Kurt Cobain Made It OK for Gay Musicians

The late Nirvana front man Kurt Cobain helped create a more accepting musical climate for queer musicians and said being gay is cool, according to Hole drummer Patty Schemel in an interview with Out magazine.

Schemel, the subject of an upcoming documentary, Hit So Hard, tells Out's Adam Rathe that she grew up feeling like a freak when she discovered she was gay. "I talk about finding David Bowie and Klaus Nomi and Patti Smith and them being these little beacons of light for me," she says. "I found myself and I found this sense of self in music."

While discussing the male-dominated grunge scene of the early 1990s, Schemel suggests it all changed when Nirvana gained popularity. "When Kurt [Cobain] came along, he said -- through his music and the way he spoke about things -- that freaks are cool," she says. "He said that being gay is cool, and that made the climate even better for us."