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Post by skaschep on Jun 2, 2018 19:08:35 GMT -5
twitter.com/MikeAdamOnAir/status/1002988442534465536Mike Adam @mikeadamonair .@adamlambert on his upcoming album: “I don’t think this album is genre-specific. There’s rock, there’s funk, there’s soul, there’s disco, '70s singer-songwriter pop & some '80s flavors too. That being said, there are a lot of modern influences as well, so it’s sort of a fusion." Mike Adam @mikeadamonair 🇦🇱 On-air Mon-Fri, 3-7pm on @fresh1027ny... stream us: bit.ly/1AtnM9p | SUBSCRIBE: YouTube.com/MikeAdamOnAir New York, NY
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Post by girldrummer on Jun 2, 2018 19:09:11 GMT -5
And it is so annoying to me, and probably to him, when the press uses Adam as an example of difference in the new gay artists being more bold than he. They don't use Rickey or Sam as examples of gay stars who made it before anyone knew. But Adam who took all the hits and fire from Idol to his career launch, which could have derailed the career of anyone less talented, is used as the one who hide. How can you now pretend that you did not know when you never gave him on Idol or his career a chance without bringing his sexuality into the picture as if that is all he is? But he is a great role model, success and a survivor but it seems unfair that credit he is due is not given. Adam gets a lot of recognition from the press for blazing a path, etc. And he also get recognition from other artists. Here's an example from a Billboard interview of Darren Hayes. (This whole interview is great IMO).
Q: What do you think was the most groundbreaking event in pop culture that has helped this shift towards LGBTQ acceptance since 2000?
A: Adam Lambert on American Idol. Hands down. He smashed down the door of the closet. I loved Adam’s image. It was an extension of his sexuality. It was bold and unapologetically theatrical. He expressed himself loudly, dramatically, and did not give a damn whether it was palatable to conservative values. I loved that he wore makeup, nail polish and experimented with his hair. He didn’t have to come out because he was never in. I think his success proved you can be out, proud and successful by beginning your career presenting yourself as authentically as possible.
I think this statement is not correct, "They don't use Rickey or Sam as examples of gay stars who made it before anyone knew."
Rickey Martin is often used as an example of gay stars in hiding. Rickey Martin being gay was widely known within the music industry and within the gay community. He just did not come out publicly. I don't think many of his avid fans were surprised since it was widely discussed for decades and apparent at concerts.
Sam Smith, on the other hand, publicly came out close to the beginning of his career -- in the U.S. he was not established but had just released his first single and album. I am not sure what "coming out" means any more. Sam, like Adam, was living publicly as a gay man since he was 18 and never "in." Here the timeline.
First UK hit "Money on My Mind" released in the UK February 12, 2014.
First US hit "Stay with Me" released on April 14, 2014. (first US solo single)
"In the Lonely Hour" released May 26, 2014.
Confirmed he was gay May 28, 2014. (published article)
***
I read the whole interview and it was amazing. Darren Hayes really had a hard time of it as a school boy and a young man. He was bullied, beat up, and everything that comes with that. Read the whole interview if you have time. Interesting that, after all he has been through, he gives huge credit to Adam for doing what he did on Idol. That's mighty powerful praise, IMO.
