I sat down with the King of Autotune at a press event and found that his newly acquired rage against homophobia stems from witnessing his gay assistant, E.J., endure daily rounds of disrespect and discrimination from within the industry.

That is what I heard a group of teenagers say the other day, here on the streets of Brooklyn, when it came out that Frank Ocean had revealed a past love affair with a man. There was no judgment in that remark, no gay bashing, not even the slightest hint of hatred or disgust hovering about them.

Ocean's gutsiness in revealing his heart and the surprise of discovering that his first love was a man is more than just transparent. For any of us who remember a first love, it offers a common meeting ground beyond the rhetoric of LGBT rights.