Judas Priest’s Rob Halford on Cynic’s Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert Opening Up About Their Sexuality: “What a F*cking Great Thing to Do.”
Rob Halford, metal’s most prominent openly gay musician, has come out (no pun intended) in support of Cynic members Paul Masvidal and Sean Reinert. Masvidal and Reinert, you may recall — although never really closeted — spoke openly about their sexuality for the first time in May. Terrorizer asked the legendary Judas Priest vocalist what he thought of Masvidal and Reinert’s decision, to which he jokingly responded “I am the only gay in the village! I ain’t having this!” (a Little Britain joke) before offering a more serious answer:
“But what a fucking great thing to do. It’s all chipping away. There’s homophobia in metal, there’s homophobia in all kinds of music, but for the most part metalheads accept each other because we know we’re given a lot of stick, people don’t like us, they don’t like our music, they don’t like the way we look. So for those two guys to make that statement, it’s absolutely brilliant. It’s shit that you have to worry about this in 2014, isn’t it? It’s rubbish. But that just shows you the stupidity that goes on in the world. So God bless them. I know what it’s like to come out of the closet. It’s the best feeling in the world. Be true to yourself, live your life, don’t hide. Nothing’s going to hurt you, you can only hurt yourself. The real people that love you will love you regardless.”
“I belong to a minority. In some countries they’d kill us for being gay. It’s pretty deep when you think about it. Just to keep chipping away at that is a wonderful thing, and the more people that have that power to step up and say it, it just helps the overall cause. It’s a great time to live now, in terms of acceptance and tolerance. I’ve got a place in Amsterdam, and the Dutch never talk about this. Everybody’s just everybody. There’s no layers or brands. You’re just who you are. I hope that day will come [elsewhere] eventually. For people who play the type of metal they play to do what they did, it’s very valuable. I can’t wait to meet them.”
Although Halford’s support for Masvidal and Reinert isn’t the least bit surprising, I’m sure it still means a lot to the duo — as Decibel‘s Andrew Bonazelli said earlier today, “What sort of asshole who plays heavy music doesn’t like Priest?” Halford is metal royalty if anyone is.
Judas Priest’s new album, Redeemer of Souls, comes out July 15 on Epic. Cynic will headline a tour of North America starting next month. Get dates here.
