Rapper A$AP Rocky: 'I Have Respect for Gay Men Who Come Out'

Rap music may not have had a reputation for embracing the LGBT community in the past, but artists like A$AP Rocky are proof that attitudes are evolving rapidly.

The rap artist recently spoke out in support of gay men in the public eye who come out of the closet and said he supported anyone who embraced their sexuality.

Rocky weighed in on out artist Frank Ocean and NBA center Jason Collins's historic announcement in Sports Illustrated magazine confirming he is a gay man. "I respect men more for coming out.," he told 93.9 WKYS radio. "They joke on Frank Ocean a lot, but at least he ain't out here frontin'. It's a lot of mothafucka's they be out here they be in the closet mothafucka's. I don't respect them. I respect gay men who identify it and they out with it. I don't have a problem with gay people at all."

However, this isn't the first time the rap artist has raised his voice in support of LGBT people. He recently spoke with Interview magazine about the need for hip-hop to evolve further in its acceptance of diversity and named several top artists in the genre who he felt were setting an admirable example of ending homophobia. "It's 2013, and it's a shame that, to this day, that topic still gets people all excited. It's crazy," he said. "We've got people like Jay-Z. We've got people like Kanye. We've got people like me. We're all prime examples of people who don't think like that. I treat everybody equal, and so I want to be sure that my listeners and my followers do the same if they're gonna represent me. And if I'm gonna represent them, then I also want to do it in a good way."