Magazine Article

My perspective: Southern comfort; When I found out that my childhood sweetheart is gay, I was delighted. I thought, Wow. I always thought she was exceptional, and now I know she is

Crowell, Rodney

2001

Overview

My daughter is a wonderful young woman, and she worries about me. When she heard my songs \"I Wish It Would Rain\" and \"Wandering Boy\" -- about two twins, one of whom is gay -- she said, \"Oh, Dad, these are my favorite two songs that you've ever written. But I lie awake nights thinking that people who have bought your records aren't going to get it.\" And I say, \"You know what? People have to discover what they discover in their own way.\" I grew up without buying into that particular frame of mind, I think, because I'm a born writer. I was born with an extra dose of empathy, and it's easy for me to put myself in someone else's place -- maybe not so much their experience but the emotion they feel from rejection. I'm a straight man, but I've always felt like an outsider, an observer. I'm attuned to that inner dialogue that we all have going on inside us. Sometimes it's our private hell, and sometimes it's our private glow, but I just never bought that any of us could pass off judgments about what goes on in another human being's inner dialogue. When I first played these songs for my wife's best friend, who's gay, he was in tears. We talked long about it, and he said to me, \"You're going to reach the gay audience with this,\" and I said, \"Well, I'd love that.\" To me, reaching people -- that's being an artist.

• Publisher: Equalpride
• Subject: Gays & lesbians / Human relations / Interpersonal communication / Music / Personal relationships