Had you ever defended Fred(or yourself as a fan)towards homophobic remarks?

[QUOTE] [b]Thistleboy1980 wrote:[/b]

^ Does anyone else see the irony in that last sentence?

7th, I think you should edit that very quickly. "Queer" is not the best term to use ;)[/QUOTE]

Why not? None of us know what Freddie's true sexuality is.

Queer seems to be the only word that does fit.

And of course, lets not forget the OPPOSITE trend.
"I don't like gay gays but this Freddie dude is a exception.
He is cool even though he is gay."

Freddie always said "for those who do not like like, just stay away" I remember when i was a boy at comprehensive school,
i had Queen wrote on my sports bag, i got some stick for that by the kids at school, one lad said Queen were a pack of poofters,
some one else called freddie a goofy poof, but i did not care because i loved Freddie and i knew he had something other singers did not have,
a great voice and Magic aura about him.
The BBC also hated Freddie especially "Top of the pops" who always ignored Queen when they went up in the charts
especially in 1980 when "Another one bites the dust" hit number 7.
And there is the nasty DJs on Radio One back in the day, like Janice Long, Peter Powell, Tony Blackburn, Steve Wright,
all snubbed Queen because Freddie was gay.
Freddies true sexuality is that he mainly loved Men, he was not Bisexual, he was Gay.
I loved Freddie for shoving the gay side of his persona in peoples faces, it was his way of sticking two fingers up at folk who did not approve.
Freddie went from being hated to a hero after he died, and that annoyed me so much.
All those years Queen were slagged off by the Melody maker, and Record Mirror, and then he was dead and turned hero.

I have never had to defend myself for the simple reason that I am not Gay and cannot recall any instance where I would have been labeled as being so. On the Freddie side of it I have heard lots of undesirable comments throughout the years but to me it's water off a ducks back really. People are entitled to think what they wish regardless of how ignorant that may be. It's not up to me to change their opinions, anyhow I would relate it to trying to teach the theory of evolution to a monkey. Ignorance is bliss after all...

I think 'queer' is a term now used by some of the LGBT community, who are sometimes known as the LGBTQ, or LGBTQE, or LGBTCQ (Queer, Queer Experimenting, Curious Queer). It depends on the spirit with which the word is used.

Anyway, regarding Freddie's sexuality, it's fairly obvious he was gay. He was through and through gay. I think his relationship with Mary was probably a very genuine and deep friendship, but it probably started out of the hope that perhaps he would be able to grow into the straight life. All that is water under the bridge anyway, he lived at a different time. He was born in 1946 in India, and the immigration to the UK for his family was probably quite difficult.

Regarding his family's attitude towards his sexuality, who knows what it was? They probably would have worried a lot if it was spoken about, found it embarrassing, but I don't think they loved him any less or judged him because of it. I know some deeply religious people who have gay friends and family, and they find it hard to reconcile the two, but thankfully the deeply religious people I know have decided to put their love for the person ahead of any worry or prejudice about the sexuality of the person in question. Sadly that's rare, but it does happen.

I've read posts on this forum and other places about Freddie's sexuality and how people think he was a misguided straight, or something, and it's all gobshite. The truth is that we need to move away from it as an issue. Sexual orientation and for what it's worth gender identity are deeply personal issues that have no bearing on a person morally, or on their value as a human being, and we should stop wondering who is and who isn't gay, etc. This particular forum thread is not, to me anyway, really about Freddie's sexuality, but about facing other people's prejudice, which is why I felt I could answer on it - so I'm not ranting at anyone who has contributed to this thread :)

I am gay, and I can confirm that "queer" has always been an appropriate term depending on its usage. But I appreciate the attempt to be respectful nonetheless. :-)

[QUOTE] [b]Stelios wrote:[/b]

And of course, lets not forget the OPPOSITE trend.
"I don't like gay gays but this Freddie dude is a exception.
He is cool even though he is gay."[/QUOTE]

I actually saw something like that on the youtube comments for the NYE concert.......something like "Freddie was a manly gay, but Adam isnt".......what the.........

