Mr. L

Following the publication of interview with Adam Lambert in the special edition of ‘Out’ magazine, Aaron Hicklin published a letter in which he described the circumstances around Adam’s appearance in ‘Out’ as well as criticized the ways of dealing with Adam’s sexuality by his management.
The letter is seen below.

Adam himself reacted yesterday on twitter by saying:

Dear Aaron, it’s def not that deep. Chill! Guess ya gotta get attention for the magazine. U too are at the mercy of the marketing machine.

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As a reaction to the Aaron Hicklin’s letter, I received an open letter from an Adam Lambert fan asking me to publish it at this site in order to start a dialog.
All others open letters are welcomed to be published at this site – views and content are the author’s own.
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Dear Mr. Hicklin,

I have thought long and hard about what I wanted to say in this letter, and finally
just decided to write and see what came out instead of continuing to kick it around
in my brain, so here goes.

First of all, I want to say that I am an openly Lesbian 38 year old Social Worker
from Eastern Kentucky. I am an activist who has worked in the gay rights movement in
Kentucky where we have passed an albeit small amount of local ordinances protecting
people from discrimination in the areas of housing, accommodations and employment. I
have participated in cultural diversity workshops, written my legislatures, marched
in the streets and fought one on one with people to have the right to love freely
without fear.

However, with all of this behind me, I still have to disagree with your recent
tactics towards Adam Lambert and/or his management.
What I see here is a simple case of a generation gap. Our generations, yours and
mine, grew up in a totally different world. We have lived in our closets, struggled
to breathe amidst the air of hatred and violence, and have had to fight for every
step we have taken towards some semblance of equality. Adam and his generation grew
up in a climate of social change. They have reaped the benefits of what we sowed by
having positive role models in the media and on TV, and by having people like Harvey
Milk, Ellen DeGeneres and Melissa Etheridge who paved the way for them to be free of
the labels and social constraints that you and I still chafe against.
His generation is living in a time where labels and battle lines are blurred and is
THAT not what we have been fighting for all of these years? Also, asking Adam to
buck his management at this point in his career is in my opinion asking too much too
fast. He is not yet a Elton John or George Michael with 25+ albums under his belt,
millions of dollars in the bank and enough real estate holdings to hide out in when
the Conservative Right takes up their proverbial pitchforks and torches to run him
out of Hollywood. Aaron while I do understand your desire for Adam to pave the way
for others to follow, we fought for his ability to do that on his own terms. We made
it possible for him to come out in Rolling Stone Magazine and we did so by forging
our own path through the muck and the mire, and not by dragging our fellow family
members through it. This generation is what we made them, and we have to trust that
they will do what is right under the circumstances that we created for them.

I admit, that when I first saw him on American Idol, my gaydar went off and when
those pictures of him kissing his ex-boyfriend came out I was chomping at the bit
for him to come out and be our knight in glitter armor. However, after much thought
and a few talks with people from his age group I soon realized that it wasn’t right
for me to ask him to take up that torch. We have no right to push our values on him
just the same as the conservative right has no right to push theirs on us.

I also was shocked when he came out in Rolling Stone instead of Out or The Advocate,
but in the end, I felt pride that he came out before his first album hit store
shelves and even before he jacked off his first mic stand on the American Idol
summer tour. THAT took courage, THAT was a huge step towards fighting for his
individuality as a music artist, and while it wasn’t the path that I would have
chosen, it was Adam’s choice and he made it based on what he thought was right for
his career, not our political agenda. His coming out was a huge process that he
fought for and did with grace and eloquence setting such a positive example for
those younger than him. In his own way, he is the Ellen of his generation, and who
are we to question the way that he went about it. In the End Aaron, the important
thing is that he is being true to himself, being an openly gay man, but more
importantly a very talented singer in the music industry.

So no, I don’t agree with your asking him to take up our torch. It has become an
antique, and it is time that we step aside and allow the new generation to create
their own way to light their paths.

Sincerely Your Sister in the Struggle
Rebecca R. Lyon, BSW

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