Being gay and having a good PR

The surprise move of R&B's new rising star  Frank Ocean's coming out with his bisexuality and having Hip Hop's biggest names support him, made me write this post, not only because of Frank Ocean but because it has been a thought process of mine for the longest time.

This has been a thought process of mine for so many years and this latest outing of Frank Ocean is the last drop of water to fill the glass. Think Freddy Mercury, Rob Halford, Neil Patrick Harris, Channing Tatum, etc.

Let's start out with how homophobic this country has been for decades and how hard has it been to be gay without being threaten, beaten, and excluded from society. The constant battle of being accepted due to your lifestyle, asking to have the same rights in equality as marriage, joining the military, etc.

My point in this post is on celebrity and how much of a cool factor you have. Freddy Mercury, the way he dressed, the way he was, even the Great pretender video was with transexuals. Did Queen hurt because of Freddy being gay? no cause Queen was and still is one of the best groups in rock music period.

Rob Halford from Judas Priest had the toughest hetero guy wearing leather pants and studded leather jackets and that became the staple of heavy metal music, but it came from the underground S&M gay scene, surprise!!! ... Did Judas Priest hurt because of this? no, Judas Priest still gets plays on the radio and "Breaking the law" still one of the best classic rock songs still.

Neil Patrick Harris came out and his career was more vibrant as ever, he killed in all the Harold and Kumar movies, How I met your mother. His career now is hotter than it was when he did Doogie Howser MD. Channing Tatum came out and his career is not hurting, he is currently in Magic Mike, did 21 Jump Street and has other projects lined up, but if you ask me, can he act? no he can't.

R Kelly is not gay but I use him as part of the example because he has a cool factor and when he was in problems due to an allege video of him peeing on an underage girl, R Kelly released albums that people still bought and he never lost his relevancy, why because R Kelly knows how to make good albums. Just like Michael Jackson aside his alleged cases of child molestation, MJ was and still is a legend that made great music.

Frank Ocean, whether he has longevity is something that time will decide but for now his coming out is something that should be applauded and to do it in a culture that hasn't taken kind of homosexuality, he had courage to do it. Surprising turn of events is that the hip hop community is supporting him, specially his best friend Taylor that is known for homophobic slurs in his songs.

Now whether the PR for these entertainer are really good at what they do, or their work is so good that can stand the test of time, or maybe they didn't let their lifestyle dictate who they are and what they do.