The January 2, 2011 issue of Parade featured a cover story on Queen Latifah, her life as a role model, her hosting the People’s Choice Awards and of course a plug for her cosmetics line. What makes the 7-page (cover plus 6) story remarkable is what’s not there–any discussion of her personal life, beyond the vague comment that in 10 years, the 40-year old Queen expects she’ll have “a couple of kids under my belt…”
Latifah is widely believed to be a lesbian, not even that deep in the closet. She’s been photographed hugging her reputed long-time girlfriend.
So why didn’t Parade ask her about her personal life–the readers would certainly like to know. Was it a ground rule established by Latifah’s ‘camp’–no questions about the “L” word? Or a cowardly editorial decision by Parade–not to ask in return for access? Would women stop buying her cosmetics if they thought Latifah was gay?
More importantly, did both underestimate their audience? Americans have shown they can ‘embrace’ gay stars like Ellen DeGeneres and Elton John, or gay heroes like Daniel Hernandez. Latifah isn’t a leading lady with romantic roles ’in danger’ if she comes out (a fear that’s reputed to keep leading men like John Travolta and Tom Cruise in the closet) so why the fear?
It all reminds me of how the Enquirer and its ilk used to play ball with Rock Hudson, despite its muckraking reputation. For almost 30 years, the tabs, the studio and Hudson’s people manufactured stories about his ‘latest romance’ (with women) to keep the readers happy, no gay revelation that would shatter reader illusions and kill the cash cow.
Everyone played ball–until AIDS brought out the inconvenient truth.
