Inside Whitney Houston’s secret torment for being gay, falling for a woman
nypost.comDidn’t We Almost Have It All: In Defense of Whitney Houston” (Abrams Press), out Tuesday.Feeling pressure to conform to her strict religious upbringing and the norms of the time, Whitney hid her sexuality from the public till her tragic death, which happened 10 years ago this week. “Because her music didn’t fit squarely in the boxes expected of a Black girl making music in the ’80s, she was seen as not Black enough.
She was ridiculed. Brandished ‘Whitey’ — and endured endless speculation on her sexuality,” the author notes.Raised in Newark, NJ, Whitney was under the thumb of her mother, Cissy, a devout church member of Newark’s New Hope Baptist Church and a member of the gospel singing clan, the Drinkard Sisters.The Drinkards played the “Chitlin’ Circuit,” performing at black venues throughout the South.
Cissy was a star in her own right — singing backup to the King himself, Elvis Presley, and Aretha Franklin, the Queen of Soul.Even as a little girl, Whitney felt different.
She was a tomboy and bristled at wearing the frilly clothes and hair ribbons chosen by her mother. She preferred jeans, t-shirts and running track with her two older brothers, Gary and Michael.The three children floated between the homes of relatives when the parents were working and Cissy was on the road.
