Watch: Melissa Etheridge Recalls Record Label Wondering What to 'Do About the Gay Thing'

Appearing on the video series "Free Speech + Other Dirty Words," produced by SPIN and FIRE, out rocker Melissa Etheridge recalled a moment when a record label asked her, "What are we going to do about the gay thing?"

Early in the 9-minute video, host Ryan J. Downey asked Etheridge about a time when she felt a need for self-censorship. The Grammy-winning singer recalled, "When I first started playing in bars in Kansas, in bands, I would sing cover songs. And it was all, you know, straight, heterosexual music," as opposed to "When I got to a lesbian bar and realized, 'Oh – I can sing whatever I want.'"

The "Come to My Window" singer went on to say that she "knew that I wanted to get a record deal, but I didn't want to limit who was listening to me, and so I made a choice in the songs I was writing to make them genderless."

Etheridge then told Downey about "a moment when I was signed by Island Records, right before the album came out," when, at a meeting, "someone said, 'So, what are we gonna do about the gay thing?' And I was like, 'What do you mean?'"

"I'm not gonna pretend I'm something else. I'm not gonna go find a guy to take pictures with and, you know, pretend he's my boyfriend. I'm not gonna do that. I'm gonna be me."

"And they said, 'Well, as long as you don't flag wave.' And I was like, 'Okay.' That was, of course, that was before we had a rainbow," Etheridge added. "But four years later, I was flag waving."

Etheridge's self-titled debut was released in 1988. She "made headlines when she came out at the Triangle Ball, which was part of President Bill Clinton's inaugural celebration on Jan. 20, 1993," People Magazine recalled.

"Etheridge is married to wife Linda Wallem, whom she wed in May 2014," People Mag said.

In the interview, Etheridge went on to relate how Eminem faced a boycott over anti-gay comments, which prompted her to stand up for the rapper's free speech.

"I stepped away from all the gay organizations that were coming down hard, and I said, 'No, no. It works both ways, We want the freedom to be ourselves to say what we like, even though it offends some other people; I've gotta let him be who he is and say what he likes, even though it offends me, because that's freedom.'"

Etheridge continued on, discussing "this American experiment is about, 'Can we all live together inside those differences? Can we make that work?'"

"We've got to understand that other people think absolutely differently, and they have a right to do that, too," the singer said.

Watch Etheridge's interview below.