8.21.11 Adam News & Info

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An Open Letter to Aaron Hicklin
and our "friends" at Out Magazine[/b][/color]
8.21.11 by Q3

Aaron – I wrote something sophisticated and polite but it did not seem appropriate. I deleted it. My message is very simple – and deserves simple language – “Do not fuck with Adam Lambert again. This time we are watching you.”

In 2009 you did not get the Adam Lambert cover you wanted, so you turned on Adam and accused him of being a pawn in the hands of his greedy management. Adam set the record straight and made it clear that he was calling the shots and he was not an unwitting pawn.

Now, two years later, Adam has agreed to be in OUT Magazine again and you seem to be back to your old tricks. I am hopeful that I am misinformed and that you are treating Adam with the respect he has earned and deserved. But just in case you have forgotten who you are dealing with – I thought I might remind you.

I know that Adam needs no one to defend him or negotiate for him. He is a smart, experienced, successful recording artist, entertainer and out gay man.

But Adam has millions of fans who love him and will gladly defend him. I am proudly one of those fans. And yes, there really are millions of us. Gay and straight, male and female, all ages, all races from countries all over the world. Two years ago when you fucked over Adam, many of us stood by and said nothing when you blindsided Adam. I think you blindsided Adam’s fans, too. But now there are more of us and we are connected in hundreds of intertwined digital and real world networks. If needed, we can move quickly and swiftly.

So here is my simple message – do not fuck with Adam Lambert. Give him credit for what he has done to forward sexual equality. Treat him with the respect he has earned and deserves. And do not fuck with Adam fans. Treat us with the respect that we have earned and deserve.

A final note. I know that some Adam fans will disagree with my post. They will think that I should be happy that Adam will be in OUT Magazine and have a photospread, and tell me we should not make any waves. They will say that I should not anticipate any issue between Adam and Out Magazine. Adam fans are notable polite and nice – just like Adam and me. Normally I would agree.

This time while I respect this opinion but disagree. I cannot forget – Aaron Hicklin already showed his character – he is not to be trusted. And this is the first time that I believe that someone needs an advance warning that although Adam fans are polite and nice, we are also like a sleeping tiger – willing to support Adam in the face of almost anything.

My slogan for the week – “Once burned, twice shy.”

***
Out: Reopening the Open Letter
8/21/2011 by NoAngel

When the rumor surfaced earlier this week that Adam might have had a photo shoot for Out Magazine, my feelings were mixed. A mix of renewed outrage and unhappiness. I'm a survivor of many a Gate, and I've forgiven and moved on from all kinds of past slights and insults against Adam. So why does the Out situation from two years ago still have so much power to take me from zen to rage in two seconds flat?

Rereading editor Aaron Hicklin's open letter, I really do understand Out's issue with Adam's management. Out wanted Adam in their magazine; Adam's management set terms. Out didn't like those terms. So they put Adam in the magazine and then Hicklin wrote an "open letter to Adam" and denounced his management in public. Again, I understand. Hicklin wanted to make a point, and to make it loudly, on the platform he has. It would have been nice if he had given Adam a heads-up, but that's not how the world and the media works. It would also have been cool for Hicklin to decide that the terms were unacceptable, and to not have Adam in the magazine. But that was unthinkable, and apparently they couldn't be bothered arguing for different terms.

If Hicklin's issue had only been with Adam's management, his letter would have made sense. Out does have an agenda and that is not just to support gay celebs, but also to call out injustices in the world as they affect the LGBT community. It makes sense for them to criticize the management of a new out gay star who according to Hicklin were trying to control his image and retain Adam's appeal to the straight "community." Hicklin was pointing out the problem—Adam, your management is manipulating your image. We're being totally helpful here, Adam, just letting you know. Never mind that we're implying that you are at best a puppet of your label and at worst a whore to the fame you so desperately desire.

But then the letter takes a turn. "You’re a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career. Someone has to be first, and we’re all counting on you not to mess this up. You have to find your own path and then others can follow. We just hope it’s a path that’s honest and true and that you choose to surround yourself with people who celebrate your individuality."

"You have to find your own path…" Really, Aaron? You have a young man who had the balls to take his crazy self from the wild desert of Burning Man to American Idol, the fairy tale of middle America, and strut himself around that stage and into the hearts of middle Americans to the point where he came in second, defying all possible odds. I'd say he found his own path.

"We just hope it’s a path that’s honest and true…" Really, Aaron? You have a man who spreads his sexy body and his sexuality all over the pages of Rolling Stone. A man who had writhed around on Idol concert stages in arenas all across the country, jerking off his mic and sending fans into unprecedented conniptions, bracketed between a heart-handsing Uriah Heep and a milquetoast Southern lad. A man who had bared his soul in multiple interviews including the one in your magazine. Sounds pretty honest and true.

