Is Frank Ocean Gay? Does it Matter?

Culture

The above gif is a visual metaphor for the mainstream media's treatment of Frank Ocean's sexuality and how I think he feels about it.

In other words, ease up, you guys!! 

A few weeks ago, during the Golden Globes show, Jody Foster accepted a lifetime achievement award and kinda sorta came out of the closet. She didn't exactly say she was gay, but her filibuster strongly hinted at it. I, along with everyone else, just assumed that's what she was trying to say. Which is okay, right?

Fast forward to the Grammys tonight. Frank Ocean is up for a lot of awards, and without a doubt there will be some discussion regarding his gayness. Yes, he wrote a blog post awhile ago indicating his past love for another dude.

Yes, it was a small but incredible watershed moment in the world of r&b-slash-hip hop. Yes, the media bit hard on the story and the public responded pretty damn positively.

However, the narrative boldly proclaimed what Frank Ocean never did — i.e. "GAY" — when, in fact, he never explicitly said as much. He just acknowledged his first love was a man. That's all. 

So does that mean he's definitely totally gay? I don't think so. Am I saying he's not gay? No. So is he bisexual? Maybe. Wait, so is he something else we don't have a neat, definitive term for? Yeah, exactly. That's what I'm getting at.

Point being: Let's just kick back, relax, and let Frank Ocean and Jody Foster live their lives however they want without the rest of us over-articulating what they say.