Early influence of sexuality in entertainment (before the 2000s) Queen Latifah's sexuality has always come into question through her on-screen performances. In one of her films, 1996's Set It Off, she takes on a more masculine role. Cleopatra Sims (Cleo), Latifah's character, can be described as a butch, lesbian bank robber, which highlighted her sexuality. She was so successful while playing this masculine role, that rumors about her sexuality started spreading. In the early stages of her career, Latifah chose not to address the rumors regarding her sexuality, letting the public categorize her in their own way. Queen Latifah's ambiguity played to her strengths when acting, allowing her to have versatile roles and not become constrained to certain acting roles because of her off screen sexuality. This can be identified in many of her later films in her career, playing a range of either oversexualized characters or sexually muted characters. The distance Queen Latifah created from assumptions about her sexuality in her early career excluded her from any queer discourse throughout the nineties. Her involvement in offhanded politics and pro-black work productions helped define her work, while her sexuality did not affect her work, early on.
Early influence of sexuality in entertainment (before the 2000s) Queen Latifah's sexuality has always come into question through her on-screen performances. In one of her films, 1996's Set It Off, she takes on a more masculine role. Cleopatra Sims (Cleo), Latifah's character, can be described as a butch, lesbian bank robber, which highlighted her sexuality. She was so successful while playing this masculine role, that rumors about her sexuality started spreading. In the early stages of her career, Latifah chose not to address the rumors regarding her sexuality, letting the public categorize her in their own way. Queen Latifah's ambiguity played to her strengths when acting, allowing her to have versatile roles and not become constrained to certain acting roles because of her off screen sexuality. This can be identified in many of her later films in her career, playing a range of either oversexualized characters or sexually muted characters. The distance Queen Latifah created from assumptions about her sexuality in her early career excluded her from any queer discourse throughout the nineties. Her involvement in offhanded politics and pro-black work productions helped define her work, while her sexuality did not affect her work, early on.