Queen Latifah was one of the major early contenders for last week’s “Who?” People Magazine “I’m Gay” reveal. It ended up being country singer Chely Wright, and I swear to God I just had to look that up again because I’m still all “Who?” Anyway, when the rumor started going around that a female celebrity was “finally” going to come out of the closet, many thought of none other than Queen Latifah. Personally, while I think Queen Latifah could totally be gay, I’ve yet to really see any definitive evidence of it, like an interview admission, or a woman who has come out and claimed “Yeah, Latifah and I were lovers.”

In any case, Latifah has a new (hetero) romantic comedy coming out this week called Just Wright. Common is in it… oohh, so is Pam “Cocaine Vagina” Grier! Yay! This might be a good one. Latifah was interviewed in this week’s Parade, and she talks about glass ceilings, being a tomboy (once again, not a real admission of lesbianism in my book), and getting the hook up from Common.

“I didn’t even see the damn glass ceiling. I just pushed up through it. I was the type of girl who fell on my face early. I learned how it felt to get rejected and get back up and dust myself off. I knew what it was to give it your all and find a way to work through it,” Latifah says.

Queen Latifah loves basketball, a sport that taught her how to play the game of life. Now, in Just Wright, the die-hard New York Nets fan gets to cheer for her favorite team and fall in love with the star player (played by rapper Common, in his first leading romantic role).

Latifah remembers the downside of growing up on the court. “I didn’t even know what a ‘tomboy’ was until people started calling me that,” she says. “I was like, ‘I’m not a boy.’ But I was a fighter. So it didn’t matter what they called me, I was always gonna kick butt and take names. My mom was very supportive and she said, ‘You’re not a tomboy. You’re just sports inclined.’

Helping Common live up to his hunky image.
“There were certain scenes where I was like, ‘Man, you’re that dude. Girls throw their selves all over you. Be that dude!’ Sometimes I would just pump him up, like gas, because he’s so humble. I’m like, man, ‘F that! You can turn back to that other guy after we finish filming.'”

As for their moment of on-screen passion.
“That’s what the movie is all about. It’s all about me having the opportunity to be in bed with Common. I mean, what’s this all for if I can’t hook that up? No, I’m just kidding. But it’s not a bad day of work. I just want everybody to know that we didn’t go for an R-rating.”

Sexy is in the eye of the beholder.
“I’ve always believed it’s not always what you look like, it’s who you are on the inside. Beauty from the inside out is something that I can connect with because that’s where you get your integrity and confidence.”

[From Parade]

What’s wrong with being called a tomboy? I get that people were probably calling her that as a derogatory name, but on face value, “tomboy” isn’t a bad name for girls at all. Some girls are tomboys. I was going to go on and on about how I think Latifah is a very empowering role model for young women, and then I read the synopsis of Just Wright. It pits two women against each other as they vie for Common’s character’s affections. From Metro Spirit: “[It’s a] romantic comedy about a pro-basketball player (Common) who suffers a potentially career-ending knee injury and becomes attracted to his physical therapist. Queen Latifah plays Leslie Wright, the no-nonsense physical therapist who vies with her stick-thin-and-gorgeous friend (Paula Patton) for the athlete’s attention.” Not feminist, Latifah. Also, it sounds a lot like The Truth About Cats and Dogs.