Y’all my peeps. I love you!” Of course, those comments could be taken as simply being friendly as any performer, straight or gay, might in establishing rapport with the audience. But she also was reported to have said that she was proud to be among “my people” that evening. She also made several inspirational comments between songs, such as “Let your inner light shine in the world” and “Conquer hate with love”. Was it her coming out? Perhaps. It could be her first tentative steps towards edging out of the closet. But we’ll have to wait for much more definitive announcement to know for certain. (Straight)
Check out coverage of the event below:
