Rough Boys

["Mike Nelson"<mike_nelson@tradeonemktg-aus.com>]

     I almost hate to bring this up again, but I noticed that the "Is Pete 
     Gay?" question came up again.  I pulled out a tape I have containing a 
     bit of the interview that, I believe, started that whole rumor 
     (hopefully, this will answer more questions than it will raise, but I 
     kinda doubt it).
     
     In an interview with Timothy White, for his book "Rock Lives," Pete 
     was asked about the song "Rough Boys."  
     PETE:
     
        "How could Rough Boys have been written for The Who?  It's about 
     homosexuality.  It was kind of an acknowledgment of the fact that I 
     had had a gay life and I understood what gay sex was about.  That it 
     was... it was not about faggery at all.  It was about violence and 
     savagery in a lot of senses.  I think one of the things that stunned 
     me when the record was released was suddenly I realized I found a 
     female audience.  Just by being honest about the fact, you know, that 
     I have...I understand.  Y'know, I understand how gay people feel.  I 
     understand and I identify and I know how it feels to be a woman.  I 
     know how it feels to be a woman because I am a woman, you know, and I 
     won't be classified as just a man."
     
     When I first heard that, I did not take it literally or too seriously, 
     given the way Pete tends to ramble about things in general and given 
     the fact that he was married and had a family (not that it would have 
     changed my opinion of him).  I sort of assumed he was speaking 
     figuratively, the way he obviously was about being a "woman."
     
     Nowhere in the interview does it say that he has actually had a 
     homosexual liaison.  When he was questioned about it later, he 
     declined to confirm or deny anything, stating, "I don't want to betray 
     my gay fans feelings of solidarity with me.  I really don't think it 
     matters whether I am gay or not." (true)
     
     The only other related thing that I came across from an interview in 
     1989 before the LA Tommy performance:
     
        "People sometimes expect us to be like we were on Live At Leeds all 
     the time.  You know, heavy drums, lots of guitar smashing...And when I 
     started to record solo albums in 1979, and I allowed a feminine side 
     to creep in, I was amazed at how many women I discovered were actually 
     buying our records, and buying my records."
     
     You can make of this what you wish.  I have heard/read a lot of 
     interviews with Pete and have found that he sometimes contradicts 
     himself and tends to go "shooting off at the mouth" a lot.  But that 
     is one of the things that makes his interviews interesting (and 
     sometimes frustrating).
     
     peace,
     Mike