For those of you that were around the age of 11 when Purple Rain came out, did you realize that Wendy and Lisa were lesbians or bi? I was too nieve I guess or too much into the music to pick up on it and to be honest when I read that they were a couple at one time I was floored but then realized that it was obvious in some ways (Wendy..is the water warm enough?) Of course it doesn't matter that they were but was I the only one that didn't get it back in '84?

I think that back in the 80's, people my age didn't really think about artists being gay. I was a fan of Wham and culture club, and there was some serious gayness (no offence to gay people intended) going on, but as a kid I didn't thik about it at all. It doesn't bother me at all, to each their own. But back in the 80's a lot of us just didn't consider their preference. We just enjoyed the music.

kenlacam said:

I was just having that conversation with some friends. We really didn't think about it. Seems strange now, but that's the way it was. I don't remember thinking or really even hearing that anyone thought Prince was feminine.It was just his look. I really didn't know about Lisa and Wendy until recently. What a talented couple.

i knew we were supposed to think wendy and lisa were gay or bi, but i wasn't sure if it was fact or if it was just something prince dreamed up for their characters in the movie or their personas in the band. i mean, matt fink wasn't really a doctor, you know?

kenlacam said:

Yeah times are much different. Shows like Telia Tequila and such on MTV expose young audience to gay culture. I dug Wham too and never thought twice about George Michael wanting to "Wake A Dude up Before He Go Go's".

Anxiety said:

Right?

He played with that a lot. Pre-Wendy (in the 1999 video), he had Lisa and Jill all over each other (for example).

He was always trying to make people

I don't see how anyone could have missed it. But then again, I'm just slightly shy of Prince's age. But as Anxiety was saying, the IDEA of them being lesbians was so heavily pushed, I realized that it could have gone either way.

Funny how no one has mentioned Sheila E's obvious lesbianism.

That's when I first noticed it, the "1999" video. Also, the poster in the "Purple Rain" album where Wendy has her arm around Lisa.

As for Prince himself, I noticed he was gay since the first time I saw him on "American Bandstand".

As for Matt Fink, I remember reading an article in "Right On" magazine during the "Controversy" era. The reporter said that Prince loved his band so much he was thinking about letting them actually play on his next album. I can't remember exactly what was in the article, but the reporter was talking about what Prince said about some of his band members and it was almost like Prince was trying to imply that Fink was crazy (as in insane). I know he certainly looked scary looking to me at the time in that doctor scrub suit and those dark shades.

Anxiety said:

You're right...for example on Computer Blue.....but let's be honest, Prince also played with his sexuality back in those days.

It also makes me think of his homophobic remarks to Wendy and Lisa back when there was a question of a Revolution Reunion at the turn of the century.

Apparently that's all water under the bridge now so we'll forgive him.....

vainandy said:

And that was even before we voted on it.

From the first time "eye" them "eye" knew!

kenlacam said:

It's not that we didn't consider it - no-one knew it in the 80s. It was only a few queens in the industry that copped on about Georgie. He didn't come out until 1998 - and even then it was when he was caught with his pants down in Beverly Hills

vainandy said:

You have that wrong Lisa had HER arm around Wendy's waist.
[Edited 7/23/08 12:50pm]

Anxiety said:

OMG,I thought that 2!Like the whole "is the water warm enough".I thought it was Prince's idea of giving the fellas some girl on girl imagery...I had no idea it was real
[Edited 7/23/08 15:24pm]

PDogz said:

And posts on the subject are oddly ignored.

PDogz said:

I didn't pick up on the gay theme when PR first came out. I think because I was just too young to make that kind of connection. I certainly picked up on it when I was older. But for what ever reason, I actually suspected Sheila to be gay years before I made the connection that W&L were.

SCNDLS said:

I noticed some gay vibe during the Mountain video and I was 13 years old and was start getting into Prince in the 90s. On PR it was hard to tell since I assumed they were two best friends due to being the only female members of the band. As for the 1999, I was kinda naive and I assumed Lisa and Jill was out just playing sexy.

SCNDLS said:

Very interesting (or perhaps; NOT!)

