I swear folks really do like to show their behinds after someone has passed.
No, I’m not talking about Bobby Brown and his entourage/uninvited family members, who decided to ignore the immediate family’s request that attendees bring only two or three additional guests to Whitney Houston’s funeral and then made a scene/spectacle because he couldn’t get his way. We’ll just chalk that up to the silliness and family drama that often occurs at funerals. No, instead, I’m talking about LGBT Activist Peter Tatchell, who penned a piece for the UK Daily Mail entitled, “Whitney’s REAL tragedy was giving up her greatest love of all – her female partner Robyn Crawford”
Oh yeah, folks get real messy and ballsy after someone passes. They start fighting over money and estates and challenging each other over who loved the deceased more and showing up at the funeral to declare that they have been having a secret affair with the deceased for 20 years and have several children in another state – unbeknownst to the deceased’s faithful wife.
But Tatchell, who as far as I know didn’t attend the funeral, claims to have inside knowledge of Houston’s alleged lesbian affair with long time assistant/best friend Crawford. According to Tatchell, he met Whitney and Crawford at an HIV vigil in London in 1991, where Houston was speaking in support of people with HIV. He says that, “When I met them, it was obvious they were madly in love. Their intimacy and affection was so sweet and romantic. They held hands in the back of the car like teenage sweethearts. Clearly more than just friends, they were a gorgeous couple and so happy together. To see their love was infectious and uplifting.”
He then goes on to say that homophobia undoubtedly added to the pressures on Whitney to stay quiet about their relationship and is a contributing factor to her early demise. According to him, “Whitney was happiest and at the peak of her career when she was with Robyn. Sadly, she suffered family and church pressure to end her greatest love of all. She was fearful of the effects that lesbian rumors might have on her family, reputation and career. Eventually she succumbed. The result? A surprise marriage to Bobby Brown.”
I have lots of problems with this article and it is not for the reasons that we all think. As many folks both within and outside of the Black community know, the rumors about Houston’s alleged relationship with Crawford go back a while and folks have long speculated that her marriage to Brown only happened in an attempt to maintain her squeaky clean image. So I don’t know the purpose of bringing this up again, for the umpteenth time because the rumors aren’t certainly news worthy. Nevertheless, she is dead so let’s just again rehash old Isht knowing full way that she is not in a position to answer back.
With that said, at every junction both Crawford, who is openly gay, and Houston denied that they were having an affair. As it has been reported, both said that they are just good friends who have known each other since they were teenagers and when Crawford dropped out of college, she took a job working for her superstar friend. Houston has long dismissed the rumors as gossip and in one interview said, “My mother taught me that when you stand in the truth and someone tells a lie about you, don’t fight it. I’m not with any man. I’m not in love. People see Robyn with me, and they draw their own conclusions. Anyway, whose business is it if you’re gay or like dogs? What others do shouldn’t matter. Let people talk. It doesn’t bother me because I know I’m not gay. I don’t care.”
My close friend John made the statement that women get this lots more than guys and how he has never been accused of being gay because he was tight with one of his homies. Normally I would call my friend John sexist for statements like that however I happen to think there might be some truth to that. Some folks have a hard time dealing with two women being good friends without something extra happening. The whole thing kind of reminds me of Oprah and her best friend Gayle, who for years had to denounce rumors that they were secret lovers, to the point that Oprah cried. And we all know that there is a fiery place in Hell for those who make Oprah cry.
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