Comedian-actress-talk show host Whoopi
Goldberg has said she was “glad” to be claimed by the gay
community.
In an interview with Michigan
gay weekly Pride Source, the 58-year-old Goldberg
discussed being labeled a lesbian over her support for gay rights.
“That's what people thought! It was
ridiculous. I was like, 'Uh, no.' People just didn't understand,”
Goldberg said of assumptions she was gay.
“There are a lot worse things people
could have accused me of – things that would really be upsetting!
That's not one of them. It never has been. I grew up in the
theater. I grew up in a neighborhood where there was always gay
folks. Always! So, I never understood people's freak out about it.
Everybody is so damn paranoid about everything. They're so concerned
that [people] are gonna be like, 'Oh, somebody's gonna think I'm
gay.' So what! What happens if they do?”
“You'd be lucky is somebody thought
you were gay! That's my response to everybody.”
“I have been gay in films,”
Goldberg added, a reference to her performances in The Color
Purple and Boys on the Side. “People assume they know
because they've seen you in a movie or because they've seen you do
something or they've heard you say something, and then they make
assumptions. Quite honestly, I was glad to be claimed.”
“We were happy to claim you,” the
interviewer responded.
“Yes! You know, no one was trying to
claim me. Nobody wanted me. Black folks didn't want me. Nobody
wanted me. But I've always been claimed by the gay community.
Always,” she added.