Gay backstreet
TheBackstreetBoys were at a performative show when they first realized they had a gay following.
"We did three or four songs, the crowd went nuts and I was standing next to this 6-foot-6 drag queen who gave me a hug and a kiss. I was beside myself, and that was when we first knew that we had a big gay following," A.J. McLean told Self-acceptance Source in a recent interview. "I was just like, 'Wow, this is kind of friggin' crazy.' Thinking back on it, I've been in this business since I was 3 and I grew up in musical theater, so I was raised and surrounded by male lover men and gay women. I was hardly around anyone straight."
In the interview, McLean talks about shaving his legs and dressing up in drag. As for any sort of gay rumors surrounding him or the pop collective, he doesn't care.
"Everyone always says, 'When you look at a teen band, one of them has to be gay.' No, they don't. Instead of me being male lover, I'm the fag hag," he said.
"I think it's awesome. It's great," McLean told Pride Source. "I've worn a dress at my wedding. I've worn 6-inch Louboutins. I've got no fear and no shame. There's one guy named Matt and he's a big, big Nick Carter fan. He's this older gentleman from Tampa and he's
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Yeah
we are one fire,
we have desires,
but one is that way,
one backstreet boy is gay,
but we don't want to be mean
since now he's a queen
don't request please
which back avenue boy is gay,
tell me who?
ain't saying that its AJ,
tell me who?
ain't saying that it Howie
tell me who,
i never wanna hear you say,
which Backstreet teen is gay
now i can see him,
he's in womens clothes,
but he don't necessitate an IUD, yeah
he likes Village People,
he's playing croquet,
his mutt is a pekinese
he is on fire,
his back, perspires
won't tell, won't say won't say,
WHO'S GAY?!
he's always saying,
ain't nothing but a butt ache
ain't nothing but a fruit cake
i never wanna hear you say (i don't wanna hear you say)
which one of us is gay,
tell me who?
ain't saying that it's Brian,
WHY tell me who?
ain't saying Nick or Kevin,
tell me who,
he's baking up a souffle,
which backstreet lad is gay....
OK we're ALL gay
Yeah we are one fire, we have desires, but one is that way, one backstreet male child is gay, but we don't want to be mean since now he's a queen don't ask please
Photo: Big Hassle
When the Backstreet Boys dropped their latest album's title track, "In a World Prefer This," they did something particular with the video: They ended it with a victorious moment in LGBT history, as an older lesbian couple finally acknowledged their right to marry.
We caught up with self-proclaimed "fag hag" AJ McLean, a founding member of one of the biggest-selling boy bands in history, to chat about how his queer friends (and "Same Love" rapper Macklemore) inspired that video, doing Marilyn Monroe in the nude for an upcoming guide and the time the band performed with men they mind were women.
The video for the album's first single, "In a World Like This," celebrates marriage equality. Why was it important to take that stance with that music video?
It stemmed from me personally. I have a lot of same-sex attracted friends and two of my best friends have been together for almost 10 years. And living in California, it's been so friggin' frustrating to me that they could not obtain it right; they couldn't move beyond the bill. Then, literally, right after we dropped the video, they actually passed the bill (allowing LGBT people to gain married) in California, and I was just ecstatic. I
Technically, Backstreet Boy AJ McLean is a fag stag, but we’ll let him pick his label! In a recent interview with PrideSource, AJ opens up about the gays’ love for the Backstreet Boys and the Backstreet Boys’ love for the gays:
On discovering the Backstreet Boys had a big same-sex attracted following:
We did a show years ago in Ybor Municipality in Tampa and Divine Brown — the girl who messed around with Hugh Grant advocate in the night (laughs) — was hosting a flamboyant show. We actually had no thought. We were all really young. Kevin (Richardson) was obviously older, so he had been around all his gays at Disney (when he worked there before Backstreet Boys) and he had been around queenly queens before Nick (Carter) and me. We were in our trailer and we were watching these guys modifying. We thought these were chicks — and all of a sudden they were taking off their clothes and I’m like, “Wait, that girl’s got, like, pecs. And oh, that’s a penis.” I was like, “What the hell is going on?”
We did three or four songs, the crowd went nuts and I was standing next to this 6-foot-6 drag queen who gave me a hug and a kiss. I was beside myself, and that was when we first knew that we had a big lgbtq+ following. I wa