Sexuality is something that Steve McQueen has also had to deal with outside of his art (although he does claim that art is life). After the release of his film, "Bear" a lot of people assumed that he was gay. It isn't considered "normal" or "hetero" for a male to make sexual gestures towards another male. So, because of McQueen's acts within the film, people have gone to assume that he was gay. However, after doing a lot of research and reading, I came across an "artist profile" written by Cath Clarke just before the release of "Hunger" that states that McQueen is actually not gay.
Here is the paragraph that states this:
"A less confident artist starting out might have ditched the name shared with a legendary actor – too confusing – reverting to a middle name or initial. Not McQueen, who genuinely doesn’t seem to care what people think. He has said that for a long time people often assumed he was gay – he happens not to be – after ‘Bear’, which was fine by him."
Paragraph taken from: http://www.timeout.com/film/hunger/director_history/
Here is an interesting question and response from an interview that I found:
David Coggins: How long have you lived in Amsterdam?
Steve McQueen: I’ve lived here for 12 years—it’s a great city. And being with my wife and child has given me joy and allows me to pause and think.
Full Interview: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/steve-mcqueen/#_
Regardless of these assumptions (that may or not be true), McQueen hasn't shown any sign of discomfort with himself or care of what other people think of him. To him it doesn't matter whether somebody is gay or not. Just doesn't matter.
