Adam Lambert: ‘America is in the middle of a big civil rights movement’
Pop star Adam Lambert says American attitudes to homosexuality are changing so fast, the country is in the middle of a “big civil rights movement”.
The singer, who found fame on American Idol, recently became the first out gay man to top the US Billboard album chart with the LP ‘Trespassing’.
He told the Independent: “[America] is in the midst of this big civil rights movement. It’s beautiful to see how people are powering through and I think the timing of that and my notoriety is a privilege.
“I feel I do have a certain amount of responsibility – because I have a visibility that not a lot of people have in the gay community, especially in the music industry – to be comfortable, to be open.”
In 2009, 1,500 US television viewers complained about Lambert kissing a male dancer during a performance at the American Music Awards.
But speaking this week, the 30-year-old singer said: “I think for a long time the music industry has been scared of it, of out artists, it’s been more of a niche thing.
“But music doesn’t have an orientation, a good song is a good song, so if you’re getting hung up on the artist’s sexuality in your enjoyment of the song, then maybe you need to examine your own comfort level a little bit.”
