Rock star Bob Mould thought gay community would ‘ostracise’ him when he came out mid-1990s
Musician Bob Mould has reflected on coming out in the mid-1990s, saying he thought he would be “ostracised” by the gay community because of a magazine article revealing his sexuality.
The former frontman of the band Husker Du came out in a feature with Spin magazine, but has now reflected that he thought the tone of the article might have offended people within the gay community.
Mould has now told Uncut magazine: “Coming out was different than it is now and I’d always placed a premium on privacy. I didn’t feel comfortable identifying myself as a gay musician. I wanted to be a musician and if I happened to be gay, that’s great too… But Spin led with a saucy byline, something like ‘I’m not a freak’. I was like, ‘Oh, of everything I said, that’s what you’re gonna put on the cover? The gay community’s gonna kill me.’
“That’s not me. I’m not a freak. I’m a normal person. Again, I worried about it way more than anybody else. It didn’t really make much difference.”
Since coming out in the 1990s, Mould has advocated for same-sex marriage, and coordinated events to raise money towards equal marriage efforts in the US.
