Mika on Out, Doesn't Come Out
Mika is on this month's cover of OUT magazine, and reportedly sticks to his talking points.
"Anyone can label me, but I'm not willing to label myself...Anybody who says that I don't talk about sexuality or that I don't politically sexualize my music because of taboos, because of being afraid of [not] selling records, is completely wrong. I've made a record that doesn't compromise in any way what I'm allowed or not allowed to say in my lyrics."
A source told Towleroad that OUT originally requested Mika for the cover of their April issue, in order to coincide with the release date of his album in the U.S., but were refused.
According to our source, Mika's "handlers" wanted to do a cover but only if it came out a few months down the road, because they were concerned about breaking into the mainstream market were Mika pigeonholed as a "gay artist" right out of the gate.
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Streisand effect much?
Now there's little doubt that he's gay, yet he keeps denying it, which ostracizes the gay fans. His handlers need to be fired.
Posted by: Iko | Jun 7, 2007 10:38:34 AM
Actually what ostracizes me is his "Pretending to be the Scissor Sistors while singing in the shower" voice and music.
Blech.
Posted by: Becks07 | Jun 7, 2007 10:41:00 AM
Gimme a f-in break. He's a fag, he should have the balls to say it, but it doesn't matter because his 15 minutes will be up soon. Oh wait, they haven't even begun. Hmmm.
Posted by: shane | Jun 7, 2007 10:41:13 AM
Is it odd that i have never heard of this kid except on this site?
Posted by: kitkats99 | Jun 7, 2007 10:46:11 AM
how i dread his whiny song during my spinning class and how much better i feel once it's over. the fact that he's such a pathetic, over-handled little ball-less pussy just makes it even worse.
Posted by: rouquinricain | Jun 7, 2007 10:52:44 AM
Mika, straight people don't normally spend a lot of time hiding the fact they're heterosexual, so give it up. You're gay. Who cares? Why appear on the cover of OUT at all if you're worried people will label you?
Ugh. I enjoy his music, but what an insipid little self-loathing twerp he is.
Posted by: Larry | Jun 7, 2007 10:56:43 AM
...most are simply comfortable with a label, that's all. Gay / straight / whatever, we're, as a culture, threatened by the undefinable.
I think Mika's handlers are doin' it the right way; by refusing to discuss his sexuality, they've found a dynamic angle for the talking points.
Posted by: Jason | Jun 7, 2007 11:03:39 AM
Playing coy on the subject is not a bad thing in itself (remember Elton, Bowie, Mick, etc. back in the day), but this kid is doing it all wrong. Instead of playing it up that he could be anything at all, he's denying there's even a thing to be. He doesn't come off as someone trying to be post-label, outside labels, or whatever. He just sounds like a corupt politico trying to spin a cover for himself. I agree - fire the handlers.
Posted by: John | Jun 7, 2007 11:13:51 AM
Still don't have a clue who this dude is, and if I never do, I shall survive. From what has been said about his thin, whiney voice among the commenters here, I hope to never hear him.
Posted by: Bill | Jun 7, 2007 11:19:11 AM
"...dynamic angle for the talking points."
-Jason
Yeah, exactly! Like a unique way of coming out and basically saying "I'M NOT TALKING ABOUT BEING GAY" and then saying everything about it in the meantime.
Mika's "handlers" can suck it. What a bunch of douchebags to perpetuate the same BS that's kept so many people in the closet and miserable. You're either good or you're not. NOBODY CARES,and the whole "don't label me" thing is so friggin' 1988. Don't count on Mika leading any gay pride parades any time soon. Yawn.
Posted by: FizziekruntNT | Jun 7, 2007 11:20:22 AM
Don't know him, don't care about him, want him to just go away. zzzzzz
Posted by: secretagentman | Jun 7, 2007 11:21:12 AM
"Am I? Am I not? I don't wanna label myself!"
Trouble is, I don't even give a shit in the first place.
Posted by: nuflux | Jun 7, 2007 11:25:04 AM
Could someone please explain to me what the term "Post gay" means?
Posted by: mark m | Jun 7, 2007 11:27:54 AM
Everyone needs to relax.
Not every queer's sexuality is their central focus. Sure it might inform many aspects of their lives, but so could where they were born, what religion they practice, a book they read last night.
Labeling someone as self-loathing is a low blow. Is a person of color self-loathing for dating someone outside their race? Is a white person a phile for converting to Islam?
Why should someone be reviled by people in a community with which they may share some affinity simply for not caring to fully participate in that community all of the time, or exclusively?
Buy his record or don't. Simple. Shocking that someone would ask you to actually listen to the music & figure out for yourself whether or not he is a worth-while artist based on skill rather than which flag he flies.
