YOU KNOW WHAT ERKS ME

Sunday, December 10, 2006

If he is...should he say he is???

Thank you to my Canadian bloggies for inspiring this post

Hubby and I were in the car over the weekend and Clay Aiken's Christmas song came on and we were saying how he grew so much in the American Idol competition. Hubby made the remark that he doesn't understand if he is gay, why he just doesn't come out and say he was gay. In an interview with Diane Sawyer Clay responded to the question"

"I don't understand why you want to know," Aiken shot back. "I don't understand why it's any of your business.

"At some point, [the question] becomes just really rude, you know?" he said in an interview that aired Thursday on "Good Morning America."

Sawyer went right after Aiken, asking at the top of the interview if he was "ready to come out and say you're gay."

"That would not make sense for me do to that," Aiken said.

"I've gotten to a point where I feel it's invasive. Forget it. What I do in my private life is nobody's business anymore, period.

Is he right? Being a public figure, is it right to keep your sexuality a secret? The amount of stars this year feeling the pressure have caved in and come out of the closet. It gets to a point where there is so much speculation it consumes their public life and more than likely effects their work. Clay Aiken so far though since the Internet incident, has kept his sexuality a secret. I wonder at this point is it more detrimental to his career. I remember hearing news that a Church ended up canceling a concert they scheduled with Clay b/c of the speculation that he was gay. Nice of a church to discriminate, huh? But back to te original question...why should he come out? He is a performer, that is his employment.. we don't go to the grocery store and say to the clerk "before you ring me up, I need to know your sexual preference!" Why should it be any different for Aiken? I hope that he stands his ground, and I hope that even if he did come out with a partner, he still wouldn't answer the question and hopefully it won't have an adverse impact on his career. He is an upstanding guy that has always been religious, has always helped his community, donated and volunteered for charities and has been a huge mentor to our children. His sexuality should overshadow that.

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

Did you mean to say his sexuality should NOT overshadow that (community,charites, religion etc)...or have I missed a point here?

Anonymous said...

It erks me that I thought erks was spelled with an "i." It also erks me that I'm anal enough to check the dictionary as soon as I leave here to make sure you're correct. It does erk me that people pick on Clay like its their job and all pretty much because they think he's gay and should be out. Okay, on to Webster's.

Anonymous said...

I LOVE you! I was correct. Irk is spelled with an "i," and as a spelling nerd I LOVE you because I was correct. Of course you can spell it however you want; you'll just be the laughingstock of spelling nerds everywhere. Your worst nightmare, I'm sure. ; )

Anonymous said...

Now I see that you've spelled it both ways. Now I'm just confused. Did you take the "e" from your name to personalize it, keeping the correct spelling below to show that you actually do know the correct spelling? That's what I'd go with. Now I feel dumb again. Gee, thanks. Told you I was a spelling nerd.

Anonymous said...

Interesting blog, Ellie. My opinion is that the reason he does not want to discuss his private life is because he has answered the question before and people just don't believe him. (I believe he said the same thing to Diane Sawyer in that interview.) I don't blame him for not wanting to keep answering the question.

EJL said...

Anon...wish I knew who you were..but, b4 the blog template change the blog was titled
You Know What ERKS me?
Pronounced ERK in my charming southern voice...ha ha and you thought they sounded the same!

As far as Clay is concerned...No I don't believe that his sexuality should overshadow his good deeds. It annoys me how the media has almost destroyed his life over the fact that he hasn't come out.

My brother is gay, I would never be against someone keeping any personals to themselves.

EJL said...

oh and...you are too funny Anon, gave me quite the giggle! Please keep visiting!

Anonymous said...

Yes, Clay answered the question a year or two ago and said he is not gay but doesn't care if people think he is. Now he is fed up with answering the question because, as has already been mentioned, he said that people will believe what they want to believe, regardless of what he says. The very fact that people are always talking about it is proof that he is right.

I personally don't care whether he is or not. I think he's an incredible person all the way around, and I will continue to support him in any way I can.

Anonymous said...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1sr75n31WA

I don't blame him for saying he's had it with always getting asked about it when he's told the truth many times but nobody listens. Watch the video.

Nicole said...

Ellie, i think that what happens in "the bedroom" behind closed doors is ABSOLUTELY nobody's business.
It should be a non-issue if he is gay.
How many of these starts come out because they are THREATENED with being "outted".
As long as they are forced to live as 2nd class citizens, why should they publicly admit their sexuality. Until SSM is legal and recognized as a marriage, we will never have a society of equality.

Would you personally like it at a job interview if you had to disclose how many partners you have had, what your favourite method is, and a bunch of personal details.
We would be furious if that happened to us.
Wanting to admit something and being forced too, are very different IMO.

Southern (in)Sanity said...

Five consecutive comments from the same person (even if it is "anon").

That's got to be some kind of a record.

EJL said...

I think I know who anon is RWA, I don't mind their comments. But if they want to remain anon, that is cool by me.

Nic..I agree totally.
I do not think that his sexuality should be such an issue.

Nicole said...

ps...good god, when are people going to let go of the whole ERKS\IRKS issue!!!

lol

Anonymous said...

Nope, not 5 consecutive comments by the same person. I was 2,3, and 4, and not anyone you know. I'm not trying to be sneaky or anything, just a passer-by. I totally did not understand what you were saying up there, Ellie???? That looks like the current blog name to me.

EJL said...

Anon...the entire title was

"You Know What ERKS me?
Pronounced ERK in my charming southern voice...ha ha and you thought they sounded the same!"

It was a joke too lengthy to read so I took it out

And notice please, that I did use the correct spelling of Irks in the caption below the title.

Done now. Thanks.

EJL said...

ps..my brother is a spelling nerd...I don't mind.

Anonymous said...

Ohhhhh,I get it now. Duh! Not only did I notice your correct spelling in the caption, but I even mentioned it above! I'm tingling all over with all this spelling talk. Sorry to the normal peeps!

Anonymous said...

Clay has stated that he is not gay. He has stated it numerous times and in fact, Diane Sawyer was the first he interviewed with. When asked again recently by her, he expressed his disappointment in being asked again, but it was clear to me that that was planned so that he could state that he was done answering. When Larry King asked him directly afterward and even insinuated that he WAS...I felt Clay was shown the greatest disrespect. Even his comments to Diane that he would not answer again was completely disrespected.
It surely doesn't matter, but he says he isn't and that is it. If he didn't put his foot down, the media would never leave him alone. At least now when he ignores, there is an answer to why.