Kriti Mehrotra
With Netflix’s ‘Juan Gabriel: I Must, I Can, I Will’ being a documentary series underscoring the life and career of the legendary Latin musician, we get a documentary series like no other. That’s because it incorporates not only audio-video footage from his own archives but also exclusive interviews with those closest to him to reveal different aspects of who he really was. Therefore, of course, there is significant focus on the duality between his public and private experiences since he was a flamboyant performer who always kept his personal life under wraps.
Juan Gabriel Never Explicitly Confirmed His Sexuality
From the moment Juan Gabriel kickstarted his career in the mainstream Latin music industry, there started being assumptions that he was gay owing to the way his exuberantly loud style. In fact, as the years passed, many of his fans within the LGBTQ+ community proudly hailed him as a “gay icon” even though he never openly spoke of his sexuality or preferences in public. Whenever this topic was touched upon in interviews, he usually deflected so as to turn the focus back on his music, but as he grew older, he began responding with a very particular phrase.
To interviewers who still tried to ask about his relationships and sexuality, Juan often said, “Lo que se ve no se pregunta,” which translates to “What one sees does not have to be questioned.” Many fans actually took this as his implicit confirmation of being queer, whereas others interpreted this to be an affirmation of heterosexuality owing to his open appreciation of female beauty. The fact that the musician had many female romantic partners over the years was no secret, but what kept many still questioning was the rumors about his alleged homosexual relationships. After all, in ‘Juan Gabriel Y Yo,’ a memoir by his former personal secretary and friend Joaquin Muñoz, he detailed their apparent romance, but the musician still didn’t confirm or deny anything.
Juan Gabriel Was a Proud Father, But He Never Married
While Juan’s sexuality remained a secret throughout his career, he never shied away from embracing the love of both his female and male fans because all that mattered to him was their support. That’s why he always sang about love and life in a way that resonated with almost everyone in his diverse fan base before playfully asking them during his concerts, “Who wants to marry me?” However, it’s imperative to note that Juan never actually tied the knot with anyone because he didn’t want to – that sort of dynamic was never a goal for him, despite his wanting and having children. “I’m not married; I don’t ever plan to marry,” he is quoted as saying later on in his career in his public biography by Mexico’s Society of Music Authors and Composers. “I am happy single.”
Juan reportedly became a father for the first time not long after he started his career, as he decided to secretly adopt a then 13-year-old who shared his birth name, Alberto Aguilera. Then, in the late 1980s, he welcomed Iván Aguilera, shortly followed by Joan Aguilera, Hans Aguilera, and Jean Aguilera, all of whom he proudly raised alongside his best friend, Laura Salas. Yet, we should mention that although Laura always treated all 4 of these boys as if they were her own, she is only the biological mother of the youngest of this bunch, Jean. She had become a mother figure to the other three much prior, as she had fallen in love with them after just one introduction by the musician.
Laura and Juan proudly raised their four sons together, with the former always having asserted that he was a different man when he was with them because he would leave his performance persona at the door. In other words, he would shut down any talk of work, would only ever wear t-shirts and shorts, actively play with his kids, and ensure their happiness as individuals as well as a family unit. Yet, he and Laura were never romantically involved – they just shared a mutual platonic connection, with the former publicly referring to her as “the best friend of my life.” It’s imperative to note that after Juan’s passing in 2016, it came to light that he had fathered two other children with two other women, for whom he did allegedly provide when alive. Genetic testing later confirmed parentage, making it clear that Juan did indeed have multiple partners throughout his life, but he was never tied to a single relationship.