Posted by: bizasizzalizzyizzo | Jun 7, 2007 11:28:40 AM
Biza, dear, *HE'S* the one making a focal point of the issue by playing coy. Those who have it integrated normally into thier lives do not prance around saying "Don't label me!" He's exactly like the politician trying to court gay votes and 'phobe votes simulaneously, and half of what he says about gayness is insulting to the core.
Posted by: adamblast | Jun 7, 2007 11:38:28 AM
I haven't heard his music, and I don't plan to. Every review I have read indicates he's a no-talent, flash in the pan nobody who won't be remembered even two years from now.
That being said, I agree with those who criticize Mika for not being open about his sexuality. By denying his homosexuality he's sending the message that there's something wrong with being gay. It is a very simple question to answer: if you prefer to sleep with men than women, you're gay Mika!
"Post gay" is nonsense. One day it won't matter much what one's sexual orientation is, but today it does. Until we win our full human and civil rights we won't be "post" anything.
Puhleeze.
Posted by: Jonathon | Jun 7, 2007 11:45:10 AM
Why does everything have to be gay all the time? Mika is so much more than his perceived sexuality. He's an artiste! Justin Timberlake doesn't run around screaming he's straight all the time, why should Mika have to say he's gay? Perhaps Mika found freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ and is now ex-gay?
Whats up with the labels anyway? Its not as if gays are persecuted and are second-class citizens. If Mika doesn't want to be accused of homosexuality, then so be it. Personally, I look forward to living in a post-gay world with Mika on the radio 24/7. What heaven that will be!
*sigh* Look for this turd to be performing at the next Republican National Convention.
Posted by: JOHN IN MANHATTAN | Jun 7, 2007 11:47:25 AM
Is he being coy about it, though?
Everything about him is flamingly, flagrantly gay. It's not like Anderson Cooper or (sort of) Ricky Martin where a phobe/naif could conceivably consider that they're NOT gay. Dude's pretty much in Rufus Wainwright territory.
So I can't really find it insulting that he doesn't care to talk about it. Though I don't listen to his music, either.
Posted by: karashi | Jun 7, 2007 11:49:42 AM
I know this has been mentioned many times in the past, but, once again, how ridiculous that a magazine called "Out" continually puts people on the cover who are either straight or, as in this case, closeted. And in the case of Mika (who I wouldn't know from a hole in the wall) there can't even be an argument that his face on the cover sells more magazines. So why put him there at all?
I remember a few years ago when renewing my subscription I was given a choice to have the magazine mailed with or without a plain-paper wrapping. Irony of ironies.
Maybe they should rename it "In".
Needless to say, the last time the subscription was up for renewal, I didn't bother.
Posted by: Tom | Jun 7, 2007 11:52:20 AM
You have my sarcasm detector fooled there for a moment, John. :)
Posted by: adamblast | Jun 7, 2007 11:54:00 AM
He's not Marilyn Monroe, either. Get those beads out of your mouth, queen!!!
Posted by: David Ehrenstein | Jun 7, 2007 11:55:09 AM
This whole schtick is blowing up in his face. People have to know who you are before they can become the least bit interested in your press issued mindgames. Im not buying his album or listening to his music because he has annoyed me and I dont care if he's gay, not gay, or the next Elton John.
Posted by: Gregoire | Jun 7, 2007 12:03:20 PM
He makes me ashamed to have brown, curly hair. Hair dye anyone?
Posted by: Alec | Jun 7, 2007 12:14:30 PM
This whole "post gay" thing is idiotic to the core. I see frequently in younger guys who may not have had time to come to grips with their sexuality yet. It's an easy way to avoid accepting one's self while sounding avant-garde to your friends. As long as people are still denied their civil and human rights, and as long as people are still being killed for being gay (or perceived as being gay), then staying holed up in some coy little closet is silly at best, and at worst repugnantly disrespectful to the men and women who fought for equality before he was born.
Show me a post-gay, and I'll show you someone with their head in the sand.
Posted by: Brian | Jun 7, 2007 12:20:29 PM
Here is what I don't understand about this whole issue. Haven't we been fighting NOT to be judged on the basis of our sexuality? Isn't the issue that serving in the military has NOTHING to do with who we have sex with? Then why do we REQUIRE a celebrity to tell us where he puts his penis; and if he doesn't then it reflects on his work? Yes...I understand the whole out gay role model for youth issue; but do kids want a reluctant role model? Can't someone like Mika be a role model in that he shows kids that who you love has nothing to do with the work you do?
Posted by: bostonbear | Jun 7, 2007 12:21:04 PM