Singer Adam Lambert says he wants to
use his celebrity to increase gay visibility.
The 31-year-old Lambert made his
comments in accepting the City of Hope Award from Los Angeles Mayor
Antonio Villaraigosa. Lambert was chosen for the honor because of
his “accomplishments and advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community.”
Villaraigosa presented the award to
Lambert during a ceremony at Los Angeles City Hall on Thursday.
Lambert explained that after his
experience on American Idol he realized that he had been given
a platform.
“And slowly but surely as it all sunk
in I realized wow what a great opportunity I have to give people
something that I didn't really have a lot of growing up,” Lambert
said. “Now, I have a really supportive family and my friends are
really supportive, but I didn't see a lot of figures in the media
that were representing the LGBT community. Let alone a diverse LGBT
community. And that's been one of my missions this whole time is to
not necessarily be the quintessential gay man but to be a gay man who
doesn't want to fit in. Who wants to be his own person. Who doesn't
make any apologies.” (The audio is embedded on this page. Visit
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