Another great resource:
adamlamberttv.blogspot.com/
One of the earliest posts there:
adamlamberttv.blogspot.com/2009_05_24_archive.htmlI saw this post on ONTD_AI and I feel the urge to post it! One of the best thing I read all day.
Filed Under () by Admin on
Posted at : Saturday, May 30, 2009
One of the best comebacks to a negative article about Adam..
One of the writers at Gawker.com wrote an awful, hurtful article about Adam titled 'Adam Lambert is Ruining Gay America.
I began reading through the comments from readers and came across a response that (I thought) rocked! I won't post the link to the article but I am going to cut/paste a response from a reader (account name -bodegacat), Richard's reply and bodegacat's final response.
Bodegacat starts off angry (as I was too after reading the article).
Bodegacat:
You know, I completely agree. I mean, not only should we not allow The Gays to marry or pursue happiness, we should take away their freedom of expression, too. If they're allowed to speak at all, it should be up to the public and bloggers to decide when, where, how and how much.
The nerve of that Lambert guy, wanting to actually enter a singing contest and think it's going to about his singing! I mean, it will be if you're hetero - but if you're not, well then, DAMMIT - in this country, The Gays are 2nd class citizens, and we demand to know WHERE YOU PUT YOUR JUNK. Cause it just might not be "rightly, Godly" (tm Sarver, Gokey).
I mean sure, he's being "handled" to within an inch of his life by the Idol PR machine, and he is in the middle of a press tour that's ostensibly about, you know, singing, and his career, but the show's been over a whole week! I mean, we might have to wait a whole 'nother week to find out WHERE HE PUTS HIS JUNK. And that's not right. He's a singer who wants to come out in RS, in a magazine that might actually emphasize his music more than WHERE HE PUTS HIS JUNK? Where's the Martyrdom for The Cause in that?!?
It's not enough that he's been made the poster boy for gay rights - and a whipping boy for others, like the great promoter of civil liberties, Mr. O'Reilly. It's not enough that when personal pictures were displayed across the media, his response was to shrug his shoulders and say I am who I am, no apologies. Deal with it. It's not enough that his WHOLE pre-Idol history and life in WEST HOLLYWOOD, and personal networking web pages literally spell it out.
It's not enough that he put Harvey Milk as his hero on his American Idol page, and said his favorite movie was Velvet Goldmine. It's not enough that he recently called the elephant in the room pink!!!! (i mean, come on.)
It's not enough that he's had to live in a house with other contestants who call their manly hetero love "rightly, Godly" - and will have to live with them 24/7 all summer long. (and don't you dare criticize them for that - they're hetero!)
It's not enough that he's had to suck up all the BS criticism & opinions from everyone & their arsehole, and has still remained professional and diplomatic while in a pressure-cooker environment on a round the clock schedule for months that would put most of us in a coma.
No, you're right. We need more.
I don't think it's enough that he SAYS he's gay. Maybe he's lying! I think the cover of the RS needs to have a candid picture of him having sex with his boyfriend - and enjoying it! No. That's not enough! Pictures can be photoshopped!
I think he needs to wear a large red G on his chest, everywhere he goes for the rest of his life! And I want a pound of flesh - and a pint of blood, that's been tested to be certifiably gay positive!
Then The Gays will learn their lesson. If they ever - EVER - try to do anything at all and they don't kneel down before (rightly) God and country and proclaim WHERE THEY PUT THEIR JUNK - then they will be thrown into a den of ravenous media and reviled in perpetuity. Equal rights, my arse.
OR... Richard could just come out with his un-"rightly/Godly" love of Kris Allen, and we could call it a night.
Response from Richard Lawson:
I guess my anger, riled up when terribly hungover at 10am this morning, is lobbied at people who have the public eye and don't choose to stand up and represent something that's bigger than themselves or their career. I guess I'm angry about California, and about complacency, and probably at myself for not doing enough in whatever little way I can. And I see someone like Adam playing jokey-joke and being withholding about all this stuff with interviewers it just seems... like a waste. And it seems like kowtowing to some vague discriminatory body--like he's saying "yes, you're right, I should be sly and careful about saying those three words out loud because then it's real and then I have to suffer the consequences, which will be lobbied against me rightly." And then we've gotten nowhere.
