Lez Keep It Real

Lame title?

Yeah, I know. Just trying to be creative. Anyway, the title says it all. Ellen’s dog is gone. And she made a big stink about it on the Ellen Degeneres show yesterday. It caused such a stir in fact that the pet adoption agency which took the dog back is now receiving death and arson threats as well as numerous calls for a boycott.

OK. So. We all know Ellen’s primary audience, right? Who are these people making death threats? The stay at home mom? The gay couple with two Chihuahuas dressed in matching argyle sweaters? Oh wait, I got it. It’s the 70-year-old, busy knitting a pair of booties for her grandchild while watching Ellen plead for the return of her puppy, who was so upset that she bought a couple of cases of kerosene and placed a call from an undisclosed phone booth around the corner of said target. Seriously, this is crazy!

I admit that I got a little teary-eyed from watching Ellen beg for the release of her former dog. It was a heartfelt plea. You could tell that she felt horrible about what happened. She hadn’t read the “fine print” of the contract. And, in all honesty, who does? Unless it’s a house or a car, usually I just sign my name and go on my merry way. So I can understand where Ellen is coming from. And, yes I felt bad. I wanted the agency to just give up the pup. But in no way, shape or form did I feel the urge to make a death threat or call up the pet agency in a heated rage. Who knew Ellen’s audience had that much hutzpa?

It sounded as though the people who Ellen had given the dog to were taking good care of it, so what’s the big deal? Isn’t a good, loving home better than anything? I think the pet agency merely wants to make a point by saying they won’t be bullied around by anybody, even a celebrity. But what’s more important? Pride or a good home for a dog in need?

People’s priorities seemed so messed up lately. Britney would rather party than clean up her act to get her kids back. The Uganda Cleric wants to rid his country of gay people. And a wacked out dentist claims that touching a patient’s breast uninvited can helped her TMJ.

What happened to human decency?

For those of you who missed Ellen’s weepy plea, here’s the clip:

ellen degeneres, ellen’s plea, the ellen degeneres show, pet adoption agency

Friday’s Come Out & Play post touched a few people. Here’s one response I received through e-mail:

I just read your article on Coming out later in life. It was in the Come Out and Play section. I am 46 and in the process of coming out. I was married for 18 years and finally accepted the fact that I love women right before I left my husband. Then I said I was bisexual and dated men and women. But recently, I finally accepted the fact that I am lesbian. I have known it since I was in my early teens but there wasn’t a lot of information on it except how wrong it was. I can’t wait to read more about others coming out to inspire my own story.
Thanks! ~ M

It’s nice to know that people are affected by the topics I choose to write about and the points I discuss. Coming Out is such a confusing process - if there were a handbook that could be handed out to everyone embarking on their Coming Out journey it would be extremely beneficial. There’s no right or wrong way to do it. It’s just something every homosexual has to muddle through, no matter who you are. Just ask T.R. Knight …
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Studies crack me up sometimes. You can basically do a study on anything these days. So when I came across this article this morning in USA Today, I knew I had to take it with a grain of salt.
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Some of you may not know, but I have written an article about Mia Michaels for Curve Magazine. The article will publish sometime soon (still waiting to hear when) so I can’t reveal what she and I spoke about. All I can say is that she’s incredibly candid and a true free spirit.

But … for those of you who don’t want to wait until the Curve article publishes, I have some exciting news! I was restricted with a word limit and since the conversation I had with Mia lasted about 40 minutes, I have some left over material that wasn’t used for the article. So to all you Mia Michaels fans … here you go. This is part of the conversation I had with her.

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And no, it’s not the Singing Bee.

When I was in North Carolina over Labor Day, I spent time catching up on my celebrity gossip. My friend, Allison, gets all of the juicy magazines - US Weekly, People, Rolling Stone, etc.

I bypassed a cover of US Weekly speculating that Brit was a bad parent (the girl is a train wreck, ’nuff said) and picked up the issue of Rolling Stone with Zac Efron on the cover. He is quite beautiful, for a guy. He has such delicate features, an engaging singing voice and JT-esque abs. It’s hard not to stare at him, even for a lesbian like me. I was intrigued by the article for two reasons:

1) What’s up with this whole High School Musical thing and why are billions of gay people obsessed with it.

2) Is Zac efron gay?

