R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe: I’m Gay
Monday March 17 2008

R.E.M. frontman Michael Stipe has come out of the closet.

“It was super complicated for me in the ’80s” he tells Spin. “I was totally open with the band and my family and my friends and certainly the people I was sleeping with. I thought it was pretty obvious.”

The singer who had always deflected questions about his sexual orientation says he “didn’t always see” how coming out could help others.

“But I see now of course that’s the case” he says. “I’d just never felt strongly enough about a particular relationship to say ‘Yeah he’s my boyfriend that is what it is.’

“Now I recognize that to have public figures be very open about their sexuality helps some kid somewhere out there.”