9.22.12 Bullfighters, DC, Burning Questions

Randy Shulman þ@RandyShulman
I spoke with @adamlambert about Tuesday's benefit for @md4equality at the @930club ow.ly/dUFDx @metroweekly #VoteFor6

Fox owes Adam bigtime!!!!! they better have him in as a mentor for the whole season to make up for his income losses for sept and oct.

Honestly, I don't know that Adam would have had a whole lot going on in September anyway. It's not like they would have wanted to release the single in late Aug/early September. It is hard to do much promo before the new fall TV season starts. And they have pretty much run the course with the radio interview/performance stuff. I am beginning to think that Sept was going to be a pretty dead month regardless.

Adam:


"I kind of shy away from political events and issues -- not because I don't have my own opinions, but because I find it to be a very sensitive thing," says Adam Lambert. "And quite frankly, I'm a little bit frustrated with politics in this country. From somebody who hasn't gotten super involved, it seems like a lot of mudslinging and B.S. to me."


"Ideally, that's what being an American is -- that we all have a shot [at marriage]. I hear a lot of arguments against it, where [gay activists] say, 'We should be focusing on economic issues and not human rights issues, for the election.' There's some value in that. But I also think, 'You know what? This is an economic issue for gay people. We should have the same right as a straight couple to have a tax exemption.... We should be able to raise a family that's equally protected under the law."


"Question 6 isn't something that's asking me whether or not you're a Democrat or a Republican," says Lambert. "It's just a direct human rights question."


"I think it's baby steps.... We have to keep in mind that it's difficult for people to sidestep into territories they're not comfortable in. I'm a singer, I'm an entertainer. I'm not a politician. But this is an issue that affects me because it supercedes politics.


"In the entertainment community," he continues, "people are doing what they can. If you look at this fall season of television, there's a couple shows that are coming on with very honest, gay characters portraying real gay lives in relationships. I think that's a huge step forward. There's things that we're all doing to try to make people comfortable and to help people understand, to help erase some of the stereotypes. And that's the hardest part, that balance of celebrating who we are and our eccentricities and also trying to help people that are on the outside understand who we are.


"The hurdle I'm always kind of running into, is that the movement for a while has been about us trying to display how we're the same as opposed to how we're different. I recognize that as a very important part of us blending together. But it's not my style," says the singer known for his glam-rock flamboyance. "I'm somebody who likes to be weird and different and outrageous. That's who I am as an entertainer. And so, sometimes I might not fit in with what's best for the community as far as us progressing with society. But you've got to also give a voice to those [of us] who want to be outrageous and different and rebels."



"I'm about freedom of expression more than anything else," he says. "I like to push buttons a little bit -- buttons that are kind of perverse or contrary. I like to take the other side and challenge things. It's just who I am. It's part of my personality."