Azealia Banks Defends Her Use of Gay Slur

In a recent interview, Azealia Banks discussed her use of gay slurs. Banks, who is bisexual, doesn’t believe that she can be homophobic.

“I definitely think a lot of the time with the ‘white gay media’ – especially with female artists – in order for you to seem successful or seem feminine you have to desire their approval,” contends Banks. “I feel like a lot of times gay men can be way more misogynistic than even straight men. Even how they come to you picking at your hair, telling you you’re fat, telling you all this other s**t. Telling you how to be a woman. What the f**k do you know about being a woman?”

“To be homophobic would imply that I’m, like, ‘I can’t sit next to a gay man cuz Imma catch the gay, but I already caught the gay. I feel like when I use the word ‘fagg*t,’ it comes from, like, a feminist point of view, not a homophobic point of view. It’s really just kinda like you feel attacked as a woman.”

Listen to the interview here.

Photo: Azealia Banks/Wikimedia Commons