Neither question was answered upon reading the article, though I did learn that Zac Efron is as squeaky clean an individual as he is a pretty boy. The enigma that is High School Musical continued to haunt me until today. I stumbled upon this hilarious column in the Advocate and I get it now. The reason High School Musical is so appealing is so simple, yet so profound. Basically, it’s the gayest thing on television right now …
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I’m not a movie critic. In fact, I’ve only reviewed one movie in my writing career and that was Brokeback Mountain for obvious reasons. Last night, I watched Gray Matters with Heather Graham, Tom Cavanaugh and Bridget Moynahan - not your average cast for a GLBT themed movie.

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I’m all about giving props to people who I feel deserve a nice, sound pat on the back for a job well done. John Corvino, a columnist for 365gay.com and philosophy professor at Wayne State University in Detroit, wrote a column about Hairspray, not the aluminum can but the movie, and examined the relationship between race and homosexuality. It was such a well-written and extremely thought-provoking piece that I wanted to share it with the Lez Keep it Real audience.

When I was in junior high I used to sit at the “black” lunch table in the cafeteria, much to the shock (and occasional ridicule) of my white schoolmates. The seating was not officially segregated, but with rare exceptions African-Americans sat together, and I sat with them.

It wasn’t a grand political statement or a conscious act of solidarity or anything high-minded. On the contrary, it was a reluctant acknowledgment of my outsider status. While members of the white, mostly affluent student majority called me a “fag,” the black students were nice to me, and I felt more comfortable around them.

Some years later I started going to the gay beaches on Fire Island, where I noticed a number of interracial straight couples. Interestingly, the “straight” part stuck out more than the “interracial” part—which, I later learned, was their main reason for choosing the gay beach. “We get a lot of flak at the straight beaches,” they told me. “But gays are cool about it.” Fellow outsiders, once again.

I thought about both of these events recently as I watched the movie Hairspray, the 2007 incarnation of the 1988 John Waters film (later a Broadway musical). One of the film’s most poignant moments occurs when Penny , a working-class white girl, and Seaweed, a black male, reveal their relationship to Seaweed’s mom, Motormouth Mabelle (played by Queen Latifah).

“Well, love is a gift,” Mabelle responds. “A lot of people don’t remember that. So, you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin’ at you from a never-ending parade of stupid.”

Many have speculated about whether and how Hairspray counts as a “gay” movie. Of course, there’s the John Waters provenance, the drag lead character (originated by Divine and played on Broadway by Harvey Fierstein), and the inherent campiness of movie musicals. But the most profound connection lies in its message of acceptance: Hairspray celebrates forbidden love in the face of “a never-ending parade of stupid.” It’s a theme gays know well.

Gay-rights opponents often object to comparisons between the civil-rights movement and the gay-rights movement. Race, they say, is an immutable, non-behavioral characteristic, whereas homosexuality involves chosen behaviors; thus it’s wrong (even insulting) to compare the two.

Even putting aside the fact that “civil rights” are something we’re all fighting for—equal treatment under the law—this objection flounders. It misunderstands the nature of racism, the nature of homophobia, and the point of the analogy between the two.

Although race is in some sense “an immutable, non-behavioral characteristic,” racism is all about chosen behaviors. The racist doesn’t simply object to people’s skin color: he objects to their moving into “our” neighborhoods, marrying “our” daughters, attacking “our” values and so on. In other words, he objects to behaviors, both real and imagined. What’s more, discriminating on the basis of race is most certainly chosen behavior. Calling race “non-behavioral” misses that important fact.

At the same time, calling homosexuality “behavioral” misses quite a bit as well. Yes, homosexuality (like heterosexuality) is expressed in behaviors, and some of those behaviors offend people. But one need not be sexually active to be kicked out of the house, fired from a job, or verbally or physically abused for being gay. Merely being perceived as gay (without any homosexual “behavior”) is enough to trigger the abuse.

Even where chosen behaviors trigger the abuse, it doesn’t follow that they warrant the abuse—any more than blacks’ choosing to marry whites (and vice versa) warrants abuse. So the insistence that race is immutable whereas homosexuality is behavioral, even if it were accurate, misses the point. Gays, like blacks, face unjust discrimination, often in the name of religion, that interferes with some of the most intimate aspects of their lives. Hence the analogy.

I’m not denying that there are important differences between race and sexual orientation (or between racism and heterosexism). Gays and lesbians do not face the cumulative generational effects of discrimination the way ethnic minorities do, and we have nothing in our history comparable to slavery or Jim Crow. On the other hand, no one is kicked out of the house because his biological parents figured out that he’s black. There are plusses and minuses to the lack of generational continuity (as well as the other differences)—and little point in arguing over who’s worse off.

