Out singer Adam Lambert on Friday
tweeted that he's fighting homophobia through his music.
“Fighting homophobia one song at a
time,” the 33-year-old Lambert tweeted to his more than 2.5 million
followers.
The message was retweeted and hearted
more than 6,000 times.
While not an explicit response to a
petition to block Lambert from performing at a New Year's Eve event
in Marina Bay, Singapore, the tweet was posted soon after major media
reported on the controversy.
As of Saturday, more than 18,800
Singaporeans have signed on to the iPetitions.com
petition that calls Lambert “an inappropriate choice” for the
countdown show and calls on its organizer, MediaCorp, to remove
Lambert from the lineup.
“[Lambert's] track record displays a
flagrant disregard for the sensitivities of his audience –
including whether or not children are watching,” the petition
states. “Singaporeans can enjoy a good show without their
consciences being affronted by lewd acts in the name of
entertainment. In addition, a simple online search would reveal that
he is well-known for his active promotion of a highly sexualized
lifestyle and LGBT rights, both of which are contrary to mainstream
Singaporean values.”
The petition includes photos of
Lambert's 2009 American Music Awards (AMA) performance, in which he
kissed a male keyboardist and simulated oral sex.
Lambert faced similar criticism in 2013
when he performed at a church-owned venue in Singapore.
“Someone asked me in an interview,
'Are you promoting a certain lifestyle?'” Lambert told a
Singaporean audience estimated at 4,500. “My answer was, 'The only
lifestyle I am promoting is one of love and friendship, music, joy
and fashion.' So whoever wants to be part of that lifestyle, yeah,
we accept anybody.”