Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles Talks Gay Rumors: A Lot of People Assumed I Was a Lesbian

Singer has finally addressed the speculation

Over the last few years, Sugarland's Jennifer Nettles has been at the center of gay rumors, partially due to her suggestive lyrics in a few hit songs.

But the 39-year-old country star has finally opened up once and for all about the speculation in a recent interview with Between the Lines.

"I had such a strong lesbian following, and in the gay community as a whole, I've always had so much support from them," she said.

"I think a lot of people assumed, too. Whenever they heard a woman with an alto voice playing an acoustic instrument stylistically reminiscent of those wonderful icons you counted, Ani DiFranco and Indigo Girls—and especially with the audience I had in my 20s—I think a lot of people just assumed [that I was lesbian]."

"So those lyrics—'Crotch propaganda/ Bat for both teams/ And it's me not choosing sides standing in between'—I definitely related to because it's like, who cares?" she continued. "Why choose sides? And why do you have to?"

Nettles also talked about how her previous hairstyle—a short, punky 'do—only further perpetuated the rumors.

"If I have a short haircut and someone assumes something one way or another. It doesn't bother me. I don't care," she said.

"A lot of times we're just trying to relate to each other and trying to figure out where we fit in."

Nettles, who gave birth to her first child, Magnus Miller, in December 2012, is currently married to Justin Miller.