Filmmaker Lee Daniels Reveals His Father Beat Him For Being Gay

Filmmaker Lee Daniels (The Butler) has revealed that his father used to beat him for being gay.

In a new interview, the director talks about experiencing racism and homophobia, and how this has impacted his childhood and career.

In an interview with KCRW, Filmmaker Lee Daniels has revealed that his father used to beat him for being gay, at times placing him in a trashcan to punish him, where Daniels says he would write.

Speaking about how this shaped his identity, and ultimately his filmmaking career, Daniels said…

“I ran from that for such a long time – my identity – because I was beaten for it, and then my dad died and I was sort of happy that he did because I dunno that I would have been alive, he’d just kept beating me for being gay So my mom didn’t want me around cause then… in the African American community we don’t embrace that [being gay]. You know, we simply don’t because men have to be strong and being gay is not a good thing. And so my mom took me to an all-white school… at that point I went from being ‘gay, gay, gay’ to ‘n—er, n—er, n—er.’ … it’s a very, very, very painful experience to live and I try to show that in all of my work, you know, the personal atrocities that I’ve lived.”

Daniels says he has since forgiven his father for his actions. The interview (below) starts at the 6:55 mark, with the relevant portion starting around the 21:05 point…

Source: KCRW

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