03/26/2007
Mika Reports Death Threats for Silence on Sexuality
Pop star Mika, whom Arjan profiled for Towleroad last week, says he's been receiving gay death threats because he won't discuss his sexuality. He told the Evening Standard:
"I get hate messages all the time, a death threat. It was over whether I am gay or not. He wasn't happy that I won't talk about my personal life like that. Sometimes I think that I have made it, other times it is a bit worrying...I never talk about anything to do with my sexuality, I don't think I need to. People ask me all the time. In order to survive I've shut up different parts of my life, and that's one of them, especially this early in my career, I don't really feel that it's necessary to know in terms of my music. Some people make records that are defined by their sexuality, but mine really are not. It does play a lot with campness. It has a theatricality to it. Why not? It's pop music. If you're 14-years-old and you're gay, well, just do whatever you want. I'm not confused and I don't have any barriers about the way I live my life. That's why I don't want to put it under the microscope."
Not surprisingly, Mika didn't want to talk about it with Arjan either.
Posted 8:19 AM EST by Andy Towle in I'm Gay, I'm Not Gay, Mika, Music, News | Permalink
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I posted a comment to the Ian Thorps post which went something like this:
For the LOVE OF GOD, find something interestoing to post. WHO cares?
Posted by: mark | Mar 26, 2007 3:56:54 PM
"Let the boy sing. Either listen or don't. I think it sad that instead of being able to experience the whirlwind of first success, Mika has to defend his right to a private life. I'm not saying that he should hide his sexuality. Instead, I offer that sometimes just *being* can be a potent and radical way of changing opinions & views."
Posted by: basis4insanity |
Well put.
I suggested the same thing the other day, but usually these kind of speech are met with vitriolic responses.
What Mika is saying is highlighting the fact that gay men CAN be hateful like the homophobes we claim to combat. "What, gay men can be hateful?? say it ain't so!! we are never selfish, shortsighted nor hateful! we're in it for our rights!".
The reality is this: Mika is just one of 568,976,456 men and women in the world who are in one form of the closet or another.. The difference is that Mika is in the public eye, has a new career, and is somewhat still hot in the press - which some are holding against him, even though they assert to "looathe his music".
With more and more people in the community joining the self-righteous Outing Church, where one is made a "virtuous gay" by simple way of coming out when the church dogmatically decides it's time (and not being a decent human being..embracing differences through one speech or one's art..making contributions to the community or its causes etc) - we're now having an army of gay men led by the likes of P*rez Hilton who are maligning LGBT for a profit, while our rights orgs are watching, and justify themselves with the propesterous idea that this maligning act is fighting for gay rights.
But as Lance, Dougie, TR and others have come to find out, the Outing Church is never satisfied...meaning they'll continue to be on the recieving end of hate & comtempt from the "virtuous gays"; who themselves will continue to plaster their walls with pictures of their hetero celebs, and support GLAAD's policy of excluding gays from award contendency, and never once question what they're doing that could ever be less than gay-virtuous..
Posted by: Da | Mar 26, 2007 5:17:52 PM
Applause, applause.....couldn't have said it better DA.....
Posted by: joshua | Mar 26, 2007 11:37:25 PM
there's no need to describe which hole you prefer it in, a simple acknowledgement takes care of it. be who you are, come the fuck out ... or shut the hell up. i've had it with all this coy bullshit.
Posted by: el polacko | Mar 27, 2007 6:16:02 PM
He doesn't want attention over his sexuality or personal life but he keeps complaining and talking about it? He's getting the opposite effect, if he just said "yep I'm gay now shut the f*ck up and let me sing" people would stop paying attention and the controversy ends.
Posted by: chriss | Mar 31, 2007 12:58:12 PM
I am not sure if anyone noted how much Mika is courting Perez Hilton. Ahh, the irony. Perez does stuff on M's music, hosts parties for him etc. Mika is photgraphed with his arm around Perez Hilton.
I also wonder if an exclusive coming out article is in the works with a certain UK publication...
Posted by: xolondon | Apr 1, 2007 6:53:52 AM
If he is Lebanese then perhaps being Muslim and gay is more the issue.
Posted by: kilttrip | Apr 1, 2007 2:59:52 PM
How many communists are in the United States Government?
Posted by: Todd Terrific | Apr 2, 2007 1:47:31 AM
Yes i agree...who cares?
His music sucks and he's ugly
Posted by: stephen | Apr 2, 2007 3:54:15 AM
If there is one thing Mika has done... its make many members of the gay community upset by his behaviour. Out or not - don't mess with us. We're smarter than that.
Posted by: J.B. | Apr 2, 2007 8:25:07 AM
Goddamit, he's not even "closeted." He said himself, listen to his songs. He's never said he was straight, did he? He simply doesn't want to talk about his sex life--AT ALL--with the press. Is that so radical?
And he has a point. Why do we feel that we deserve to know?
I do the same thing at my job, and I don't consider it being "closeted"--I'm also involved in a bunch of lgbtq organizations--but I don't feel that who I'm dating, or even if I'm dating, is any of people's business.
Posted by: Teri B. | Apr 6, 2007 6:00:05 AM
I find the Evening Standard headline really annoying. It says in big, bold letters ``I`m receiving gay death threats.``
Then when you read the article you realize the quote in the headline has a plural when the real quote from Mika talks about one guy making one threat because `HE` was mad. I wasn`t even sure what a `gay death threat` is (and I`m still not even sure if it`s a gay guy or if it`s a straight guy who made it}, but the headline itself makes it sound like a crazed gay community is violently hounding him.
Posted by: GregV | Nov 11, 2007 12:26:09 PM
I find the Evening Standard headline really annoying. It says in big, bold letters ``I`m receiving gay death threats.``
Then when you read the article you realize the quote in the headline has a plural when the real quote from Mika talks about one guy making one threat because `HE` was mad. I wasn`t even sure what a `gay death threat` is (and I`m still not even sure if it`s a gay guy or if it`s a straight guy who made it}, but the headline itself makes it sound like a crazed gay community is violently hounding him.
Posted by: GregV | Nov 11, 2007 12:27:08 PM
I find the Evening Standard headline really annoying. It says in big, bold letters ``I`m receiving gay death threats.``
Then when you read the article you realize the quote in the headline has a plural when the real quote from Mika talks about one guy making one threat because `HE` was mad. I wasn`t even sure what a `gay death threat` is (and I`m still not even sure if it`s a gay guy or if it`s a straight guy who made it}, but the headline itself makes it sound like a crazed gay community is violently hounding him.
Posted by: GregV | Nov 11, 2007 12:27:30 PM
I find the Evening Standard headline really annoying. It says in big, bold letters ``I`m receiving gay death threats.``
Then when you read the article you realize the quote in the headline has a plural when the real quote from Mika talks about one guy making one threat because `HE` was mad. I wasn`t even sure what a `gay death threat` is (and I`m still not even sure if it`s a gay guy or if it`s a straight guy who made it}, but the headline itself makes it sound like a crazed gay community is violently hounding him.
Posted by: GregV | Nov 11, 2007 12:28:00 PM