Adam Lambert believes it's his gay sexuality that's freaking people out. (Getty Images)
If it weren't for Adam Lambert's crotch-pounding, man-kissing shtick, his performance on the American Music Awards Sunday night might have gone largely unnoticed. The Los Angeles Times gave his bland vocals a D. Lambert himself said he regrets that he didn't sing better.
Lambert needed the controversy to pull it off (no pun intended), and ABC provided the crowning touch by canceling his scheduled appearance on "Good Morning America" Wednesday morning. CBS seized the opportunity, snatching Lambert for their "Early Show," but the diss was done.
Lambert had his say on CBS (see video) and he made the point that parents who don't want their children to see sexual content on TV should pre-screen the shows. He said:
I'm not a babysitter. I'm a performer."
But the bigger issue, he said, is the double-standard. He pointed out that ABC didn't bat an eyelash at Eminem's rape lyrics or Janet Jackson's crotch-grabbing -- because they aren't gay, like Lambert. And that's the real problem.
A lot of the gay community agrees -- it's not sexuality that is the Big Problem, it's gay sexuality.
Paper magazine editorial director Mickey Boardman told the Daily Beast:
It’s fine if the gays are rearranging your throw rugs, but when they express their sexuality it’s somehow too horrifying for people to see."
Columnist Dan Savage said:
I think it's a ridiculous double standard. People are comfortable with us so long as we're not having sex or being sexual or doing anything that might cause someone who is uncomfortable with the idea of gay sex to have to wrestle with mental images of gay sex. It's one thing to be gay like Neil Patrick Harris on the Tony Awards (culturally gay). It's another thing to be gay like Adam Lambert was on the American Music Awards (sexually gay). Americans can handle gay people, they can look at us on TV, but they still have issues with gay desire, and they have a hard time looking at that on TV.”
Here's a video of Adam Lambert talking about his AMA performance on the "Early Show."
And here he is performing "Whataya Want From Me."
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