In the newest edition of Rolling Stone, American Idol runner-up Adam Lambert admits he’s gay.
That, he says, shouldn’t come as a surprise.
No, it really isn’t.
A bit more shocking, perhaps, for a Christian audience is that Lambert says he was attracted to Idol winner and worship musician Kris Allen.
“I was like, ‘Oh, (bleep), they put me with the cute guy,'” Lambert said in the article regarding Allen. “Distracting! He’s the one guy that I found attractive in the whole group on the show: nice, nonchalant, pretty and totally my type – except that he has a wife. I mean, he’s open-minded and liberal, but he’s definitely 100 percent straight.”
Allen is indeed, by the accounts of pastors who know him well, adoring of his wife and appreciative of traditional Christian beliefs.
Will this impact sales for either Lambert or Allen or draw a stern rebuke from Allen?
The answer on both counts is almost certainly ‘no.’
Popular entertainment has long been open to homosexuality. The example that always comes clearest to my mind both for the combination of flamboyance and incredible talent is Elton John.
The discussion of accepting homosexuality as part of mainstream culture is playing out almost daily with developments in the gay marriage debate.
For his part, Lambert says he no interest in making himself a political football in the gay rights arena.
As for the rest of us deciding on where we stand from downloading our next MP3 or, more significantly, how we vote or contribute money, will be decisions we have to make by prioritizing and discerning where our values, opinions and allegiances lie.
Well, that’s something to think about. Should I base my purchases on whether someone is leading a lifestyle I don’t agree with? I guess I would have very little music on my IPod then!