The Guardian: Country music stars still kicking down the closet door

Believe it or not, Lavender Country's 1973, in-your-face, first (and only) album, which includes the astonishing Crying These Cocksucking Tears, was, after its 2000 re-release, ensconced in the Country Music Hall of Fame because of its historic value.
     The aforementioned cut from the album cost a DJ her license when she played it (sample verse: "I'm fighting for when there won't be no straight men.")
     In its piece, The Guardian quoted Chely Wright, who:

...believes the notion of Nashville as a deeply conservative town is simplistic. "People in the industry – studios, labels, radio programmers – are generally open and understanding," she says, "but the fanbase is a different thing." Attending a country concert recently, she looked around and decided it would be unwise to hold hands with her wife Lauren. "I wouldn't call the industry homophobic, but they're afraid of the fear lots of fans have about gay people. So they package us as straight, and we let them." Why? "Because we all want to be part of the big game."

Below: Jerry Jeff Walker (real name: Ronald Clyde Crosby), who is straight, cheerfully slides the apparent subtext of Jaded Lover under the gaydar of a television audience in the early 90s.

I can see you are an angel, whose wings just won't unfold...
Goodbye you jaded lover, you undercover queen for a day...
Well, keep sittin' on it darlin'...