Queen Latifah Still Won’t Say It

“I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life. You don’t get that part of me. Sorry. We’re not discussing it in our meetings, we’re not discussing it at Cover Girl. They don’t get it, nobody gets that. I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want. You do it anyway.” – Queen Latifah, speaking to New York Times Magazine in one of the most fawning profiles I’ve ever read.

I’ve been a fan of Queen Latifah for many years, ever since Come Into My House in 1990. Even my rap-loathing mother likes her (but probably mostly because they went both went to Newark’s Irvington High School). But I wish Latifah would drop the Luther Vandross routine and just say it. Yes, a closeted but otherwise gay-friendly star has the right to choose the time of their coming out. But in situations where it’s such common knowledge, something about refusing to acknowledge it just feels….wrong. It’s so Anderson Cooperish.