Judas Prit's Rob Halford on beg metal’s first gay in | Lour

Contents:

• WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY
• WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY
• ROB HALFORD LOOKS BACK ON G OUT AS GAY ON MTV: “IT’S A GLOR MOMENT”
• ROB HALFORD RELLS WHEN HE CAME OUT AS GAY
• “IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN

WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY

Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford has always lived a loud and proud heavy metal life, but only 1998 durg an MTV terview did he bee the first metal in to announce he is gay. “I thk that every gay person has a bigger story to tell than jt, 'Hello, I'm out, 's me, '” Halford, who turned 69 last month, told me a phone terview ahead of the book’s publitn on Tuday.

He wanted to sce Iron Main sger Pl Di’Anno, and he sported bandanas onstage that were a lor-d ve to gay amid the lorful stori are darker moments, both terms of dtry algs and pecially keepg himself closeted for so long. Halford was born 1951, and homosexualy was illegal the U.

WHY THE ONLY OPENLY GAY HEAVY METAL SUPERSTAR, JUDAS PRIT'S ROB HALFORD, HID HIS SEXUALY

While a few mastream metal ontwomen like Otep and Lzzy Hale have been open recent years about beg gay or bisexual, Halford remas the only major gay male metal fans are often attracted to the aggrsive and theraptic nature of the genre — ’s a great way to let out pent-up tratn and feel empowered — and many skew more to the right than some of their ins. Judas Prit‘s Rob Halford has marked Pri month by reflectg on the moment he me out as gay on televisn.

“And I said somethg to the effect of, ‘Well, speakg as a gay man, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.

It was one of those gay sharp tak, ‘Oh my God, he’s e out. I thk if I’d…I still say today, if I’d have really thought this through, like today’s the day I’m gog to e out, maybe I even wouldn’t… maybe I may not have e out per se, bee ’s still a big moment for so many of , wh a close iend, wh someone at school, wh Mum and Dad, wh whomever, to actually say, ‘Hey, I’m a gay guy or I’m a gay girl.

ROB HALFORD LOOKS BACK ON G OUT AS GAY ON MTV: “IT’S A GLOR MOMENT”

“So wow, was jt this enormo feelg of eedom, and the prsure was gone, and there’s no more talkg behd your back bee you have all this ammunn of power as a gay person now, as an out gay person.

“Mentally, on top of beg the gay man the closet, I had all the extra piec piled onto my life at that time. In honor of Pri Month, Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford — one of the first metal micians to e out as gay and certaly the most well-known at the time — has relled the story of how he announced his sexual orientatn to the world durg an MTV terview 1998, explag that he hadn’t planned to make the reveal that day but found an immediate relief.

I thk if I’d… I still say today, if I’d have really thought this through, like today’s the day I’m gog to e out, maybe I even wouldn’t… maybe I may not have e out per se, bee ’s still a big moment for so many of , wh a close iend, wh someone at school, wh Mum and Dad, wh whomever, to actually say, ‘Hey, I’m a gay guy or I’m a gay girl. That is some gay, gay metal, man.

ROB HALFORD RELLS WHEN HE CAME OUT AS GAY

In turn, those attus would later sour and warp to some homophobic sub-genr, as lser purveyors of metal dabbled outright hate speech.

“Don’t be ceived, homosexualy is a s, ” lead sger Mike Reynolds wrote on Twter.

“IN THOSE DAYS, YOU DIDN’T TALK ABOUT THOSE KD OF THGS”. ROB HALFORD'S REACTN TO BEG METAL’S FIRST GAY IN

“No such thg as a gay Christian. For Pri Month, I'd like you all to know that the entire reason heavy metal adopted the leather and chas look was bee then-closeted gay man and Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford troduced the style based on what was vogue at Brish gay clubs the 70s. More than ocsnally, that new swagger me to exprs self as homophobia.

Key to that project was Helot Revolt, a hair metal avant-gar group led by the openly gay Jack Dubowsky. “I would never have thought as a gay teen I’d be a band that would be nsired heavy metal or hard rock, ” Bottum told The Advote, simply. As Terrorizer noted the early two thoands and tens, every story the se published about doom-layered metal act Death — a band wh two gay members, dmmer Sean Reert and guarist Pl Masvidal — was met wh homophobic ments om key members of the fanbase.

Sce then, the subculture still stggl wh pockets of homophobia, those right-wg trolls who refe to accept what has always been the se. He’s also gay.