"We’re all counting on you…" Really, Aaron? Who exactly is "We"? Is there is a homogenous gay multitude out there, just waiting for a messiah to lead the way to the promised land? "Counting on you"? Yeah, Adam it's all on your shoulders, dude. We'll just hang out ====> here, while you do your thing, and let us know when you've righted every wrong. We haven't been able to fix everything ourselves, but we'll be right here ready to judge you if you don't ~represent us properly.

"…to not mess this up." Really, Aaron? And what would "messing up" look like? Or maybe it would be more illuminating to know, what would not messing up look like? As Adam said, "don't project your agenda onto my career." Hicklin, despite his illusions of control, didn't and doesn't own Adam. As much as he might love to have an Adam as tame as a carefully manicured poodle, groomed just right to not scare the shit out of the straights and to appease the gays, Aaron doesn't have that ability, and I think that scared the hell out of him. Hicklin referred to the work done to advance LGBT equality, and it's true that many have fought long and hard. Decades of sweat and blood have been shed in order to claw forward to the place we are at today. But really, is it such a victory if Adam has to toe a careful line drawn by the gay establishment in order to "not mess it up"? Is the foothold so fragile that the actions of one man can really set back all the progress made thus far? And if so, is everyone okay with writing "Adam fucked it up for us" in the history books if there is a set-back? That's giving him a hell of a lot of power, especially considering you think of him as a puppet. So if Adam would get all the blame, would he also get all the credit if he actually doesn't fuck up?

I've tried to figure out—what about the Out situation is so uniquely galling? Why are the emotions so intense whenever it comes up? It's because I imagine Adam, mere days before his first album comes out, excited and exhausted and full of anticipation, reading Aaron's letter and realizing that all he had done—the brave journey on Idol, the envelope-pushing AI tour, the RS cover/interview, the music he had made with the biggest movers and shakers in the business—it was all minimized because he was told he wasn't following the proscribed path. He was putting himself on the line, and instead of support he felt a cold knife in his back.

Ultimately I think the words of his Out interviewer were closest to the truth. As Shana Naomi Krochmal said, "We're witnessing a changing of the guard, and it's bound to overlap a bit in the middle, creating these strange moments where we work with both proudly out stars and their reluctant handlers, sometimes at odd with each other even when they have the same ultimate goals…."

So true. The goal that talent would be recognized and promoted for its own sake without consideration of extraneous factors. The goal that someone is judged by the content of their lyrics and not by the companions in their bed.

Krochmal concluded, "I'm looking forward to Adam Lambert having a long career, and to him proving every single one of us wrong in one way or another." Amen to that. May Adam prove all of us wrong. Those who doubt and those who question and those who worry. Those who secretly wish he'd tone it down just a tad to widen his mainstream appeal, and those who wish he'd thumb his fabulous nose at all the pearlclutchers. Those who sit back and judge his actions from their own comfort zone. Because ultimately, this isn't anyone's journey but Adam's.

So, this is my open letter to Adam:

You’re a pioneer, an out gay pop idol at the start of his career. Someone has to be first, and I'm counting on you to do whatever the fuck you want that makes you happy and fulfilled. You have to find your own path and then others can find their own. I just hope it’s a path that feels right for you and that you are always surrounded by people who celebrate your individuality and support your courage.

Peace, Adam.

~NoAngel

***



This would not make me sleepy

The insomnia package…..






Question for the day -- did Adam actually sing at Brooke's wedding???





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??: Behind the scenes video of Adam #2 recording sessions to be released.

Late August 2011 Date TBD, unconfirmed Adam will be a guest judge on Project Runway. His episode was taped on 7.14.11.


???? September? New single released

9.16.11 Last day to order PEACE Penny Royal Adam Lambert Signature Design to benefit Trevor Project.

9.23.2011 Premiere of Majors & Minors on the Hub Network.
Adam Lambert, Avril Lavigne, Colbie Caillat and Claude Kelly are joining The Hub's latest reality series Majors & Minors. They will serve as mentors (the "majors") to young talent on the upcoming fall series, premiering Friday, Sept. 23.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/adam-lambert-avril-lavigne-colbie-217026

October or November 2011 (Date and Time TBA) MTV Talk@Playground with Adam and SKINGRAFT'S Johnny Cota. Will be broadcast internationally.

November 2011 Adam's second album released Still unconfirmed, may be early December.


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