By: Ralph Bruno

Paula, but she did talk about it, often.

“In May 2000, Whitney Houston appeared on the cover of OUT Magazine, another bold statement for an actress dogged by lesbian rumors. In addition to, I hope, covering her AIDS-related organization charity work, the article dug into her sexuality again:
‘That ain’t me, I know what I am, I’m a mother. I’m a woman. I’m heterosexual. Period. But I love everybody. If I was gay, I would be proud to tell you, ’cause I ain’t that kind of girl to say, “Naw, that ain’t me.” The thing that hurt me most was that they tried to pin something on me that I was not. My mother raised me to never, ever, be ashamed of what I am. But I’m not a lesbian, darling, I’m not.” Later in the story:
‘I am me, I’m a mother. I love to hear my child call me mommy. That’s what I am, not lesbian, not gay, not all the bullshit. I don’t wanna hear that. It’s over. It’s done.”
“Houston’s typical defensiveness suggests, of course, that she hasn’t really moved on at all. When I tell her that I believe she’s straight, she retorts, ‘It’s not for you to believe me. I don’t give a shit if you believe me or not.”

Interesting how she never expressly denied the bisexuality. The closest she came was an implied denial. “That’s what I am, not lesbian, not gay, not all the bullshit. I don’t wanna hear that. It’s over. It’s done.”

It’s the silence and the collusion in denying her same-sex relationship that sends a wrong message. To those LGBTQ youth suffering from the bullying, the message should be It Gets Better. Not a message implying stay in the closet even after you’re dead.