Precious director and Monster's Ball producer discusses his bisexuality in NY Times Magazine

October 26, 5:29 PMBisexual ExaminerSheela Lambert

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Lee Daniels -photo from his website

Lee Daniels, director/producer of Precious and producer of Monster's Ball dicussed his bisexuality in NY Times Magazine yesterday in an article by Lynn Hirschberg.

About his sexuality, Daniels is both defiant and deliberately provocative. “I’d prefer to be bisexual,” he told me at the Staghorn. “But I don’t think any woman is going to accept me being with a man. I had to choose. And I did. But there’s a deep connection with me and women. They listen to me. I understand them better than I understand men.”

Like many bi people who arent connected to the bi community, it sounds as though Daniels thought his only options were dating straight women or gay men and didnt know where to find other bisexual people in NYC . Apparently it hadnt occured to him to date a bi woman, who would be more understanding about his bisexual feelings or a bi & polyamorous woman who could deal with his need to explore having a boyfriend as well as a girlfriend.

Daniels has found love and lives in NYC with his boyfriend Andy Sforzini, an actuary at Prudential Life Insurance, and shares custody of his two children with former partner Billy Hopkins. According to the article, the children were his brother's but were abandoned and Daniels saved them as they were about to be sent to foster care.

According to Daniels' Aunt Dot:

“Leonardo is Lee’s given name, and we all call him Lenny. I think Lenny was gay from the time he was a baby, and his father saw him walking and acting real feminine, and he wanted Lenny to be tough. He tried to get him into boxing. He was verbally cruel. He cracked the whip.”

Daniels reveals:

“He regularly beat me,” Daniels said. “One time, I put on my mom’s red patent-leather high heels, and he beat me. I knew he loved me, but he thought I wouldn’t survive as a black gay guy.”

Precious was executive produced by Oprah and Tyler Perry and stars Mo'Nique, Mariah Carey, Lenny Kravitz and Gabourey Sidibe who plays Precious. Precious is based on the novel Push by Sapphire.