Black or White?

And I Told About Equality

And It's True

Either You're Wrong

Or You're Right

But, If

You're Thinkin'

About My Baby

It Don't Matter If You're

Black Or White

Michael Jackson, Black or White

In all the news, gossip and paranoia circulating since Michael Jackson's death three weeks ago, the question of his sexuality seems almost obscured. Ironic, isn't it? People speculated about it for years, but now everyone seems most interested in his artistic legacy, his kids, the battle over his estate, and the investigation into his death. The media coverage between his death and memorial service touted his enormous talent and early success, but seemed oddly restrained, almost awkward, when relating the later, more tragic turns in his life. I guess it's a fine line to tread between respecting a recently-deceased (and still significantly beloved) celebrity's memory, and objectively reporting the more discomforting details of his life.

Jackson's sexuality is, for some, clearly discomforting, but probably for different reasons. Two big questions loom: was he gay, and was he a pedophile? A new book by celebrity biographer Ian Halperin attempts to answer them. In Unmasked: The Final Years of Michael Jackson, Halperin claims to have interviewed two of Jackson's adult male lovers, and says "virtually everybody I've interviewed about Jackson has told me: He's gay." Halperin writes "it's clear that Michael was homosexual and that his taste was for young men," but stresses that he was not sexually interested in boys as young as those who accused him of molestation. "Even those who are his most ardent defenders, people who maintain that he is innocent of the molestation charges, insist that he is homosexually inclined," he wrote.

I've read many comments on the internets from fans offended that his sex life is even being discussed now, but it's an undeniable part of his legacy as a performer, artist and celebrity. You'd think his fans would rally around any source proclaiming his innocence from child molestation claims, but some seem almost equally horrified by the suggestion he might have been gay. Is it because they still equate the two? The old myth that gay men like "little boys" still persists, despite much evidence that pedophilia exists across the full spectrum of sexual orientations. Gay men are no more likely to molest a child than straight men, and anyone with an ounce of brain cells should grasp this.

But that doesn't prove or disprove anything in Jackson's case. I guess that's my fear; that if people are thinking of Michael Jackson as gay, it will further the lie that we're all child molesters, too. I've heard other gay people support this: "we don't want him," they say. "Too tainted." Ouch. I can't go that far; I'm still a fan from way back. Yes, Michael was a a freak for sure, but he had a rough life, a horrible childhood, and a monster of a father. I was a little 13 year-old gayling when he moonwalked across the Motown 25 stage, at the peak of his ridiculous cuteness, still identifiably male, black and human. I was mesmerized, like we all were, in that pop culture moment. My music tastes changed, his life and appearance became increasingly more bizarre, but I guess I still have a soft spot. I'd rather believe he was just a closeted gay man with personal problems galore, and not a pedophile, but I'm afraid some will just assume he was both; another disgusting gay pervert who couldn't be trusted around children.

We'll likely never know the truth about Michael Jackson, but it's difficult to separate his career and public image from his sexuality. Aside from the pedophile topic, there's his gender-bending appearance, crotch-grabbing dance moves, tabloid-fodder relationships. Although some will obviously exploit it, it seems like a valid topic. His career, even his life, or at least our perception of it, are inseparable from his sexuality.