UPDATE: I am SO not going to start a new post on this subject, but Aaron Hicklin repsonded to Adam’s response. Check it out HERE.
In his interview with Entertainment Weekly, reprinted in full below, Adam says, “the letter that Aaron wrote is holding us back. Because it’s recognizing the big difference as opposed to letting us all ignore preference and just be people.” We’re glad he’s sees sexuality that way. So do we — it’s why we were so dismayed by his management whose actions reinforced those distinctions rather than erased them. This was never about turning Adam into a political figure, or about whether he should have been on the cover of Rolling Stone first (of course he should have — what pop star wouldn’t want that?). It was, however, about challenging the double standard applied to gay and mainstream media, or to use Adam’s words, moving past those distinctions between gay and straight.
In an exclusive interview with Adam Lambert today at the rehearsals for the American Music Awards, Entertainment Weekly got his reaction to editor Aaron Hinklin’s Out Magazine editorial
What people don’t realize is, I am managing my image, more than maybe the editor of OUT magazine likes to give anybody credit for. My team is a team. And I really feel fortunate that 19 Management and Simon Fuller said to me, from the get-go, ‘We want to do what you want to do. You need to tell us how you want to do things, what interests you have, ‘ and they’ve been incredibly supportive of me. I really mean it. I’m not being puppeted around. I didn’t want to jump onto a gay magazine as my first thing, because I feel like that’s putting myself in a box and limiting myself.
It was my desire to stay away from talking about certain political and civil rights issues because I’m not a politician. I’m an entertainer. That is not my area of expertise. I can talk about relationships and personal experiences because as an artist those things involve writing lyrics and that part of my process. But I didn’t feel comfortable talking about the March on Washington. I didn’t feel comfortable, so I asked my publicist to ask the interviewer to stay away from the political questions. I take full responsibility for that. I think that the editor has his agenda and has his opinions, which I respect, but they’re not necessarily my opinions. And I wish there was a little respect for that. Not every gay man is the same gay man.
Adam also says that if there are things going on behind the scenes with his management, it has nothing to do with the interview conducted with Out.
Read more HERE.
So there you go. Adam responds. Nobody puts Adam in a corner. Or, he won’t be bullied into becoming the poster boy for gay rights. The. End. I hope, because this particular kerfuffle has gone on past it’s expiration date.
