A new interview with Janet can be read on Advocate.com in which she talks about how Rock With U was written for gay fans, what would happen if one of her brother’s came out, American Idol and Paula Abdul as well as about title track Discipline.
In April the GLAAD Media Awards will honor you for your contributions to the LGBT community. What have you done for us lately?
I’ve always loved the gay community, and I think they know that. I’m always involved in projects concerning AIDS, and I’ve just always tried to make myself available. We all have a job in this world, and I think that my job that God has given me is to help people. I don’t think I do enough. I want to do a lot more.Do you specifically keep gay fans in mind during your writing and recording process?
For certain songs, yeah, for sure I do. I was thinking about ’em when I was making “Rock With You” on the new album—it just has that feel, that beat to it. I kept stressing that I have to have something for the kids, I need to have something for the children! I talked about doing the song on the last album, but it wasn’t quite completed by the cutoff date. I felt badly about it, so I wasn’t about to let that happen again.Growing up as Jehovah’s Witnesses, how was the subject of homosexuality treated in your household?
Well, it’s something that would be considered a sin for the religion. But the one thing I absolutely love about my mother is that she’s so open-minded. We had our friends that were gay growing up, and she didn’t have a problem with them. She never said “No, you can’t hang out with this person” or “This person can’t come over.” They would call her “Mother” as everyone else did and does, and she embraced them just like everyone else.But how might it have gone over had, say, Tito or one of your other siblings come out as gay?
I honestly don’t know. But one thing I do know is that she wouldn’t have kicked them out of the house. Would it have crushed her heart? Maybe it would have, but I know she never would’ve treated them differently than the rest of us. That’s just how Mother is.