Judas Priest’s Rob Halford calls for LGBTQ+ equality

(Image credit: Paul Archuleta/FilmMagic - Getty)

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 (opens in new tab): “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 (opens in new tab) – and will headline the UK’s Bloodstock festival this weekend.

Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.