Frank Ocean: 'I cried the night I me out as gay'

Contents:

• FUSE TV - TYLER, THE CREATOR KNEW FRANK OCEAN WAS GAY BEE OF HIS SNACK PREFERENC
• FRANK OCEAN: ‘I CRIED THE NIGHT I ME OUT AS GAY’
• FRANK OCEAN IS GAY? FANS REACT AFTER LEARNG OF ALLEGED HOMOSEXUALY
• FRANK OCEAN-CHRIS BROWN POLICE REPORT: GAY SLUR, SHOOTG THREAT

FUSE TV - TYLER, THE CREATOR KNEW FRANK OCEAN WAS GAY BEE OF HIS SNACK PREFERENC

Ocean’s nfsn, which two days after Anrson Cooper‘s announcement that he is gay, sends a bold msage to the world of hip-hip, where homophobic ntent has equently been ndoned.

For gay black male sgers and rappers, outsi the closet remas mostly a don’t-go-there zone, to which only a few artists sce Ocean — cludg “Empire” star Jsie Smollett, Brockhampton lear Kev Abstract and rapper ILoveMakonnen — have ventured. “Instead of supportg each other, sometim we n get stuck a box and people n hold agast , ” says Atlanta’s ILoveMakonnen, a former Drake protégé who me out as gay 2017. Anti-gay sentiment the black mic muny is driven, part, by old-time relign and a God who, acrdg to some beliefs, nmns homosexualy.

As protectors of machismo see , homosexualy and what is perceived as “feme” behavr by men further strip black men of their mascule power. Craig Seymour, whose “Craig’s Pop Life” podst explor entertament om a black gay pot of view, se the black LGBTQ genr divi as a se of history repeatg self.

FRANK OCEAN: ‘I CRIED THE NIGHT I ME OUT AS GAY’

When to general acceptance, lbians don’t enunter the same roadblocks as gay men. Even if hard-lers the black muny aren’t fully on board, they won’t necsarily em a gay or bisexual black woman a threat to eher black femy or masculy.

Once a man out as gay, however, he no longer fulfills the whe — or black —  knight fantasy. “I don’t thk ’s the gay thg; ’s the exprsn of , ” says Young M.

FRANK OCEAN IS GAY? FANS REACT AFTER LEARNG OF ALLEGED HOMOSEXUALY

Billy Porter, an openly gay rerdg artist who has enjoyed succs as a Tony-wng actor, attribut unequal perceptns to the male-centric gaze.

“That’s an easier visual to stomach, bee you know the only thg people are terted when they hear ‘gay’ is what we’re dog our bedroom. Dpe the homophobic outrage, Porter’s gay pri hasn’t crippled him profsnally. “My succs me after I walked away om the toxic homophobia that still l the mic dtry, ” Porter says, cg Monáe and Sam Smh as two of the few LGBTQ breakthroughs.

FRANK OCEAN-CHRIS BROWN POLICE REPORT: GAY SLUR, SHOOTG THREAT

The more permissive dis era the late ’70s allowed Sylvter to be both openly gay and, briefly, a chart star, but throughout the ’80s up to his ath 2005, Luther Vandross ncealed his homosexualy, prumably, part, to protect his reputatn as R&B’s premier boudoir ballaer.

Jay-Z went om droppg homophobic rhym on his early releas to honorg his lbian mother on “Se, ” a track on his 2017 album “4:44. Still, stars rema reluctant to specifilly ll out fellow performers for homophobia.

We are nstantly havg nversatns about the stggl that LGBT artists and performers face, but when you go to many of the gay pri ftivals, ’s all heterosexual performers headlg the shows. “I believe the world is ready for a black gay superstar, ” he says.