Michael stipe gay
Watch Michael Stipe Elaborate His Struggle As a Gay Youth
Back in 2001, Michael Stipe finally came out after nearly a lifetime of struggling as a gay man. He had believed that secrecy was his only choice. On tonight's Logo TV presentation of 'Trailblazers,' which honors pioneers in LGBTQ equality, Stipe talks about growing up gay.
The R.E.M. frontman talks about his exposure being young and queer; he also introduces Ugandan civil rights activist John Abadallah Wambere, the co-founder of Spectrum Uganda Intiatives, an organization that provides medical aid to gay Ugandans living with HIV and AIDS. You can watch a clip from the exhibit above.
During the exhibit, Stipe explains that "in the adv '80s, as a 22-year-old queer bloke living during the Reagan-Bush administration, I was afraid to get tested for HIV for terror of quarantine, the threat of internment camps and having my basic civil rights stripped away.
"I waited five years to get my first anonymous test," he continues. "I am happy that attitudes have matured and changed, and I feel fortunate that I exist in a territory where acceptance, tolerance and policy toward HIV-AIDS and LGBTQ issu
After Stipe wore a hat in 1992 that proclaimed, “White House Stop AIDS,” rumors began circulating about his sexual orientation. At the time Stipe responded that he was an “equal opportunity lech,” and did not call himself gay, linear or bisexual. In 1994 he stated publicly that he was attracted to, and had relationships with, both men and women. Finally Stipe ended years of speculation by comin
The 41-year-old singer told Time magazine he was a "queer artist" who had been in a relationship with a man for three years.
His revelation comes after years of speculation about his sexuality and false rumours that he had Aids.
Stipe told the magazine he believed it was the right time to uncover his sexuality.
"I was being made to be a coward about it, rather than someone who felt like it really was a very private thing," he told the magazine.
Stipe said he had been in a relationship with "an amazing man" for about three years, adding that he was not a celebrity.
Equal opportunity
In previous interviews Stipe had said he did not think of himself as straight, same-sex attracted or bisexual and had been in relationships with both men and women, saying: "I'm an equal-opportunity lech."
His frank admission came as the band promoted a recent album, Reveal. The album was produced in Ireland.
John Michael Stipe is the advantage singer of the American rock band R.E.M.Stipe has get well-known (and occasionally parodied) for the 'mumbling' style of his early career and for his complex, surreal lyrics, as well as his social and political activism. Stipe and the other members of R.E.M. are known as pioneers of alternative rock and are credited with having inspired many of the acts that went on to make up the 1990s' alternative harmony scene.
R.E.M. have released a series of critically acclaimed albums with a spacious variety of mainstream success. A not many hit singles and growing visibility as a social activist eventually made Stipe a star and also earned him a devoted fanbase.
In a 2001 Newsweekinterview Stipe described himself as a 'queer artist'. In previous interviews he has described himself as 'an equal opportunity lech' and said he doesn't explain himself as same-sex attracted, straight or pansexual, but that he was 'just sexual' and was attracted to and had relationships with both men and women.
In an interview in March 2008 Stipe told Spinmagazine that he now felt more comfortable with his sexuality and that he had been in a relationship with 'an