Homophobia Top Trumps

He isn't particularly famous in Britain, but the ripples from Adam Lambert's gay kiss have reached far and wide. It seems to be a subject that has everyone divided. Talking with friends, both gay and straight, I was a bit shocked that it was mostly the gay ones who were complaining about it.

ABC has reportedly received nearly 2000 complaints. Hardly a blip on the radar compared to the half a million complaints received when Janet Jackson got her tit out at the Super Bowl, but enough to warrant the cancellation of Lambert's appearance on Good Morning America, over fears he may make a repeat performance. But is he really that stupid, or does the network just want to disassociate itself with such up front homosexuality?

However ill thought out his actions were, they were done in front of a largely adult audience, at an awards show that was shown in the evening. Whether it was premeditated or not, and despite its bad taste, no laws, either of legality or decency, were broken, so to assume that he would try and do the same thing in a prime time morning slot raises a lot of questions as to if that is the real reason behind his performance axing.

Despite what Lambert probably thought was a tongue in cheek way of bringing homosexuality into the mainstream, I can't help but thinking that he has probably set the whole thing back quite a bit, awaking the dormant homophobia in people who would otherwise not thought twice about watching a gay performer.

The issue with the subject that my friends seemed to have, was not the fact that he was gay, but the fact that what he did was unnecessary and uncomfortable to watch. Nothing to do with him being gay, but being an idiot. When questioned about whether or not they would feel the same if he were straight, the result was an overwhelming yes, with people like Lady Gaga and her bizarre on stage antics being given as an example of some more uncomfortable viewing.

It is all too easy for people to start throwing in the homophobia card, now that a gay person is facing a backlash over their antics, but when all is said and done, I think the majority of people were just uncomfortable with having to view it, just as I am sure they would have been if it were a straight artist up on stage simulating oral sex. That is not to say that a number of the complainants do not have homophobic motives, but on the whole, I think it has just been seen as bad taste.

Regardless of the backlash, Lambert has gotten his desired publicity, and his name is now in the minds of a lot more people than it was before. This, like so many other controversies before it, will be quickly forgotten, and if he can ride out the storm for the next few weeks, he will probably come out of it a lot better off in album sales.