Adam Lambert

Photo by the Associated Press

Adam Lambert shook off any shreds of sqeaky cleanliness that might have been lingering from his “American Idol” stint with a super racy performance at the American Music Awards this weekend that included, among other things, spontaneously sticking a backup dancer’s head into his crotch.

Many have pointed out that similar stunts on awards show stages haven’t been met with the same outcry that Lambert is facing – most notably a kiss between Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears and Madonna at the MTV Video Music Awards.

But some think that it’s OK to single out Lambert for derision. Jennifer Vanasco writes in the Huffington Post that Lambert’s episode makes people worried “because they think gay life is exactly what you portrayed on the American Music Awards: focused on the kind of sex that turns people into animals (almost literally, in this case, with crawling dancers leading you on leashes), geared toward enticing children (ABC is a network owned by Disney, for heaven’s sake), degrading, rapacious, empty.”

Vanasco ultimately concludes that Lambert is undermining the fight for marriage equality. But let’s review. Madonna was at the center of the MTV three-way kiss. The singer has been divorced more than once, yet she was still ultimately able to adopt two children from Malawi, despite the country’s strict rules regarding residency and adoption.

It’s frustrating that not only will Lambert, as a gay man, not be afforded the rights to get married and enjoy all of the legal protections associated with straight families that Madonna has, but he’s subject to much greater scrutiny as a performer because of his sexuality, and held responsible for threatening the cause of a group that he’s actually a member of.

Both TV kisses were ultimately transparent stunts that were good for a few days’ worth of news cycles. If anything, the Madonna kiss should have caused more of an uproar simply because it happened first and at a time when there was probably slightly less acceptance of gay rights than there is today. But because Lambert is actually gay, and not just slipping into a brief moment of gayness like Madonna did, he’s the one getting lampooned.