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Post by skaschep on Jun 2, 2018 19:09:44 GMT -5
asteroid17473 Just sharing an article (The Sun) I've seen on Facebook about Adam sharing his experiences with LGBT-youth 31st May 🌈 #LGBT #Pride🌈 #pridemonth❤️💛💚💙💜 #AdamLambert #comingout http://instagr.am/p/BjiRb9ggzj_
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Post by girldrummer on Jun 2, 2018 19:13:58 GMT -5
This whole being out topic can at times get a bit weird. Imagine a private person who happens to live in city 'A' and is out, both at home and in public. Now this person decides to move to city 'B'. Is he all of a sudden closeted, just because the people of city 'B' don't know? Rather silly to suggest that, right? Also, in this new city, is the gay person all of a sudden obliged to bring up the 'gay'-topic into every new encounter, just to not revoke his 'out'-status? See how ridiculous that gets? let me take t a step further: I guess, many straight people (including the media at times) forget that being out requires some kind of 'upkeep' from the person who is out. It apparently needs to be brought up again and again, and the gay person is supposed to make that judgement call, whether that status is important for the new person to know, and whether this is the moment to bring it up. Gay people seem to also be required to keep some form of mental ledger on who already knows and who does not. Obviously, I am exaggerating here a bit right now to make a point, but I think the underlying facts are very much true. The straight world, including the media, and sometimes even the gay world (OUT magazine anybody?) is kind of putting the burden on the individual gay person to carry that responsibility of defining and re-defining their 'gayness' according to the other person's own internal list of criteria. That is certainly not fair to anyone. With Adam, obviously, we the public, were all collectively citizens of this city 'B'. In addition, Adam could not talk to us during idol, so it remained a rumor. Jet that rumor was big enough that it covered 3 column long articles in the NYTimes, and was covered in everything from the WSJ to ET-Online. But Adam himself was never in those discussions, due to his status on the show. So, how on earth does that make him closeted? Just because we had not yet received positive affirmation of the news, does not mean he was not open. I think that straight people have a tendency to underestimate how much strain this so often means for any gay person, to have this topic constantly creep into all kinds of conversations and situations, that in principle have nothing to do with orientation. A person gets a new job, they need to think about how to deal with this, a person joins some kind of club or social group, again the topic needs to be bridged, the person meets some friends of his friends, again the topic is on the table. In certain ways, a celebrity has the benefit that once this topic has been chewed over by the press, then they don't need to reiterate it in every private encounter, but for private citizens, it will always remain a bothersome part of their life. Sometimes, I wish people would put themselves into other peoples shoes a bit more, and that includes the media. If they would try to see the world from the other person's perspective and not just their own, they might interview differently. Our knowledge about Adam's orientation does not define his degree of 'outness', that is just not how it should be defined, and I hate to see when the media do it anyways (as you said: re-write history).
In general, I wish that people would start thinking that whole process through a bit more and I think they would judge things a bit differently. It also explains why so many gay people decide to stay closeted, and only come out to a very narrow circle of trusted friends. It is truly such a bother to handle, that many decide to stay closeted and deal with the consequences that this brings along, i.e. a semi-secretive life. Great post. Being not straight seems to come with a lot of weight on someone's shoulders - whether it is about the presumed "responsibility" of coming out or the decision to stay in the closet, or something in between. It is a whole lot besides internal struggles as well, and I would not blame anybody for treating sexual orientation as a private matter. Perfectly said. It's always easy to have an opinion about what someone else SHOULD do when you're not that person. Adam himself has said that coming out isn't always simple or even possible for some gay people. The current big push to "come out" is fine advice for some, but not for all. Sometimes, people just have to be allowed to live their lives as they please.
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Post by bamafan on Jun 2, 2018 19:17:32 GMT -5
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Post by sizzling63 on Jun 2, 2018 19:18:50 GMT -5
Good post @q3 ! As for Adam being out or not on idol: I actually find it kind of shocking, how much open speculation about these private things were in the media in the US. I‘ve read about a lot of this before, but being late in the game and from another country made me forget about a lot of it. I mean, the pictures found on Adam’s social media spoke volumes. But nevertheless it was still speculation. Was it by law even allowed, that the media took these pictures, showed them and published Adam as a gay man? 😳 Adam wasn’t officially out. Considering all the talks on these current interviews about Adam and being gay in the industry: Adam is considered a star by now. I do believe, that the interviewer talks to Adam and Shoshanna beforehand about what themes they will touch. If Adam didn’t want to talk about that, he could say so. But considering, that he is on TV without new music out and no real news about the tour with Queen or his music: What should he talk about?? The media looks for interesting topics. 🙄 And it seems to me, that Adam accepted the role as „a gay role model“ in the music industry, that he had been forced into in the beginning, by now. When you look at his Instagram posts after the brunch in LA for instance, I see his pride in there. And also in all these interviews from last week. Adam wears that role proudly by now and it might even be a strategy to be loud and visible. Troye Sivan seems to do similar things at the moment. If they show themselves and talk about their struggles, that causes awareness and things can change for the better. One question: I‘m curious, if other (rumored) gay artists were haunted similarly by the media as Adam was during idol? And do other out gay celebrities also need to answer constantly questions in interviews about being gay? I can’t remember anything like this in Germany. We have a lot of gay artists/celebrities on TV. They are as or more successful than straight ones. We have gay politicians. Some of them talk about being LGBT, when coming out or in an interview a bit, some don’t. In general it isn’t a big deal. In 2001 Berlin elected an openly gay mayor. His motto was: „I‘m gay and this is good so.“ He had stayed in the office for 13 years until 2014. I don’t know, if the TV-show „Jungle Camp“ is known in the US. It’s a reality TV-show, where the contestants must stay in a Camp in the Australian jungle.In Britain it’s called “I‘m a celebrity..Get me out of here!“ It’s very popular in Germany. The celebrities there are always a mixture from all sorts of people. We had gay winners, a trans runner up, a Drag Queen as runner up as well as straight men and women. The thing is, that their differences in all humanly aspects make the show and their living together so interesting. And at the same time, their sexuality isn’t a topic. It’s who they are. From watching the show through the years, the sexuality doesn’t seem to influence the voting. I just wish, this could be the case always and everywhere. There still exists homophobia in Germany as well. But I have the feeling, that in the arts and on TV queer people are accepted. In football it is not. So there is still a long way to go. And Adam is one of the forefighters. I need to run out in a few minutes but I would like to respond quickly. You can not compare Germany to the US, and this comes from someone who has lived more than a quarter century in Germany before moving to one of the most liberal areas in the US. I have lived in the Bay Area of SF for about equal amount of time. Non issues in Germany are a big deal here and there are many examples. I will elaborate later.
