Jennifer Nettles, the 39-year-old lead
vocalist of the duo Sugarland, recently said that her large gay
following led many people to assume she was a lesbian.
In an interview with Michigan gay
weekly Pride
Source, Nettles discussed coming out straight.
“I had such a strong lesbian
following, and in the gay community as a whole, I've always had so
much support from them,” Nettles said. “I think a lot of people
assumed, too. Whenever they heard a woman with an alto voice playing
an acoustic instrument stylistically reminiscent of those wonderful
icons you counted, Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls – and especially
with the audience I had in my 20s – I think a lot of people just
assumed that [I was lesbian].”
“So those lyrics – 'crotch
propaganda / bat for both teams / and it's me not choosing sides
standing in between' – I definitely related to because it's like,
who cares? Why choose sides? And why do you have to?,” she said,
a reference to the lyrics in the single On the Shoulder of Giants
from the Soul
Miner's Daughter 1998 album
Hallelujah.
Nettles added that she would support
her son if he came out gay.
“Look, he can be anything he wants in
any fashion, be it his job or who he loves or whatever,” she said.
“He won't be an asshole. And I hope he doesn't go to the dark side
in any kind of addiction. But otherwise [I'd say], 'Love and live
and just be happy. And I hope you find your true prince.'”