Loretta Devine tells it like it is...

If more stars were as relaxed and natural during interviews as Loretta Devine is, we wouldn't be subjected to many insipid interviews! The great star of stage, TV and film chatted with Out.com recently:

Out.com: Oh my God, you really do laugh like that!
Loretta Devine: Yeah, what are you talking about? I laugh all the time. People always say, "You really talk like that?" and I say "What did you think I would be talking like?"

Do you think black men get too much of the rap for being DL?
They say the whole down low thing is because black men stay in their neighborhoods, because coming out would be to out their whole family, whereas white men move away from their family. I don't know how true that is. The down-low thing is so scary, I wish there were more acceptance because of that. I think it's really sad when people have to live someone else's life and not their own.

Is there anyone gay in your family?
I have people that are gay in my family, but it's very hard because it's also not accepted in my family. I have mothers and grandmothers who just don't understand it at all.

How do you explain it to them?
You don't. You can't. They have the right to what they feel. All you can do is deal with the young people in your family and say "I understand this" and accept them.