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Post by bamafan on Jun 2, 2018 19:19:20 GMT -5
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Post by cassie on Jun 2, 2018 19:23:46 GMT -5
Of course Adam was out before Idol. Unabashedly. Not just to close family and friends, but in his daily life. I find it bizarre that gay people are expected to self-identify to casual acquaintances and total strangers. We don't expect folks to announce their religious status at work, at the grocery store, or at the PTA. Nor their ethnic background. Or their marital status. Or whether they vote democrat or republican. Why should they have to state their orientation? It pisses me off.
I think one reason Adam got so much attention about his orientation during and right after Idol was precisely because he did not try to act straight. Did not edit himself to appear different than he was. If he had wanted to hide his orientation on Idol, he would have made different choices in song choice, styling, staging and costuming.
We all modify our behavior to fit the various situations we find ourselves in at work or play. I don't go on and on about my Adam obsession with casual acquaintances, for example. And I realize that talking at length about my wonderful dog pack on Adamtopia doesn't fit. I don't see a need to "out" myself as a Glambert or as "the crazy dog lady". Adam was auditioning for a job. It was about presenting himself as an entertainer, highlighting the things he can do performance wise and production wise.
After Idol, Adam made some bold choices that drew the spotlight to him. Some rebellious, defiant choices. And probably some naive choices. Over time his choices have proven to have a profound impact on young LGBT kids and on fans of all ages who have been inspired by his mantra of self-confidence and being oneself. That is the important thing to me, not whether the media writes that he came out after Idol.
Also, I think Adam has chosen to talk about his orientation on this round of interviews because it is Gay Pride month, right?
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Post by nightowl on Jun 2, 2018 19:26:50 GMT -5
sizzling63Thanks. I know, that you cannot compare it. (Edit: But actually you can to some extend: What Adam said about the similarities between the US and the UK is also valid for Germany: there are regions with many more conservative and religious people, mostly in the countryside. Coming out there would be very hard. And even in this liberal city of Berlin you have these and those people. I‘m a teacher at a school with religious background. In my last class (I taught them from 3rd to 6th grade) was a trans kid. And although there was barely any problem among the kids(minor insecurities only started with hitting puberty, but were sorted out after speaking about being LGBT), I had some hard fights with some parents about dressingrooms ect..,. While queer celebrities are usually accepted, that unfortunately doesn’t automatically mean, that everyone is comfortable with „such persons“ in their everyday life. ) Actually I was just curious, if the media generally „behaves/d“ as they did with Adam. Because I saw, that Jimmy Kimmel for instance is popular. And I described a bit, how it is here. I actually think I posted it, because it shows, that things can get better. Germany hasn‘t always been that accepting... k
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loxie
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Post by loxie on Jun 2, 2018 19:31:27 GMT -5
islandgirljams : My son just texted me from the theatre, new BR movie trailer played!! Saw the Bo Rhap movie trailer last weekend. The Dolby sound was phenomenal and the whole theater vibrated with every drum beat making you feel like you were in the first row of the concert. Super exciting! Anticipating great sales.
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