Sunday, October 27, 2013

Kurt Cobain and Bisexual Erasure

“I thought that [being gay] might be the solution to my problem. Although I never experimented with it, I had a gay friend, and then my mother wouldn’t allow me to be friends with him anymore, because she’s homophobic. It was real devastating because finally I found a male friend who I actually hugged and was affectionate too, and we talked about a lot of things. I couldn’t hang out with him anymore.” -- Kurt Cobain (source)
I'm not entirely sure how to parse this quote taken from a recently unearthed interviewed  from twenty years ago.  One one hand, it seems vaguely appropriative, and on the other, about right given its context. LGBT rights have come a long way since 1994.

I'm old enough to remember the Advocate interview where Kurt explored the possibility that he might be bisexual. Until this "new" interview surfaced, I'd never again heard it mentioned. Although the original quote is mere speculation, it makes me wonder, had he stuck around, would he have come out in a more public way as something other than straight.

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