Early in Hairspray, the young lead character announces, “People who are different—their time is coming.” We “different” people have much to learn from one another, as the never-ending parade of stupid marches on. ~365gay.com

Coincidentally enough, I just saw Hairspray last week and loved every musical minute of it. John Travolta was … um, quite scary, Amanda Bynes was incredible cute and hilarious, Zack Effron was perfect, and James Marsden was surprising. But, my favorite performance was given by the Queen herself, Latifa. And my favorite line of the movie came straight from her character’s motormouth.

“Well, love is a gift. A lot of people don’t remember that. So, you two better brace yourselves for a whole lotta ugly comin’ at you from a never-ending parade of stupid.”

hairspray, queen latifa, motormouth mabelle, 365gay.com, john corvino, zach effron, amanda bynes, james marsden, john travolta

Introducing the “happiest gay couple in all the world,” Rick and Steve. Thanks to the LOGO network, gay programming has achieved new heights. Now, an animated comedy based on short films by Q. Allan Brocka is reaching even higher.

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Happy Monday! This time, I don’t have any horrific news to report. Actually, I hardly have any time to write at all. So, I will point you in the direction of an awesome article that sums up the gayest moments in music by Blender magazine.

Here’s a taste of one of the moments mentioned…

I remember when I saw that happen. I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor afterwards.As for another quick bit of gay humor to share on this fine Monday, check out Adri’s (of Pride and Opinions fame) No Style comic. He sums up what a lot of us mainstream homosexuals feel, but can’t quite put into words. He captures it perfectly with this splendid artistic display of sarcasm.

I’ll return tomorrow with more riveting commentary on news, entertainment, gossip or anything remotely interesting that tickles my fancy.

no style, blender magazine, gayest moments in music, madonna britney kiss

These days it seems that just about everyone is a lesbian. Maybe that’s what’s really going on here. Maybe, we are all gay inside and we all just need a little prodding here and there to finally admit it. Or maybe I drank to much gourmet coffee this morning. When my friend Allison sent me this story I thought it was a publicity stunt of some kind, but it’s legit. Coral currently pinch hits for the Lesbo Lovers … I wonder if she’ll stay on the roster?

Why do you think you were picked for The Real World?
To this day, I really don’t know. It could possibly be my breasts. They’re very large. I did talk a lot of shit. I was very outgoing. Maybe they thought it would be easier to shoot me than some introvert.

You weren’t exactly the “nice person” that season.
I was the bitch of my season. Not the ‘Oh my God, I hate that bitch and want to kill her!’ It was more like ‘She’ll tell me what she thinks. She’s outspoken and not going to let anybody get away with anything.’ For me, that’s not bad. Yes, I was the bitch of my season, but every season has one. I’d rather be the bitch than the slut.

There’s definitely one of those every season.
There is! There’s the slut and the bitch. I’ll take the bitch, thank you.

They keep calling you back!
For every challenge, they call me back. For the last two, I’ve declined. I was working on other projects. Right now I’m contemplating going on the next one. Honestly, they’re very stressful. I just don’t feel like going to Mexico to cuss a bunch of people out. It’s not worth my time. Plus, I’m old. They’ve got 19-year old girls on there. And I have a record of never being voted off. I’m trying to keep that record. (Laughing.)

What is your sexual orientation?
You dated men on Real World.
Oh, yeah. It’s very cloudy at this point in time. I’m definitely venturing toward my lesbian qualities. It’s been a long time coming. At that time, I was really unsure. That was not the proper venue, the proper platform. To come out to your parents on a fucking reality show, I think that’s just mean, so I didn’t.

Your girlfriend is very beautiful.
She’s not my girlfriend. I’m attracted to beautiful women. Beautiful women tend to be attracted to me. It really seems to work out for me.

You’re coming out more, doing LGBT events?
I’ve always been really supportive of the community. I just felt it was something I belonged to and had to show up for. I love doing this kind of thing. It’s really positive and shows we’re capable and can run shit. Gay men run shit in L.A., honey. If you want to go out with somebody in L.A., they have businesses and money and depth. Gay men are coming up and are very under-estimated.

Do you feel a sense of responsibility now that you’re coming out?
I guess I get a little nervous. Just saying it is a little . . . It’s a little surreal. I’m not scared. I walk around holding hands. It’s not a problem for me, but I do fear backlash to some degree. Everyone has something negative to say, and I don’t really want to deal with it. Other than that, I don’t care. Hell, I’m old. I’m 28!

