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Jennifer Hudson Talks Lesbian Rumors And Gay Fans Ahead Of 'JHUD' Release

When it comes to public speculation on her sexuality, Jennifer Hudson doesn’t care what people or the media thinks.

The singer-actress, 32, tells PrideSource’s Chris Azzopardi that she faced that type of scrutiny after she appeared on the 2013 MTV Video Music Awards alongside Macklemore and Mary Lambert during a performance of the hit marriage equality anthem, “Same Love.”

“People were like, ‘Is Jennifer trying to tell us something?’ Hey, I wasn’t, but if you wanna think that, it’s all right with me,” she said. “When I got the call [to do that performance], I was like, “Oh my God, I definitely wanna do this. A powerful statement is being made and I wanna be a part of that.”

Nonetheless, Hudson admires “the independence and the confidence” of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community.

“I’m so inspired by that, and I feel like, for me, that is my connection,” she said. “I’ve never understood, gosh, what does the gay community see in me? You know what I mean? Because again, I grew up around a lot of that and that’s the world that embraced me first, so that I’ve never fully gathered.”

As for the enduring LGBT appeal of her “Dreamgirls” anthem, “And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going,” she noted, “A lot of gay men I’ve met, they’re like, ‘In my heart, I am Effie.’ I relate to Effie, and I think that’s part of the connection. It’s a real situation that we all go through.”

Hudson is gearing up for the release of her third studio album, “JHUD,” on Sept. 23.

Read the full interview with Jennifer Hudson in PrideSource here.