ROB HALFORD Interviewed At 'Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation' Awards

"Access Hollywood" conducted an interview with JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford on April 17, 2010 at the Los Angeles presentation of the 21st annual Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) Media Awards at the Hyatt Regency Century Plaza.

The GLAAD Media Awards recognize and honor media for their fair, accurate and inclusive representations of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community and the issues that affect their lives.

When asked why GLAAD is an important organization, Halford replied, "We're still on a long journey, there's still a lot of struggle going on, there's still a lot of things that need to be done to bring the equality that I feel is the human thing to do. So this event really brings that into focus, along with a lot of other things that are going on here tonight."

He added, "I think [pop singer] Ricky [Martin] was really eloquent with the statement that he made about the reason why he held back [on announcing that he was gay]. At the end of the day, you're dealing with a very personal and private issue. You're surrounded by people that love and care for you, that only have your best interests at heart, but you end up leading a kind of a double life, which was the case for Ricky, was the case for myself, for Elton [John], for George [Michael]. What he did was incredibly important for himself and I think also for the community that mostly focuses on Ricky's work, the Latino community. So, one way or another, we seem to be covering all the territory. I'm in the rock and metal, Ricky's in the pop/rock, so is Elton and George, and a number of other people. So I think every moment when you take that big step forward is incredibly valuable."

"Access Hollywood"'s interview with Rob Halford can be viewed below. (Note: The Halford portion of the report begins around the one-minute, 45-second mark.)

Hosts for the Los Angeles GLAAD Media Awards (which also took place in New York on March 13 and is scheduled to be held in San Francisco on June 5) were actress Candis Cayne and actor Wilson Cruz ("He's Just Not That Into You"),with Tom Ford and Benjamin Bratt among the other guests and presenters.

The list of 116 film, television and music nominees in 24 English-language categories and 36 Spanish-language nominees in eight categories can be viewed at glaad.org/mediaawards.

In an August 2008 interview with The Dallas Morning News, Halford — who revealed he was homosexual during a 1998 appearance on MTV — explained why he believes that he's the only man capable of fronting JUDAS PRIEST.

"To be brutally honest, 'Jugulator' and 'Demolition' [the two PRIEST albums made with Tim 'Ripper' Owens as frontman] were affected by my not being in the band, much like when Bruce Dickinson went away from IRON MAIDEN, the way VAN HALEN [was] affected when David Lee Roth left," Rob was quoted as saying. "But I don't think a straight man can do my job in JUDAS PRIEST. I've never said that before. I'm sorry, but they can't."

In a subsequent interview, Halford attempted to clarify his remarks, stating, "I was talking about the performance in terms of what a frontman can do . . . I just think there's different interpretations of what you do, and that was just like a broad-based comment that can be taken however it wishes to be taken."

He added, "When you're doing an interview and you have, like, hundreds or thousands of words and, like, three or four words are taken out of context...

"I think [my quote in The Dallas Morning News] was taken out of context."

When asked in a December 2009 interview with the Dallas Voice if he has a particularly gay audience, Halford said, "I have my gay metalhead fans all over the world. Sometimes they are so obvious from stage but it's still a wonderful surprise."

Regarding how it has been since he came out more than 10 years ago, Halford said, "It gives me a lot of comfort and it was a weight off my shoulders. There is a lot of phobia in metal music, but me coming out chips away at that wall, bit by bit. It just crossed my mind that I had no negative feedback. Fans were cool, and that speaks volumes for the better world we're in. We have come forward by leaps and bounds."