That is not old.
I know, but I can’t live my life like that anymore. I felt I was shorting myself. At the time I came out, I was dating someone really special. I wanted to introduce them. That was my thing: If I’m dating someone really, really, really special, that was the time to come out. I wanted to introduce them to the woman I love. It was all about timing for me.

On one hand, it’s great to come when you’ll have that personal support. On the other, it’s frustrating that we, as a community, feel we need that “excuse” – that relationship . . .
We have to have an excuse, that relationship to “validate” us. It becomes, “It’s because I love her, as a person. It doesn’t anything to do with me being gay . . .” It is a shame! I think that it’s mostly because there are so many old people. When they die off, we’ll be fine. In 20 years, 25 years, it will be no big deal. In other countries, Brazil, Australia, they don’t care about that type of stuff. I think we’re just kind of behind a little bit.

Is there a division in the lesbian community…
Oh, you mean between the butch/femme, the andro…

Between the politicized and less political lesbian?
Yes, but I just live my life regular and have regular relationships. I’ve never been a “politics” person. I don’t fit in. I’m not really a Democrat, and I’m definitely not a Republican. I just try to stay out of that, working in [San Francisco], we have a GLBT Center there, and in counseling. I work at a rape crisis center. Stuff like that is more ‘home’ to me. Politically, what I say there doesn’t matter. Stuff happens above me.

Is it a difficult transition from television celebrity to working at a rape crisis center?
I did that right when I got off. No, it wasn’t difficult for me. I consider myself a regular person. I’m not that famous. I can still walk around. People just want pictures. I love it! I think it’s hot. I was a big dork in high school, so now it’s payback. My 10 year reunion is coming, and I’m going – and bringing a date! I’m actually really happy right now. I’m really happy!
- Out-Look Magazine

I’ve got my money on Kathy Griffin to be the next D-list celebrity to make waves by showing off her lesbian qualities!

mtv, the real world, coral, lesbian qualities, kathy griffin, d-list celebrity, outlook magazine

I’m not sure if anyone else saw this yesterday, but I thought it was worth checking out. It’s always fun to look back in time and see how our culture has influenced the mainstream, and in turn, to see how the mainstream had embraced our culture.

The Phoenix -

In our post–Queer Eye for the Straight Guy world, many people — particularly younger people — take for granted that the divide between gay culture and mainstream culture is as thin as the latex of an expensive condom. This has not always been the case. Since the Stonewall Riots of 1969, the underground gay counterculture has consistently, and vitally, influenced mainstream popular culture in style, music, fashion, language, sexual mores, and politics. Here are 10 moments — all of them decisive — that chart the gradual, but irrefutable, queering of American culture.

1970: Bette Midler, camp out
In 1970, Bette Midler, mixing an outrageous blend of camp, sex talk, and Andrews Sisters tunes began performing at Manhattan’s Continental Baths. Within six months, she was one of Johnny Carson’s favorite guests, and in early 1973, her LP The Divine Miss M went gold. The rest has been wind beneath her wings.

1972: David Bowie, alien sex
If the Rolling Stones shocked middle-class sensibilities with their rough, thrusting cock-rock swagger, it was Ziggy Stardust — a/k/a David Bowie — in 1972 who single-handedly invented glam rock, making androgyny, glitter, face paint, and ambisexual posturing the newest threat to red-blooded American youth, spawning artists such as KISS and Boy George.

1977: The Village People, muscle shirts
In 1977, producer Jacques Morali manufactured disco sensation the Village People, who satirized butch gay-male stereotypes. What began as an insider parody sold more than 85 million albums and “YMCA” — a testimonial to anonymous gay-boy sex — is now a staple of summer-camp sing-alongs.

1984: Madonna, art of the shallow
Her impersonations of Marilyn Monroe in her 1984 “Material Girl” video and appropriation of black-gay voguing in the 1990 hit “Vogue” made Madonna a premiere conduit of gay culture to the young masses. Aside from instructing teenage girls to wear devotional jewelry, she also was vehement in her endorsement of gay rights.

1985: Rock Hudson, a crack in the mirror
Rock Hudson, the 1950s’ most vital, masculine, heterosexual heartthrob, died of AIDS-related infections in 1985, making Hudson’s long-rumored homosexuality all too visible. The culture shock was a result not only of his death, but of the new understanding that life beneath the tinsel of Hollywood was queerer than moviegoers had previously suspected.