I would defend the band back in the 70's because here in the States it wasn't cool to like Queen or you were thought of as "odd" but I still loved the music. Some of my friends back then would say, "Queen? They're gay!" But I would defend them because I had a source on the inside being my cousin who was their lighting director so I would hear the real stories of who they were. But with Freddie, he never said anything dealing with his sexuality. It was usually funny road stories and I heard about the wives and girlfriends so that lead to my defending "my band." KISS was huge at the time so a lot of the kids were leaning in that direction but I stuck by my guns and here I am 37 years later still as loyal as ever!!!

[QUOTE] [b]Marknow wrote:[/b]

I have never had to defend myself for the simple reason that I am not Gay and cannot recall any instance where I would have been labeled as being so. [/QUOTE]

3 points
1) You can defend for someone who you don't nesesarly share the same charachteristics with.It's more about what you think its fair.
2) Not beeing gay dosen't exclude straight kids/boys from the "gender/orientation Police" that kids/teenagers perform.Its more about competition and the alpha male attitudes.
3) You can be Straight and identify (to a degree) with Freddie as a Man. So the "faggot" remarks can still hold some poison.

LOL, LOL and thrice LOL

So it's alright to be a 'manly gay' but not a camp gay. Or whatever.

I'm gay too, might as well do our coming out here as started by 7thStranger (welcome to the forum), and I've had people say to me 'I don't like gays but you're alright, you're not like other gays'. I don't get offended at all now, I just think these people are misguided and a little bit thick.

You know what? It's all about control. That whole thing about not accepting people for whatever reason, it's because they want to live in a 'safe' society where they can keep things and people in safe little boxes. In fact it's something we've all done at some point in our lives, but the issue might be we have a muslim friend, or a jewish friend, or a right wing friend that we get on with through gritted teeth because we like them but not their 'party line'. It might even be that we have a friend who doesn't like Queen. Nah, that's not possible. Everybody likes Queen.....

^^^ You may laugh but you do indeed know the difference.
To be a ''manly gay" is not exactly ok, but you exclude yourself in ONE WAY from the "norm".
To be gay and feminine you tick 2 "negative" boxes. Gender identity and sexual orientation.
So yeah, its harder.Of course its not fair.

But the same would go if you were lets say 1)muslim and 2)woman.
Society, acceptance and opportunities is so trivial as simple math sometimes. Sadly...

did you get my pm, 7th Stranger?

No, but I have told people off when they try to use him as a figure of 'gay pride'. Since they know almost nothing about him, they thought he was a flamboyant promiscuous dipshit, basically.

It's quite insulting when this man has written some of the most beautiful songs in existence.

[QUOTE] [b]Jazz 78 wrote:[/b]I would defend the band back in the 70's because here in the States it wasn't cool to like Queen or you were thought of as "odd" but I still loved the music. Some of my friends back then would say, "Queen? They're gay!" But I would defend them[/QUOTE] well that's not consistent with what was going on in America at large at that time - otherwise how do you explain the massive appeal of very hetero/male dominated sports stadiums adopting WWRY and Champions? and furthermore, by 1980 Queen were the biggest band in the USA - by some distance. the only way your comment stands up is if you lived in some "duelling banjos" redneck hillbilly backwater...in which case, if you did, then i admire your derring do.

[QUOTE] [b]Jazz 78 wrote:[/b] but I stuck by my guns and here I am 37 years later still as loyal as ever!!![/QUOTE] and i don't get this comment. sorry but music is personal taste - you can't be made to NOT like music - it either appeals to you or it doesn't. there's certainly no loyalty - unless you were sticking with them even though you disliked what they were doing musically...in which case THAT would be loyalty (misguided and stepfordlike) but loyalty nonetheless.

not having a go, but perhaps your choice of words was a little "dodgy"?

[QUOTE] [b]brENsKi wrote:[/b]
and i don't get this comment. sorry but music is personal taste - you can't be made to NOT like music - it either appeals to you or it doesn't. there's certainly no loyalty - unless you were sticking with them even though you disliked what they were doing musically...in which case THAT would be loyalty (misguided and stepfordlike) but loyalty nonetheless.

not having a go, but perhaps your choice of words was a little "dodgy"?
[/QUOTE]
? think he means he wasn't discoraged by negative comments and un-coolness. Also music has a lot to do with identity and the kind of person you want to project when you are young.Sure Queen made some questionable choices, musicaly and stylistacaly.They could possibly "alienated" someone. Gladly , what it stayed in the end, was their boldness to explore unfamiliar territory by all means.And that was (also) established by the attitude of the group during their last difficult years.