Music

Lenny Kravitz reflects on his close bond with the LGBTQ+ community: “They raised me”

By Jordan Robledo

2nd December 2023

Rockstar and actor Lenny Kravitz has opened up about his love for the LGBTQIA+ community.

In a recent interview with Esquire, the beloved talent reflected on his expansive three-decade career and how queer people had a significant influence on him.

“Not in fashion and style, because that’s just something on top. They raised me,” he explained to the publication.

“I was in the street – my choice – and it was the 1980s in West Hollywood. It was that time. Artists, musicians, hairstylists, and designers, those were the people I was hanging out with.

“I wanted to be around the creatives, and most of the people I met were from that community.”

Kravitz went on to say that the LGBTQIA+ community took him in when no one else would, adding, “[They] protected me. Educated me. Fed me.”

Towards the end of his statement, the ‘Fly Away’ singer reflected on the hate queer individuals face from organised religion and conservative groups.

“People will always use Jesus Christ to back up something that’s got nothing to do with how Jesus Christ would handle a situation,” he said.

Kravitz’s recent interview comes a few weeks after he released his track, ‘Road to Freedom,’ for the LGBTQIA+ biopic Rustin.

Based on the gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin, the film follows his inspiring life and how he organised the historic 1963 March on Washington DC, which saw 250,000 people gather in front of the Lincoln Memorial to protest racial discrimination.

Shortly after the song’s release, Kravitz took to his X (formerly known as Twitter) to discuss the importance of the powerful track.

“Bayard Rustin, one of the greatest activists and organisers the world has ever known, was all but erased from history for being an openly gay Black man,” he wrote.

“RUSTIN shines a long-overdue light on the extraordinary man who, alongside Reverend Martin Luther King Jr., Adam Clayton Powell Jr., and Ella Baker, dared to imagine a different world, inspiring a movement in a march toward freedom.

“I was honored when George C. Wolfe approached me to write a song inspired by Rustin for @RustinMovie. The movement he championed then is just as important today. We still have so much ground to cover. That’s how “Road To Freedom” was born. I hope you’re inspired by this film and song to come together with love.”