1992: Calvin Klein briefs, mmm . . .
Men’s bodies have always been sexualized in gay-male culture — Physique Pictorial of the 1950s became the template for male bods everywhere. But in 1992, photographer Herb Ritts upped the ante — and the booty — with his Calvin Klein ads, which brought a gay-porn sensibility to Vanity Fair.

1997: Ellen, soft butch next door
In 1997, Ellen Degeneres — the most famous soft-butch in America, after Hillary Clinton — “came out” on her TV sit-com. The show was cancelled a year later, but Ellen made Will and Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Queer as Folk, and The L World possible.

1998: Dennis rodman, boa bad
Dennis Rodman’s 1998 autobiography Bad as I Wanna Be was as revealing as his flagrant display of body art. Rodman’s fondness of tattoos, piercings, flamboyantly colored cranial plumage, and wedding dresses was a triumph of mix-messaged drag/punk/biker gay sensibility — the precursor to the milder metrosexual.

1998: Still more Sex and the City
It’s no surprise that critics thought Sex and the City (1998–2004) was the ultimate integration of gay-male sensibility into TV: it was written by gay men, and it’s edgy sexual dialogue and plots were gayer than Will and Grace. Is this what heterosexual women really sounded like in private? Only their screenwriters know for sure. Het-sexual freedom, once again, turned out to be a copy of queer life and love.

2006: Mark Foley, closeted conservative
In September 2006, Florida Republican Congressman Mark Foley resigned amid allegations of improper behavior toward male pages; heterosexuals breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn’t — yet again — one of them. But Foley’s indiscretions evinced not only another crack in the facade of Republican respectability, but a true sign of the old gay-lib adage: we are everywhere.

gay culture, mainstream media, bette midler, mark foley, david bowie, dennis rodman, madonna, sex and the city, ellen, the l word, the phoenix, marky mark, calvin klein briefs, the village people

TCM, otherwise known as Turner Classic Movies, is doing something special. Or, at least I happen to think it’s pretty special.

It’s Pride season and TCM has decided to explore over six decades of Pride & Prejudice in film. Forty-four movies tracing stereotypes, innuendos and honest portrayals of gays and lesbians in cinema. Co-hosted by Screened Out author Richard Barrios, and featuring interviews with Alan Cumming, Tab Hunter, Armistead Maupin, Michael Musto, Ron Nyswear and more.

Barrios, with degrees in musicology and cinema studies, worked in the music and documentary film industries before turning to film history. His award-winning works include A Song in the Dark: The Birth of the Musical Film and Screened Out: Playing Gay in Hollywood from Edison to Stonewall. He has written for numerous publications, including The New York Times, and has lectured on film at the Smithsonian and American Film Institutes, among other venues. For Turner Classic Movies, he narrated and appeared in Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof as well as appearing in several other documentaries on television and DVD. Originally hailing from the swamps of South Louisiana, Barrios currently resides in the Philadelphia area.

Find Out More!

Tune in for such classics at Queen Christina (1933), Reflections In A Golden Eye (1967), The Children’s Hour - my personal favorite (1962), Syvia Scarlett (1935), The Fox (1967), and The Sign of the Cross (1932).

It all begins in June at 8 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesday. Set your DVRs and your TIVOs, and for you old schoolers out there, your VCRs.

This is one program you won’t want to miss. For those of you into reading instead of watching television, you’ll find some interesting reading material here.

Comment Question: What’s your favorite gay/lesbian movie?

gay cinema, tcm, screened out, lesbian movies, gay and lesbian theater, richard barrios, the children’s hour, alan cumming, tab hunter, ron nyswear, queen christina, reflections in a golden eye, gay themed movies, gay classics

Gay.com - Ten years after they kissed on the “Ellen” show, Ellen DeGeneres and Laura Dern reunited Monday on DeGeneres’s syndicated talk show to reflect on the smooch and its aftermath. DeGeneres, now 49, made pop-culture history in 1997 by coming out of the closet in real life while her sitcom character did likewise. In her character’s coming-out episode, Dern shared a smooch with the comedian during a guest stint on the ABC series as a lesbian love interest. READ MORE

Here’s a snippet of Laura Dern and Ellen discussing the famous “kiss” episode:

By taking a risk and putting her career on the line, Ellen basically paved the way for future gay-themed sitcoms and television shows like Will & Grace, Queer Eye and Work Out. Thanks to Ellen, gay television is alive and well (and quite popular I might add).

