wow. mpls rainbow - great post. i had a very similar experience to yours..i think the influence was most important during the ages of, say 10 to 18. it definitely taught me that gender lines and roles COULD be blurred, with fantastic results.

like tackam, i'm very disappointed with what i perceive to be a homophobic attitude (in addition to some other -isms) in his recent lyrics and comments.

it was reported that at a european ona show, prince actually made a group of guys in the front row trade seats with some girls b/c he "didn't want to be looking at guys while singing love songs" or something to that effect. that kinda stuff just makes him look...well, pathetic, in my opinion. 'cuz the little bitch STILL wears heels, whether they're filled in or not, and most fags have better taste than to be naked and flicking their nipple on top of a phallic flower on the cover of their albums - i'm being tongue in cheek, obviously, but still.

this is a fascinating post - i love reading y'all's comments. and nana, although you're right in that just b/c it's in the book doesn't make it true, that IS exactly what it says in the book...so.

i dunno.

peace and hair grease.

jtfolden said:

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None of us heard Prince say this stuff but, we all know it is true because Alex Hanh said so!!!

I will let you all in on a little secret about homosexulity in the African-American society. It is not acceptable in the communitity and it never will be. I am not saying I agree with this but, a lot of it is based on religion, values taught in the home, and a belief that a gay lifestyle will weaken the community as a whole. Prince would never admit to being gay if he is and would never sing a love song to a man. While I do not think he hates Wendy or Lisa I doubt if he approved of their lifestyle before he became a JW.

laurarichardson said:

I'm sure everyone appreciates you speaking for the African American community Don't make generalizations please.

lovemachine said:

theblueangel said:

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[This message was edited Mon Jun 2 19:36:18 PDT 2003 by SynthiaRose]

stymie said:

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I am not making generalizations I am not being PC. I am telling the truth. If African-Americans are so comfortable with homosexulity why are African-American women the highest number of Aids cases behind gay men. I will tell you why. A lot of African-American men who are gay pretend they are straight because they do not want to be kicked out of their families or the community.

Don't get angry because you do not like the truth or hate on the messenger.

laurarichardson said:

Whatever

Interesting thread!


I didn't read Hahn's book yet,so can somebody tell me.When Prince supposedly made that comment to Wendy and Lisa,who was the person who heard it ? Was this an "unnamed source"? I find it hard to believe that Prince would say something like this.

lovemachine said:

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I am sure you can do better than whatever.

DavidEye said:

Cuz he probably didn't.

laurarichardson said:

As a bi-sexual woman in the black community, I know hundreds of black gay males, openly gay males. None of which have been kicked out of their families or their communities. I disagree with you. You are making generalizations, and not only that, you are stereotyping as well. To say that black women are getting HIV/AIDS from gay men pretending to be straight is nothing short of ridiculous. They could get it from intravaneous drug use or...hmmm...maybe straight men gave it to them. Straight people do get AIDS all the time.

stymie said:

Agreed.But I can't wait to read that book!

I know that must have been difficult to write, but it was interesting and very brave, Rainbow. You must get an applause for that. Although, I'm not gay and really can't imagine the pain and confusion you had growing up it seems that you found an outlet(Prince), that helped you cope with it. Being a designer, I know many gay men, and women each having their own story about that vital moment that they realized their true sexuality. Most of the time it wasn't a pleasent discovery. Maybe opening up is a process to reach that feeling of comfortability and security ,I don't know, again I'm not gay, but sharing with us hopefully makes it easier for you. God Bless.

* Happy be-lated Birthday!

stymie said:

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Well, I am happy for those people but, I know gay people that are living a double life and statitics don't lie.

If you don't believe me go do a little reserch on the topic.

The situations is what it is and sticking our heads in the sand about it does't really help anyone.

I am having a very difficult time on this thread because I believe that many of the comments are homophobic and it's disheartening.

Question: Why is there always a double-standard. We can expess our sexuality freely but then when it comes to gay people, the concept of "sin" changes?

and

How on this earth can anyone call themselves a Prince fan and be homophobic? Seems counterintuitive.

and finally,

If it IS indeed true that Prince himself is homophobic, then that's a shame. It would truly be sad.

loveroflife71 said:

Let me add this:

I applaud Rainbow for his insight and honesty. It took a lot of guts in the midst of some very ignorant comments.

By the way, I am a straight African American woman living in D.C. with a gay father and NONE of my family members have "kicked" him out.