>>6927382He's not so much a heavily in denial closet case as trying to protect the reputation of the only man he ever loved (Joe Cole), as Cole's parents are OBSCENELY homophobic. Rollins would rather have his lover's parents think their kid was straight AND died in a blotched drug deal gone wrong, than disown/spit on their dead son's grave over him being gay/shacking up with Rollins and him dying in a home invasion robbery of the couple's house.
Also, Rollins underwent a fundamental change in the late 90s. One of his fag hags convinced him to start seeing a professional therapist, which led to among other things:
1. Rollins music becoming quasi-new age hard rock
2. Rollins disbanding his band and making his spoken word/stand-up work his primary source of income, along with getting more involved in acting. While Rollins still makes music, it's more or less a side gig and not his main profession.
3. Rollins basically becoming more silly/self-deprecating in terms of mocking his "super serious" persona he had for years.
4. Finally, Rollins has gone full tilt absorbed into liberal politics scene in LA. Partly due to his acting projects (you can't be conservative in Hollywood unless you are deeply closeted on nearly all things conservative) and his involvement with IFC, which gave him a talk show where he got to bash George W Bush on a weekly basis.