Tune in to watch Ellen, who has become the lesbian hostess with the mostess, host a special episode of American Idol tonight! For the latest news on Idol, check out Reed’s blog.

ellen degeneres, laura dern, the ellen show, gay, lesbian, glbt television, will & grace, work out, queer eye

Long before the Advocate had Mario Vasquez on the cover, and before they did a story on whether or not we could possibly have such a thing as a gay idol, I wrote a column for Outcome Magazine (a small gay and lesbian oublication based in Buffalo, NY) on the exact, same thing. Do I think that the Advocate ripped my idea off? No, of course not. But now I know that I’m not the only one who wonders why the obviously gay contestants choose to let their voices be heard but keep their sexuality in the closet.

The article, American Idol’s big gay closet , reads -

With its sappy songs, flamboyant contestants, and metrosexual host, American Idol is the campiest thing on TV. But could an openly gay singer win? Divas like Fantasia, Kimberley Locke, and Jennifer Hudson attract legions of gay fans. Judge Simon Cowell and host Ryan Seacrest seem to be flirting as they delight in challenging each other’s heterosexuality. And each season at least a few finalists—most notably Clay Aiken—seem to set off everybody’s gaydar. American Idol is not only the most popular show on network television—averaging over 33 million viewers per episode—it is also clearly one of the gayest. But there seems to be some kind of unwritten rule that contestants should not be out while competing for the title. Read More.

Here’s the column I wrote back in March:

I’m an American Idol fan. I didn’t watch the first season, when Kelly Clarkson won, but I have seen almost every other season since. Watching thousands of Idol hopefuls showcase their vocal chops in search of a pipe dream is beguiling and, like most of America, I was instantly hooked. At first, I just watched quietly. But then I began to notice that the gay community isn’t exactly fairly represented.

Throughout the six seasons, there have been countless gay individuals who have been ridiculed on national television. While this isn’t uncommon for those people who choose to embarrass themselves by auditioning when they know they aren’t the greatest singers, or for those who are just plain weird, it seems that AI almost goes out of its way to air the auditions of questionably gay contestants who may appear odd or freakish to the general public.

For example, Randy Jackson asked Zachary Travis, a contestant on last season’s show, if he was a girl. It was obvious that Travis was indeed a boy, though he could have passed as a drag queen. What made it worse was that he chose to sing, “Queen of the Night.” Then, after being rejected and made fun of for his appearance, AI played The Crying Game theme as Travis cried in front of his family.

I understand that most contestants who aren’t up to snuff receive ridicule and cruel comments from the judges whether they are gay or straight. But sexual orientation isn’t the same as a crazy outfit or a terrible singing voice. Going that extra inch to insult someone’s orientation, whether questionable or not, isn’t right on any level.

It’s widely known that AI uses its pre-auditioning process (the beginning part of the show, where the three notorious judges, salty Simon, peculiar Paula and raucous Randy, travel to different cities in search of the best singing talent in the country) mostly to attract attention and ratings. They not only search to find raw talent but also search to find the most horrible contestants as well. This, of course, is a perfect recipe entertainment as far as ratings are concerned but it’s not the part of the show that I enjoy watching.

What I enjoy most about the competition, are the weeks following the pick of the top twelve. They are the most entertaining because it gets down to serious competition. What I wonder, though, is if gay contestants have an equal shot? Is there a bias against them because of how the public might react? Do the judges take orientation into consideration?

American Idol’s audience is made up mostly of Middle America. What sells is what is appealing to the general public. Just take a look at past winners; a lot of them are cookie cutter pop stars. Even if Clay Aiken were gay, which I happen to think he is, coming clean about that on the show wouldn’t have helped him at all. I seriously doubt that he would have gotten as far as he had in the competition. Any Idol constant that might be suspected of being gay wouldn’t dare touch on the subject because of fear that it might hurt their chances. Openly gay finalist Jim Verraros, from the first season, admitted this in an interview to 365gay.com. He was the closest thing to a gay Idol and he was good, but unfortunately not good enough. I’m hoping that maybe this season will be different.

It’s like waiting for the first woman president. Could this be the year? Is America ready for an openly gay Idol?

I guess I’ll just have to watch and see
But if Sanjaya wins, we’re all in trouble …

For more on American Idol and what’s going on this season, check out Reed Dunn’s blog, Watching American Idol!

american idol, gay, lesbian, kelly clarkson, clay aiken, adovcate, sanjaya, simon, jim verraros, mario vasquez, 365gay.com