I have a funny story regarding this. In 8th grade I went to a Catholic middle/high school in Duluth Minnesota called Cathedral. The school was Catholic only in name, really. They did what they needed to do to keep getting funding from the local Catholic diocese. So once a month or so we went to "Chapel" and as a concession to the diocese we 8th graders had a daily Christian themed class called something like "values". Our class was taught by a regionally known contemporary musician by the name of Gerry Oullette. Gerry was a nice guy, but he had an up hill battle in that class, everyone just thought he was full of shit.

So, one day in "Values" class, Gerry brings in the fold out poster of The Revolution from the Purple Rain vinyl and he points out Wendy and Lisa. "What do you think is going on in this picture?" he asked the class. The class of students looked at him like he was out of his mind, and for five whole minutes we sat stumped. None of us could figure out what he was getting at. Finally Gerry says "Implies Lesbianism?"

The class exploded: "Nooo!" "What are you talking about?" "That's so stupid! "Just because they have their arms around each other doesn't mean they are lesbians!" None of us could even fathom why Mr. Outlette had even 'gone there'. And I think any remaining respect for Gerry that anyone had went out the window at that moment.

I don't think as kids we understood that Wendy and Lisa were gay, but we seemed to have an understanding that whatever their relationship was it certainly wasn't proper to make an 'issue' out of it.

SCNDLS said:

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These post are not ignored this issue has been discussed at length. I never thought of Sheile E as a lesibian back in the day and it appears that she did not come out until after her big break up with P at least according to those around at the time.

PleasurePrinciple said:

LOL, yeah. I thought that too. Who knew???
It made Computer Blue even more of a great now, in retrospect.

Funny... I had a conversation about this last night before reading the thread. I told a good friend of mine how excited I was about the new album -- she's a casual fan who knows W&L's solo work from mixes I've given her and going with me to Hollywood Park to see them. Anyway, she reminded me that when she was young and saw Purple Rain, she instantly knew they were gay and realized then that she was too!

I, on the other hand, was oblivious. I had an experience similar to JudasLChrist -- one of my cousins looked at the album poster and said, "Aren't they "friendly"? and made some kind of gesture to imply they were gay. I reacted like JLC's class -- "No, crazy! Just because they're kinda hugging doesn't mean that!"

I didn't clue in until k.d. lang showed up on Eroica. But I didn't clue in that I was gay for another year after that, so I think I had my gay eyes deliberately closed back in the day!!!

laurarichardson said:

When exactly did Sheila "come out"? As far as I know,she has never said that she is a lesbian.I recall a mid-90s internet chat where she adressed this rumor."I am not a lesbian" she said.

SCNDLS said:

Trust me. You don't want to go down this path. It'll only lead to the thread being locked. Take it from experience.

Anyway...
Yeah I knew about them but it mattered a LOT less in the 80s.

SoulAlive said:

I never got the vibe either that she is a lesbian. Sheila seems humble and down to earth and she isn't that discreet of her personal life and so therefore we would know by now if she gay since after all she doesn't really have anything to loose since she already accomplished musicially and financially.

I think Sheila had often seen as being single goes back to her being molested as a child by a babysitter and a relative and therefore it makes harder for her to develope a trusting relationship with a man but that doesnt mean she hate men enough to just simply crossover like some fans thinking here. Sheila went through some hard times on and off since childhood and she rather be single and drama free. I know where the girl is coming from.

SoulAlive said:

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According to some people on this board she has been seen out on dates with woman and Lynn Mabry her manager is rumored to have been her girlfriend in the 90's.

You also can check out some of Robyn Power's post about Sheile bringing a girlfriend to Paisley Park back in the 90's.

When I say come out I mean openly dating woman in public. Sheile has never stated she is a lesibian in the media.

laurarichardson said:

Otherwise, if coming out meant informing the media of their sexual preference, very very few people, an extremely tiny amount of people, would be gay by those standards, lol. Even the gayest of the gay, those that you can actually witness farting rainbows while sipping mantini's & whistling showtunes on the job "doing hair" at the salon, would not be considered "out", lol.

PDogz said:

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I think Soul Alive meant "Coming Out" in making a public announcement which celebrities feel the need to now days.

I was just stating she never has but many people have seen her out on the town with girlfriends and not just friends who are girls.

I think she has a lot of issue from being molested as a child and having a crazy-ass person like Prince as a boyfriend.