JUDAS PRIEST's ROB HALFORD Says Christian Right In U.S. Is 'Pushing The LGBTQ Community Under The Bus'

In a brand new interview with NME, JUDAS PRIEST frontman Rob Halford was asked what it is like being a famous gay man living in America as the country seemingly lunges further and further towards the conservative right. He responded: "Don't get me started on the Christian right pushing the LGBTQ community under the bus. They're passing laws here where if you're gay you can lose your job, based on whether the people who run a company follow a religion that doesn't accept people like us. It's horrible. America is supposed to be the world's leading superpower and some of this stuff is medieval. It's not a country where you feel especially safe, and I do think I feel less safe now. You are aware that by walking down the supermarket you might get shot. But I try not to let that stuff intrude on my life. The politicians, the media, they want you to be scared and I refuse to be."

This is not the first time Halford has lamented the Trump administration's perceived lack of support of LGBT rights. In a 2018 interview with the Pioneer Press, the singer, who splits his time between the U.S. and England, said: "Where do I start? I knew I was gay when I was 8 or 9. I've been through a lot. Stonewall in New York, many, many similar things in England. It's been a fucking slog. When I was a teen coming to terms with it, I thought when I was an old man, all of this will be forgotten, the color of your skin, your orientation, your religion. Boy, was I wrong.

"With the current administration, it doesn't look particularly healthy right now," he continued. "On the other side of it, [much has changed] so we can reach this level of equality. There is still a hell of a lot more to be done and it's taking forever. Sometimes it's like one step forward, two steps back. But these types of challenges only make us stronger, you know?"

Halford discussed his sexuality publicly for the first time more than 20 years ago during a 1998 interview with MTV, telling the music channel: "I think that most people know that I've been a gay man all of my life, and that it's only been in recent times that it's an issue that I feel comfortable to address, and an issue that has been with me ever since recognizing my own sexuality."

JUDAS PRIEST's latest album, "Firepower", was released in March 2018 via Epic.