A young Kurt Cobain struggled with his sexuality

A young Kurt Cobain struggled with his sexuality

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In a recently unearthed July 1993 interview with the then 20-year-old rock legend Kurt Cobain, it has been revealed that the Nirvana songwriter in his youth questioned his sexuality, and thought being gay might explain why he felt different. Cobain however apparently never experimented with it.

In the interview with music journalist Jon Savage whilst in New York, Cobain spoke candidly about growing up, his identity and his struggle to fit in into a sexist society.

In the recording, Cobain can be heard describing how “different” and “alienated” he felt in high school. At one point, Savage asked if he had problems with people thinking he was gay.

“Yeah. Yeah. I even thought that I was gay,” Cobain responded. “I thought that might be the solution to my problem. Although I never experimented with it, I had a gay friend, and then my mother wouldn’t allow me to be friends with him anymore because … well, she’s homophobic. It was real devastating because finally I found a male friend who I actually hugged and was affectionate too, and we talked about a lot of things … I couldn’t hang out with him anymore.”

This was not the first time Cobain opened up to the media about his sexuality. It was well known that he would not support homophobic music, and it was found in one of his journals that Cobain had written ‘I am not gay, although I wish I were, just to piss off homophobes.’

In a 1993 interview with The Advocate, Cobain claimed he was ‘gay in spirit’ and ‘probably could be bisexual’.

He said: ‘I used to pretend I was gay just to fuck with people. I’ve had the reputation of being a homosexual ever since I was 14.”

‘I mean, I’m definitely gay in spirit, and I probably could be bisexual. But I’m married, and I’m more attracted to Courtney [Love] than I ever have been toward a person, so there’s no point in trying to sow my oats at this point. [Laughs] If I wouldn’t have found Courtney, I probably would have carried on with a bisexual life-style. But I just find her totally attractive in all ways.’

 

Watch the video of the unearthed interview:

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