I heartily disagree.

Gayken will always be funny, and I will never stop calling him that.

Two bonus points for the Kathy Griffin reference, Bil. Unfortunately, minus 5 points for hat tipping Perez. ;)

I like the way Scott Dagostino, a columnist with Canadian queer mag "Xtra" tore a strip off him:
http://www.xtra.ca/blog/national/ -- (Sept. 24 entry)

quote:

I believe in honesty so I'll admit it: I'm not feeling very funny today; just a bit annoyed. You know that dizzy, confused feeling you get from the crazy plot-twist endings of movies like "The Sixth Sense" or "The Usual Suspects?" Try to imagine the exact utter opposite of that and you'll have the world's reaction to the announcement that Clay Aiken is gay.
Now Clay (can I call you Clay?), I'm not trying to pick on you. Your coming out is a brave act of honesty that's appreciated even as it comes long, long after anyone could ever give a shit. It's just that, right after becoming a star on "American Idol" in 2002, you almost immediately began denying rumours about your sexuality, finally whining to People magazine in 2006, "It doesn't matter what I say. People are going to believe what they want." Only when they clearly know you're lying, you little tool! Even when one of your Manhunt tricks went and posted your webcam pics on the Internet (which, yes, is very wrong), you still hid and lied. No one cared! You could have come out then but no -- still this ridiculous pretense that's even less plausible than that of Ricky Martin.

I pick on Clay Aiken because of Will Young. In 2002, at the age of 23, he was the winner of the original "Pop Idol" in the UK (Aiken appeared later that year on the subsequent American version). Since then, they've both gained lots of fans and remained on the charts in their respective countries, except that Will Young came out immediately after his win. While Aiken spent the last six years lying to reporters (and probably himself), Young has been forthright about his sexuality in videos both sensitive and funny:

[video]

Is it fair to compare the two of them? Growing up in England was no doubt kinder to Will Young than Clay Aiken's American Southern Baptist upbringing but in an interview this week, the British pop star described himself as "the worst gay person ever" because he's reluctant to campaign for gay rights issues. That headline is now everywhere and it's unfair because it's never occurred to Young that it's possible to do even less. Cheers to Clay Aiken for finally telling the truth but, just like on "American Idol," he came in second.

With all that said, it's time once again for a big salute to Ellen DeGeneres, who schools everyone in how to be politically active, charming and funny, and to (who knew?) Lindsay Lohan, who's made the whole 'coming out' story kind of pointless by just living her life and dating her girlfriend out in the open. It's never been about labels, just honesty.

Geez! Some of you folks are tough. Why is it so important to other gay folks how (or when) a gay person comes out. I feel about Clay’s news report in the same manner I felt about President Clinton’s news report of lying about having sex -- it is none of my business what they do in their bedroom (or Oval Office) as long as they are not trying to tell me how to act in mine.

I celebrate Clay’s courage and timing for it only his to determine. May the Peace of our Lord continue to find Clay and us all in good Spirits and more compassionate for each other.

Stan sez: "Geez! Some of you folks are tough. Why is it so important to other gay folks how (or when) a gay person comes out."

Here's a response by Ramin Setoodeh -- http://www.newsweek.com/id/160689

quote: "But why should Aiken deserve to be praised for coming out at the age of 29? You could say that a person's sexuality is nobody's business. But unlike other gay celebrities who have come out recently, like Neil Patrick Harris or Lance Bass, Aiken denied that he was gay long beyond the point of ridiculousness, and he did it in a way that bordered on homophobic.

[...]

This week, Aiken told People he hoped he didn't let his fans down—the conservative, panty-tossing Claymates who scooped up his albums by the millions. If anything, though, the idea that being gay could ruin your career in Hollywood is more old school than reruns of "Will & Grace. [...] Which just goes to show that Aiken shouldn't have been scared of letting his Claymates down. He was probably more scared of letting Clay Aiken down—a shame, because when he tries to teach his son about honesty, he'll have to come up with a reason for why he lied for so long. /fin