2021 BET Awards Featuring Black Queer Excellence

The 2021 BET Awards served up Black queer excellence. Triple threat rapper, performer, and actress Queen Latifah was honored by receiving BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Latifah’s peers, which included MC Lyte, Rapsody, Lil’ Kim, and Monie Love, performed together to thank her for paving the way in the industry for them to succeed. 

Queen Latifah’s sexual orientation has been discussed and dissected by fans for years. She has kept her personal life hush-hush, so to speak, never publicly admitting or denying she’s a part of the LGBTQ community. But the closing remarks in her acceptance speech drew the most attention when she officially publicly mentioned her longtime partner, Eboni Nichols, and their son, Rebel. She then ended her speech by wishing the viewers a short and sweet “Happy Pride!”

“I’m gonna get off this stage, but I thank you so much for all of you, the fans, for supporting every crazy-ass thing I’ve done through the years. And thank you for making Equalizer number one. Eboni, my love. Rebel, my love. Peace. Happy Pride!”

That wasn’t the only steamy moment of the night; Lil Nas X had everyone hot and bothered. He paid a tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Remember the Time” music video from 1992, complete with themes and imagery from the ancient Egyptian era. Nas X performed a regal rendition of his hit single “Montero (Call Me By Your Name).” He closed out his performance in the most sultry way possible, by sharing a steamy make-out sesh with one of his male backup dancers. It was no Satanic stripper pole moment, but still had the heteros shaking in their boots. 

In the show’s 20 years on air, this was the first-ever kiss shared between two Black men during the BET Awards. Twitter inevitably blew up; the male-on-male smooch set the app ablaze. Everyone had their own take on the kiss, whether it was good or bad. One Twitter user in particular received third degree burns from the shade the king of trolling himself, Nas X, threw back.

y’all really like to pretend homosexuality didn’t exist in african culture https://t.co/mGmah0CbP9

— nope ???? (@LilNasX) June 28, 2021