Queen Latifah to headline Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival: What does it mean?

It means Queen Latifah is headlining a festival

Queen Latifah is set to headline this year’s annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival on May 19, causing many to question whether or not the actress-singer is gay herself.

The Inquisitr came out with a story today with the headline Queen Latifah Comes Out of The Closet, but did she? In a press release, the Co-President of the festival had this to say about the excitement of having Queen Latifah headline the festival:

“From hip hop to R&B, pop to standards, Queen Latifah is the voice of our generation, and her concert here will be phenomenal, for her to make her worldwide Pride debut here in Long Beach is a tremendous testament to the popularity of our celebration and to the strength of our community.”

Blogger David Badash wrote on the site The New Civil Rights Movement that to say Queen Latifah just came out of the closet is irresponsible.

“Queen Latifah will be headlining the Long beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival later this month—just as other famous (and straight) celebrities have headlined and performed at gay pride festivals and parades in years past,” Badash wrote.

Badash went on to urge journalists who have reported today that Queen Latifah “has come out of the closet” to remember that coming out is a personal choice, and it’s unfair to pressure someone to come out or to say someone has come out when they have not.

Rumors have circulated for years as to whether or not Queen Latifah is a lesbian or not. Queen Latifah has never commented about her sexuality publicly; although, it was rumored that she ended a long-term relationship with Jeanette Jenkins, president of Hollywood Trainer fitness, in 2011.

Other rumors have linked Queen Latifah to a new woman recently.

However, female artists frequently headline Pride festivals. Whitney Houston, Nicki Minaj, Katy Perry, and Jennifer Lopez have all taken stages at Pride festivals and led Pride parades. So why is Queen Latifah taking all the heat?

Now rumors are circulating on the internet that the Long Beach Pride Festival could be a coming out party for Queen Latifah. Maybe she will make some sort of announcement, or maybe the 42 year-old will continue with her life sans-comment, and live as she likes.

It’s not what Queen Latifah will say at the event that got her the spot, it’s her killer vocals. Her decade-plus standoff with the press—who has continually speculated is she or isn’t she?—in which she has declined to play their games probably raised her up in the eyes of the LGBT community as well. So it’s more likely that the actress-singer will avoid a big announcement and leave us all to mind our own business when it comes to others’ personal affairs.