Adam Lambert reflects on the homophobia he faced after coming second on American Idol in 2009 and how it made him stronger.
During his acceptance speech at The Creative Coalition’s annual Spotlight Initiative Awards gala dinner with Entertainment Weekly in Park City, Utah on Saturday, the singer-songwriter talked about his early years in the business. He said when he auditioned for American Idol, he didn’t think he would get very far.
“I was like, ‘Man, I don’t think they’re going to catch me. I’m the gay one. This is a utopia,'” Lambert said. “And I made it to the finals and I couldn’t believe it. had no idea it would take so long.”
While he found sudden success after his season of Idol ended, a public debate about his sexuality quickly emerged: “Once I got off the show, I got a record deal. There was an Entertainment Weekly article that was like, ‘Oh, this guy is exciting, and it may or may not be because he might be gay.’ And I thought, ‘Maybe?!’”
Lambert described the “very interesting journey” through the entertainment industry that followed his expertise in the singing competition show: “There were no gays. In that respect, it was a bit of the Wild West.”
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He then talked about the controversial performance of his debut single “For Your Entertainment” at the 2009 American Music Awards. The performance ended with a kiss with one of his male bandmates, which caused controversy at the time.
“I was doing the kind of performance I had seen since I was a teenager. I was kind of sexy, and had dancers on stage, and I did some suggestive moves with some of the dancers, and an impromptu kiss with my bass player. I felt it,” said Lambert. “Well, I got off the podium and got into trouble. The network was like, ‘How dare you?’ They suspended me for a while. They threatened me with a lawsuit.”
Reflecting on his response, he added:
“It was like, ‘Oh, okay, that’s where we are.’ I didn’t know I was in a bubble in LA among artists, crazy people, and I didn’t realize something like that would ruffle the feathers the way it did.
Lambert decided at the time that he wanted to work hard and “make a change” for LGBTQ+ people in the music industry and beyond.
“So that’s what I did,” he remembered. “I was like, ‘Well, fine. I’m going to lean over and I’m going to be as gay as I can be, and be flamboyant and wild. And if it gets me in trouble, then it gets me in trouble, but I’m not going to shy away from it.”
After more than a decade, he sees the results of his hard work. “In recent years I have met more and more young people who saw me on TV as a child,” added Lambert.
“They’re like, ‘Oh, you know what? You helped me talk to my parents about being gay. You made me feel like it was OK to be who I was — and I’m not the only one who did for young people.
He subsequently acknowledged that the entertainment field has “come this far in terms of LGBTQ+ communities”, noting that “it’s now a viable business move” for music companies “to attract gay talent”.
The ceremony was part of the Sundance Film Festival. In the film Fairyland, where Lambert starred for the first time, he received the award from Cody Fern.
“It’s a story about a father raising his daughter alone in San Francisco in the 1970s, and it’s the Gay Liberation Movement and then in the 1980s with the AIDS epidemic.” detailed the musician.
“This is a brand new venture for me, but what I love is that just like in the music industry, being a part of something like this can bring about change,” he told the audience.
“Visibility is so powerful. The LGBTQ community has been under attack for some time now. We are under attack again. There’s a lot of conservative pushback and making art that represents the queer experience and shines a spotlight on queer people, that’s what gives the LGBTQ community strength, hope.
Lambert then concluded his speech: “I am so excited to be an artist right now and we have a lot of challenges ahead of us. It’s not done yet. There is still work to be done, but I am just so proud of the work that has been done so far.”
During the event he talked to PEOPLE about Fairyland and the possible effects of the story:
“I love being a part of a movie where a grown gay man raises a little girl, especially at a time when so much of the toxic rhetoric around anti-gay legislation is like, ‘What about the kids? not being around kids, “all that horrible BS…to put it bluntly.”
“It’s really nice to be in a movie that celebrates this and shows the humanity between a parent and their child, no matter who they are,” added Lambert.
