R.E.M.'s Stipe Officially Comes Out Of Closet
Announcing He's Gay Will Help Others, Singer Says

POSTED: 11:02 am EDT March 19, 2008


R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe is officially out of the closet.

Stipe told Spin magazine that he "didn't always see" how publicly announcing that he was gay could help others.

But now Stipe said that he realizes that to have public figures be open about their sexuality "helps some kid somewhere out there."

Stipe said that he was totally open with the band, his family, his friends, and certainly the people he was sleeping with, and adds he "thought it was pretty obvious."

R.E.M. is set to release their next album on April 1.

Gawd. Him being all over BUTT magazine for YEARS should have been a dead give away.

HamsterHuey said:

http://instinctmagazine.c...stipe.html

Michael Stipe Wants You To Know That, Yes, He’s Queer—And He Hopes That He Won’t Have To Be Talking Politics Again For A Loooong Time

INSTINCT: Hi, Michael. I know you’re on your way to Philly for the first night
of the Vote For Change tour. So, how familiar are you with Instinct?
MICHAEL STIPE: It’s an awesome magazine.
Thanks! When was the last time you did an interview with the gay press? The
day before yesterday I did something for a publication in Germany.
Weren’t you also on the cover of Butt recently? Excuse me?
Butt magazine. You were on the cover in a bathrobe pissing into a toilet.[Laughs]
Yes! That was actually one of the better interviews that I’ve done just because I love
that magazine so much. It’s the funniest periodical out there. Wolfgang [Tillmans,
who did the Butt interview and photos] is a great friend and he was really prodding
and pushing me in the interview. We had a great time together.
[Edited 3/19/08 9:01am]

I always said "REM is gay".

Oh please, who DIDN'T already know?

sextonseven said:

I didn't know. That's why I posted it.

i thought he came out years ago.

Didn't he come out in the early '90s... but as "bi?"

sextonseven said:

You took the words right out of my mouth! I had that vibe about him when Losing My Religion was all over the place. I thought he said he was bi around that time? Good for him anyways.

Alright.

Graycap23 said:

Maybe only R.E.M. fans knew.

wonder505 said:

He said "I don't put a label on my sexuality." It's just another way of saying, "I'm a bottom."

I knew that since day one. I kept saying "that dude's gay, he's just WAITING for the right moment to come out".

RipHer2Shreds said:

YEP! Ain't that the same thing Little Richard said? I remember my momma telling me Richard said "I don't put a test about who I am sexually" or something to that degree on some show.

i thought he came out in like 2000 or something.

RipHer2Shreds said:

i don't understand people that feel the need to degrade bottoms. who would tops fuck?

ehuffnsd said:

As bisexual, I believe.

i thought he was out too

PFunkjazz said:

And you don't mean in a homogay kinda way, do you?

Timmy84 said:

i guess they are trying to build hype in the new album.

RipHer2Shreds said:

totally

HamsterHuey said:

Yeah, but he was already out.

I remember him specifically saying he was gay like ten years ago on VH1.

Who is this fugly man?!

raveun2thejoyfantastic said:

Exactly. I'd be astonished if he got to have sex with anything

ehuffnsd said:

"New album is coming out on April 1st."

HamsterHuey said:

Butt Magazine?

I didn't think this was news. Didn't he come out after the last or second to last album or was he just saying he was in a relationship with a guy.....now that they have a new one, he's doing it again? Will he be straight for the next album?

wonder505 said:

Me too

It so bizarre to me how screamingly gay stars won't come out.

i hope everyone is sitting down when they read this.


I'm gay.

SupaFunkyOrgangrinderSexy said:

Um, they want careers.