Elton has said that a former boyfriend committed suicide while they were dating because the man was racked with guilt over his sexuality.
“He was so tortured by the conflicting views between his sexuality and his strong religious beliefs that he chose to take his own life,” David Furnish added.
That death is what led Elton to his partner to produce a new play now on Broadway, Next Fall, about two gay men with different religious beliefs.
“It’s the right timing for this,” Furnish says. “The religious divide between Right and Left has gotten wider, and so the rights of gay people never got back to where it was heading.”
The pop icon was left devastated by the suicide and admits the tragedy still affects him now.
Elton said: “There is some of us in Next Fall. Years back I had a relationship, and I had absolutely no idea in the world he was going to do this… he threw himself under a truck. There was so much grief.
“Look, we all need love. We all have the same fears and insecurities. We should all be allowed to be free.”
