Queen Latifah is saving the subtle messages for her rap lyrics. The rapper-actress, who ignited a new wave of speculation when she performed at a gay pride event in California last month, is setting the record straight about her sexuality: that it's nobody's business but hers. 

“That definitely wasn’t the case,” she tells Entertainment Weekly of rumors that she came out as a lesbian at the May 19 event. “I’ve never dealt with the question of my personal life in public. It’s just not gonna happen.”

But the hip hop queen doesn't want her no-disclosure policy to take away from the fond memories she has of gay pride events, including one that included an unexpected guest. 

“To me, doing a gay pride show is one of the most fun things,” she says. “My first show that paid more than $10,000 was in a gay club on New Year’s Eve in San Francisco. Tupac happened to be in town, so he came to kick it with me. This was the early ’90s. And the boys were like, ‘Take your shirt off, Tupac!’ He wasn’t doing that. But we had a blast in there.”
Latifah also wants to be clear about her message to the LGBT community. “I know that the most important thing and the only thing I have to give is love. When people are going through hatred and bullying, the biggest thing to fight that is love,” she says. “So that’s all I encouraged my audience to do that night: to share their light and share their love. Period.”

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 (Photo: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)