Queen Latifah shares 'love' for partner at 2021 BET Awards

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The Queen is beaming with pride. 

During her coronation as the Lifetime Achievement doyenne at the 2021 BET Awards Sunday, lyrical voluptuary Queen Latifah finally addressed her long-questioned sexual orientation.  

“Peace — happy Pride!” exclaimed Latifah (real name Dana Owens) in the closing remarks of her acceptance speech. 

The Grammy Award-winning diva went on to make one of her first public declarations of affection to her longtime partner of nearly a decade, Eboni Nichols. 

“Eboni, my love,” said Latifah, 51, touching her heart in salute to Nichols, 43. 

“Rebel, my love,” she added, warmly acknowledging the son she and Nichols reportedly welcomed together in 2019. 

Latifah has savvily sidestepped inquiries into her sexuality since she first stormed the pop culture continuum as a militant mistress of the mic with the classic hip-hop track “Ladies First” in 1989. 

Throughout the years, the New Jersey-born musician-turned-Golden Globe winner has refused to confirm or deny suspicions of her homosexuality. 

“I don’t have a problem discussing the topic of somebody being gay, but I do have a problem discussing my personal life,” Latifah insisted during an interview with the New York Times in 2008. 

“You don’t get that part of me,” the “Equalizer” star continued.

“I don’t feel like I need to share my personal life, and I don’t care if people think I’m gay or not. Assume whatever you want,” she went on. “You do it anyway.”

Nichols is a former Los Angeles Lakers Girl dancer who now works as a professional choreographer on major Hollywood productions like the feature film “Girls Trip” and the ABC comedy “Fresh Off the Boat.” She and Latifah reportedly met on the set of “Dancing With the Stars” in 2009, but they didn’t embark on their ultra-private relationship until 2013. 

In 2015, the hush-hush honeys were spotted smiling and sunning in bikinis on the beaches of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil. 

Rumors that the Queen had asked for Nichols’ hand in marriage circulated in 2017.

Neither sweetheart has ever officially confirmed their engagement. 

But Latifah’s recent expression of unabashed pride and love was enough to send social media romantics spiraling.  

Representatives for Queen Latifah did not immediately return The Post’s request for comment. 

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