The Reason Kurt Cobain Pretended To Be Gay For Years

Kurt Cobain may be primarily known for being an icon in the history of rock music, but the musician is also an important figure to the LGBTQ+ community. The reason behind this is that the late Nirvana frontman always targetted the still-existing homophobia with his music as well as his on-stage acts.

While his actions as an influential rock star deserve a round of applause, Cobain was already very involved in the queer community at an early age. In fact, he pretended to be gay for a long time at a young age in order to have the freedom for his unique personality.

Kurt Cobain Condemned Homophobia

Kurt Cobain wrote a liner note for their 1992 compilation album, ‘Incesticide,’ that denounced any type of discrimination and hate including homophobia. Furthermore, the singer kindly banned their fans from buying their records or coming to their shows if they are homophobic, sexist, or racist.

The liner note follows:

“At this point, I have a request for our fans. If any of you in any way hate homosexuals, people of different color, or women, please do this one favor for us – leave us the f*ck alone! Don’t come to our shows and don’t buy our records.”

In that same exact year, the band members made it clear that they are going to spread this message on every platform they are involved in. As Nirvana appeared on Saturday Night Live, the band members started kissing each other at the end of the show. It was clear that Cobain’s message for equality was supported by his band members as well.

Kurt Cobain Thought Homosexuality Brought Him Freedom

During a 1993 interview with Advocate, Kurt Cobain looked back on his childhood, especially his high school years. Apparently, the future rock star pretended to be gay on purpose since he was 14. As a result, he found gay friends in Aberdeen which contributed to his presence in the LGBTQ+ community.

Although Cobain said that being labeled as gay caused him trouble as he got beat up a lot, he also stated that being allegedly gay gave him the freedom to be his authentic self at all times. Instead of explaining his unique personality, he just found an easy way out and presented himself as a homosexual individual.

During the interview, Cobain said:

I used to pretend I was gay just to fuck with people. I’ve had the reputation of being a homosexual every day since I was 14. It was really cool because I found a couple of gay friends in Aberdeen which is almost impossible. How I could ever come across a gay person in Aberdeen is amazing! But I had some really good friends that way. I got beat up a lot, of course, because of my association with them.

People just thought I was weird at first, just some fucked-up kid. But once I got the gay tag, it gave me the freedom to be able to be a freak and let people know that they should just stay away from me. Instead of having to explain to someone that they should just stay the fuck away from me-I’m gay, so I can’t even be touched. It made for quite a few scary experiences in alleys walking home from school, though.”

While it’s actually heartbreaking to hear that his personality wasn’t accepted by his friends, his fans are glad that Kurt Cobain turned out to be an amazing ally to the LGBTQ+ community. In fact, the musician mentioned being bisexual in the same interview if he weren’t attracted to his wife Courtney Love.