Why the only openly gay heavy metal superstar, Judas Prit's Rob Halford, hid his sexualy

Judas Prit's Rob Halford has marked Pri month by reflectg on the moment he me out as gay on televisn. * halford gay *

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. 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.

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

* halford gay *

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. “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.

”“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.

The gay, leather-lovg sger reveals his “totally ndid” memoir — “Confs: The Autobgraphy, ” out Tuday — that California ps vered up for his long-ago arrt for “public cency” at a Venice Beach rtroom.

HE BEME METAL'S FIRST OPENLY GAY MEGASTAR 1998. WHY IS HE STILL THE ONLY ONE?

Gay scen, bars, tips, and events loted Hartford, Connecticut. To read more about this cy, check out * halford gay *

Stupid, and ashamed, but also angry — that, this late the century, gay men still had to live fear like this, ” ntu Halford, who publicly me out on MTV 1998 and rned wh the band 2003. 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.

And while the young man knew he was gay om childhood, th far, his only timate experienc were trmatic on. But Confs n’t be rced to a llectn of salac gay enunters, e bg or romanticized rock’n’roll horror stori. Yeah, pecially when we talk about the acceptance of my sexualy, which every gay person go through.

ROB HALFORD RELLS WHEN HE CAME OUT AS GAY

And unls you’re a gay person, you n’t unrstand that, you n’t prehend . Well, no ’s nothg to do wh the S&M world or other subcultur the gay world!

But years later when you started g the Handkerchief Co on stage (a system ed gay culture the 70s), that was a ltle different, right? My trips to Ameri really opened my ey as far as what the gay world is about.

We had our own style of the UK, but at the time, the early 70s, you uld still be thrown jail for beg a gay man.

GAY HARTFORD TRAVEL GUI

At one pot you said how you’d be on the b and read the Bob Damron gui — which highlighted gay-iendly bars across Ameri — and fantasize about gog to the plac, but you jt uldn’t do . One of them is jt gog to a gay bar and seeg somebody and hangg out and havg a drk and a cuddle the rner, not jt go back and wam, bam, thank you man. Judas Prit lead sger Rob Halford, who is set for a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame ductn, is openly gay and is a relatnship wh an ex-Mare named Thomas Pence.

In honor of Pri month, Judas Prit ontman Rob Halford spoke wh Hattie Colls of Apple Mic 1's PROUD RADIO about his g out story, his brief stt on Grdr, meetg Freddie Mercury at a club Athens and many other topics related to his inty as a gay man.

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. 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.

ROB HALFORD REFLECTS ON BEG A CLOSETED GAY MAN DURG 1980S ANDROGYNO 'GLAM METAL' ERA

Later, Colls ed the 1980 Judas Prit song, "Grr, " as a sprgboard to ask if Halford himself has ever ed the popular gay datg app, Grdr. Halford also remisced about the time he met fellow LGBTQ rock in, Freddie Mercury, at a gay club Mykonos — long before Halford had publicly e out. Toward the end of the nversatn, Colls asked Halford to expla how he met his partner of 25 years, Thomas, which stemmed om a personals ad the back of a gay Magaze.

Text 'GAYTRAVEL' to 1-800-GAY-TRAVEL (1-800-429-8728). — Travel Guis wh a Gay Perspective. Gay Hartford.

JUDAS PRIEST'S ROB HALFORD ON HIS LIFE AS GAY MAN: 'IN SOME PARTS OF THE WORLD, PEOPLE LIKE ME GET THROWN OFF BUILDGS'

Same-sex marriage has been legal Connecticut sce 2008, so you will have no problem fdg plenty of gay nightlife all over this young party town! The Gay Scene Hartford.

View the Gay Scene Hartford.

In a new terview wh Ultimate Classic Rock, JUDAS PRIEST sger Rob Halford, who publicly clared his homosexualy back 1998 durg an appearance on MTV News, reflected on what was like to be a closeted man the 1980s while so many other rock micians at the time dipped their to to the gltery waters of glam androgyny. And I uld never que figure that out, bee of the homophobic stuff that was gog on the '80s. And then me as a closeted gay man, 's like, 'Am I missg somethg here?

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

"We always knew Rob was gay, " K. "The ma thg is… Obvly, to me, Rob beg gay, apart om [havg] a great voice, I thought Rob was gonna stay the band forever, and he's obvly gonna be theatril, he's gonna be obvly articulate wh words — and he was; he was all of that, " Downg said.

Also touched upon the revelatn Halford's recent "Confs" tobgraphy that the sger spent much on his time on the road the 1980s and early 1990s "cisg" for one-night stands gay bars, public rtrooms, and other gay meetg plac. "Elsewhere the terview, Downg talked about Halford's efforts to mata the image of heterosexualy the media — most notably through PRIEST's studs-and-black leather biker outfs, which fed the look of the heavy metal genre for years to e — even while livg a secret, double life as a closeted gay man. "In "Confs", which me out September 2020, Halford tailed the stggle of beg gay while wrg about how he and his bandmat started attractg groupi as PRIEST beme more mercially succsful.

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

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