Adam Lambert Help: 10/17/10

17 oct 2010

Rocker Adam Lambert says he wants gay teens to ignore the hate and focus on the love.

Lambert addressed the recent spate of gay teens bullied to death in the U.S. at a press conference before performing in Malaysia, which was protested by members of the Pan Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS), Malaysia's Islamic opposition party because the theatrical performer “promotes gay culture.” Holding signs that read “Not Our Culture” protesters held a reportedly peaceful demonstration outside the venue.

Earlier, the PAS had demanded the cancellation of the concert, but Lambert agreed to edit out a controversial kiss between himself and his male keyboardist, Tommy Joe Ratliff.

The openly gay Lambert talked about the protest and the role celebrities play in advancing gay rights at a press conference held before the concert.

“My message to the youth of the U.S. and to the world is that you should be proud of who you are,” he answered a reporter asking about the recent gay teen suicides. “And I know that it's hard.” (The video is embedded in the right panel of this page.)

“I'm still bullied, in a sense, by certain groups, by certain journalists in a way. And the general public. If you go on the Internet, for example, and you go down into the comments section. There's a lot of hate. But you know what? If I focused on the hate and let it affect me, I'd be letting the hate win. I refuse to do that. I'm going to focus on the positive and focus on the love, and ignore all the hate.”

http://www.ontopmag.com/article.aspx?id=6625&MediaType=1&Category=22