If he comes out in Rolling Stone then good for him, and I'll eat my hat and say thank you. Because, at this point in American sociopolitical history, it would be the right and courageous and generous thing to do.
Response from bodegacat:
I hear you, Richard, and your frustration is understandable (tho this isn't the first time you've lambasted Lambert!) As someone who's worked on suicide hotlines for gay youth, amongst other things, I understand how serious and heartbreaking the situation is. That's why I'm frustrated, too.
I don't want kids thinking if they try to succeed, especially in any public way, they'll be excoriated by the masses & press (& gay community!) in attempting the impossible - to toe the infinite number of lines set up by the infinite opinions of others. There's no respect in that, much less equality.
Some can understand the general douchery of the O Reilly's of the world, and some can even understand the constant harrassment from a publicity-seeking P. Hilton, but you're intelligent and funny and the best part of a hip, trendy website, so what you say carries a different weight.
Why is it that when O'Reilly wants to make Adam's Idol run about his sexuality he's a bigot, but when members of the gay community want to make his Idol run about his sexuality, they're civil rights heroes?
How do you expect him to navigate through the minefield that this sets up: he's gay and flaunting it! Off with his head! No, he's gay and not flaunting it enough! Off with his head!
Adam is about as coy as a 10-ton pink elephant. It would be difficult to lead a more obviously out & proud gay life than Adam has. You think if he says it, then he's "coming out." I say he's already obviously out, and if he says it in this arena, when it's not an issue for any of the other contestants, then they've made Adam cry "uncle," made him succumb to the unfair, bullsh*t double standards of the press and public. They've underscored the inequality. If I'd been the focus of all the homophobic jibes, taunts, harassment and downright cruelty starting at his audition and snowballing from there, and these people kept ignoring not only my music but Kris's, asking if I was gay so they could up the media circus, I'd tell them to f*** off. End of story. What you call "jokey-joke" I call maintaining a sense of humor, and I applaud him for having one, because the way he is being treated in a professional arena is the real joke.
Adam never said he wanted to be a role model for the gay community. He's wanted to encourage kids who were outsiders or different. Yet I would suggest that one reason Adam has been an excellent role model for gays is because he's gone about his business as if he is a human being pursuing his profession, like all the other Idols. Yet he's been incredibly brave in using the Idol stage to make it obvious that his profession is highly influenced by his sexual preferences - changing lyrics, fashions, song styles (Ring of Fire) and ambiance (Feeling Good) or gleefully turning the iconic macho "Beth" into a homoerotic anthem (for that performance alone he should be applauded). Despite the homophobes trying to oust him as they did with Hernandez last year, Adam managed to remain in it, but clearly not of it. And what better family values than his supportive, proud family, role models themselves.
I cringe when you say you'll forgive Adam IF he "comes out" in RS. Another line drawn. Somewhere a scared gay kid reads that and thinks "if someone like Adam gets so much grief, what hope do I have?" I would suggest Adam is one of the more positive things that's happened to gay rights in awhile. I would suggest you could be a role model for gay youth by celebrating Adam as a role model, or at least applauding what he's done right.
It's so late it's early and I'm tired and this is much longer than I wanted it to be. Just consider cutting Adam some slack, and consider that your vitriole has an effect on a lot of scared kids who live amongst their own judgemental families and are really agitated about how and when to come out, if ever, and are desperately looking for a safe harbor. One thing if that vitriole was deserved, but in this case, I don't believe it is at all.
ALSO: bodegacat makes a really interesting point that I hadnt considered. of course I've been nervous about the RS cover being "I'm GAY", but I think he made a genius choice. RS (out of every possible mag out there) is the one most likely for focus on his MUSIC rather than sexual preference.
