We knew Janelle Monae had an affectionate spot for spiffy pantsuits and wing tipped shoes, but honestly, we haven’t even brought a second thought to Janelle Monae’s sexual orientation, because it should be about the music, people!
Unfortunately, when the songstress sat down with Pride Magazine to promote her newly released album, Electric Lady, the questions weren’t about her collaborations with Prince and Erykah Badu, instead they were about her album’s rumored lesbian themes.
Check out some excerpts from the interview with Pride Magazine below.
On rumors that there are lesbian themes on her album:
I actually have never heard that. This is the first time I’m hearing it. But I will say that a lot of my work always comes from an authoritative stance, so it may not be about me; it may just be about a story, or something that I’ve witnessed, or my imagination. You just never know.
On being called a “gender bender:”
I think it’s awesome. I think it’s uniting; I’m a uniter. I won’t allow myself to be a slave to my own interpretation of myself nor the interpretations that people may have of me. I just live my life, and people can feel free to discuss whatever it is that they think and use whatever adjectives they feel. It’s a free country.
On how to encourage self-love and self-expression:
By just allowing your kids and the people around you to be themselves. We have so many different ways to live marketed to us in the media – what we should look like, what beauty is – and it’s so important to embrace the things that make you unique, even if it makes other people uncomfortable. You’ll never know whom you’ll free by just being yourself – flaws and all.
I just think it’s so important that at a young age we teach our kids and those whose future we’re nurturing that it’s OK to love whomever it is that you love and whom you’re attracted to – and it’s OK to like a dress if you’re a boy and to like a pantsuit if you’re a girl. These are just fears that previous generations have placed upon us, or people who’ve tried to control us and make us believe that this is just bad. But I think whenever you stop the true essence of a person loving who they are – the god-given person that they’ve been blessed to be – that is a crime.
Apparently the topic of conversation continued when she stopped by “Sway in the Morning” and the question of whether or not she’s a lesbian came up once again.
Women are amazing … and so are guys. There’s nothing wrong with being bisexual, there’s nothing wrong with being lesbian or gay. I am an advocate. I have friends who are in same-sex relationships and I feel love has no sexual orientation. Love has no religious belief. Love is the purest and most important thing we can possess for ourselves and for others.
I keep my personal life very much to myself. I want everybody to focus on my music. I also don’t want to let anybody down. I want women to still be attracted to me. I want men to still be attracted to me so I have to be political in this. So I can’t really tell y’all!
Looks like she is keeping things pretty tight-lipped when it comes to her sexuality. Check out more over at Necole Bitchie.
SOURCE: Necole Bitchie | PHOTO CREDIT: WENN
