Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford says it’s unfortunate that some people’s attitudes towards the LGBTQ+ community haven’t “moved on.”
Halford, who came out as gay in 1998, reports that it’s a shame that in this day and age, people remain divided and says life's too short to harbour negative mindsets.
He tells Kerrang: “We’ve still got a long way to go. I think the LGBTQ community, as we call ourselves now, still have to figure a lot out in terms of equality.
“But much like metal was regarded as the black sheep of rock’n’roll – with people being like, ‘Oh, you don’t like heavy metal, do you? That’s not music. That’s crap’ – you can apply that same thing to the gay community.
“It’s a similar experience in some of its elements. But then again, it’s 2018 and we still talk about sexual orientation, skin colour, or ‘my religion’s better than yours’.
“You’d think there would have been some kind of change and people would have moved on after such a long time.
“Now that I’m moving through my OAP heavy metal years, I thought a lot of it would be gone by now. And it’s a shame.”
Halford adds: “We don’t really get to spend a lot of time on this planet together, so there’s no point in wasting it being divided. Love yourself, love each other, and love heavy fucking metal!”
Priest are currently on tour across Europe in support of their latest studio album Firepower – and will headline the UK’s Bloodstock festival this weekend.