Posts
LGBT(IQ) Happenings
There is absolutely no doubt as to what the biggest happening is in gay land at the moment: Clay Aiken has (finally!) made his long-anticipated exit from the closest. Since the relentless hounding from the media didn't force the truth from him, what did? As he explains:
In his People interview, Aiken credits baby Parker with making him realize that he could no longer hide his homosexuality from the world. The magazine cover features Aiken holding his son, who was born in August.
"It was the first decision I made as a father," Aiken told the magazine, which arrives on newsstands Friday. "I cannot raise a child to lie or to hide things. I wasn't raised that way, and I'm not going to raise a child to do that."
The sheer surprise was palpable. In the always frank words of Simon Cowell:
"Wow. That's a shock. It's like being told Santa Claus isn't real. Unbelievable."
Of course, the act of a celebrity coming out of the closest in the increasingly tolerant world of today carries a certain degree of banality. But the media seems to have been particularly infatuated with Aiken's sexuality almost to the point of obsession; who can forget those unfortunate remarks by Kelly Ripa? Or the ensuing war between Rosie and Ripa? Even mostly honorable, professional journalists like Dianne Sawyer have been drawn into the speculation frenzy surrounding this man's life.
There are, however, some interesting twists to this mostly routine outing. Aiken is a born-again Christian, has ventured in the Christian music scene, and many of his hordes of fans - self-labeled "Claymaniacs" - are conservative Christians. Many of them will be repelled by this discovery, but I hardly think it will be enough to even dent, let alone derail, his career. The bigger question of all, however, is whether or not he would have gotten as far as he did on American Idol had he been openly gay at the time. At a time when "average Joe" Americans were (even more than today) convinced that Muslims and homosexuals posed the biggest threats to their continued prosperity, would a gay guy have possibly been able to survive round after round of eliminations, regardless of his talent?
I think not. Others will disagree. According to most polls, there are still somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who think that homosexuality is an "unacceptable" lifestyle; a minority since the 90's, but a very large, and very loud, minority (and around the time of the 2004 elections, Bush's consistent anti-gay rhetoric caused such a peak in homophobia that they briefly became a majority - but only for a short time, before the walls of the financial system started crashing down and the realization struck that supply-side, neoliberal economics do in fact pose a far more potent threat than two guys making out on a bench.) And this poses an even more intriguing question: is the America of today ready for an openly gay Idol?
My answer to that question is the same: No. But who knows? Americans, particularly the ones without a college education and who live in small towns, have lost nearly all of the (admittedly little) confidence that I had in them over the last few years (did I say that I never liked them that much in the first place??? Can't stress that enough...) But events over the next few years - as well as the progression of Clay Aiken's career - could somewhat change my view of them. We'll see; everything is possible, right?
I can only wish Clay the best of luck. I have no doubt that the LGBT community will stand behind him in solidarity as he goes forward as a proud gay man.
There are, however, some interesting twists to this mostly routine outing. Aiken is a born-again Christian, has ventured in the Christian music scene, and many of his hordes of fans - self-labeled "Claymaniacs" - are conservative Christians. Many of them will be repelled by this discovery, but I hardly think it will be enough to even dent, let alone derail, his career. The bigger question of all, however, is whether or not he would have gotten as far as he did on American Idol had he been openly gay at the time. At a time when "average Joe" Americans were (even more than today) convinced that Muslims and homosexuals posed the biggest threats to their continued prosperity, would a gay guy have possibly been able to survive round after round of eliminations, regardless of his talent?
I think not. Others will disagree. According to most polls, there are still somewhere between 40 and 50 percent of Americans who think that homosexuality is an "unacceptable" lifestyle; a minority since the 90's, but a very large, and very loud, minority (and around the time of the 2004 elections, Bush's consistent anti-gay rhetoric caused such a peak in homophobia that they briefly became a majority - but only for a short time, before the walls of the financial system started crashing down and the realization struck that supply-side, neoliberal economics do in fact pose a far more potent threat than two guys making out on a bench.) And this poses an even more intriguing question: is the America of today ready for an openly gay Idol?
My answer to that question is the same: No. But who knows? Americans, particularly the ones without a college education and who live in small towns, have lost nearly all of the (admittedly little) confidence that I had in them over the last few years (did I say that I never liked them that much in the first place??? Can't stress that enough...) But events over the next few years - as well as the progression of Clay Aiken's career - could somewhat change my view of them. We'll see; everything is possible, right?
I can only wish Clay the best of luck. I have no doubt that the LGBT community will stand behind him in solidarity as he goes forward as a proud gay man.
No comments:
Post a Comment