Former First Lady Hillary Clinton on
Wednesday shot down lesbian rumors during an appearance on Howard
Stern's radio show.
Rumors about Clinton's sexuality have
swirled in conservative blogs and supermarket tabloids for years.
On Wednesday, Clinton told Stern that
she “likes men.”
“Contrary to what you may hear, I
actually like men,” Clinton joked in the course of discussing a
former boyfriend she described as a “Greek god.”
“Raise your right hand. You've never
had a lesbian affair?” Stern asked.
“Never, never, never!” Clinton
responded with a giggle. “Never even been tempted, thank you very
much.”
Clinton is currently promoting “The
Book of Gutsy Women,” which she co-wrote with her daughter.
Speaking with NBC News, Trish Bendix,
an LGBT reporter, said that she disliked how Clinton phrased her
comments.
“It's so frustrating when public
figures like Hillary feel the need to dispel lesbian rumors in a way
that equates lesbianism or queerness with salaciousness, and that's
ultimately what I dislike about the way she phrased it,” Bendix
said. “I think there's a way to refute untrue ideas about one's
own identity without saying something damaging to others.”