Will Adam Lambert's Rolling Stone Interview Hurt Or Help His Career?

So this week, Adam Lambert's salivatingly-awaited, serpentine-accessorized Rolling Stone cover issue comes out. And I mean thatliterally. Yes, it's in this RS interview that Adam comes out of his fabulously appointed, leather-pants-filled closet to announce what all the world already knew: That he is (gasp!) gay.

Adam's sexuality was likely something he wasn't allowed to officially discuss before now (past gay Idol contestants like R.J. Helton, Jim Verrarros, and Danny Noriega have all publicly claimed that the show ordered them to keep mum regarding their sexual orientation--how very "don't ask, don't tell," huh?). Or frankly, his sexuality just wasn't something he felt was necessary to discuss within the context of the Idol competition.

But anyway, now that Adam has finally addressed all the speculation and the "pink elephant" in the room, in his characteristically flashy and flamboyant manner (just LOOK at that cover photo!), I sincerely hope everyone can just move on and remember what an amazing and unique talent he is. Hopefully, by the time Adam's debut album comes out later this year, the public focus will be back on the important stuff: you know, his music, his voice, his nail polish, his awesome hair, his guyliner, etc. Anything but his gayness.

But I will admit that I'm worried it could be a career-killer. I had the same worries when that splashy Entertainment Weekly"Is He Gay?" cover story came out only a week or so before the Idolfinale, fearing that it would ruin Adam's chances. I'm still not sure it didn't...

Yes, I know that almost immediately after Adam lost on Idol, the show's powers-that-be went into PC spin-control overdrive, emphatically asserting that his shocking second-place finish had simply come down to a matter of the public's musical taste, and that it had absolutely nothing to do with religion, sexuality, or politics. Except...it probably DID. Let's be real, now.

While it would be overly cynical to assume that Adam's rumored homosexuality (and by "rumored," I mean "completely assumed due to widely circulated, Bill O'Reilly-criticized photos of him smooching other pretty-boys in drag") was the main reason he didn't win, it would also be naive to assume that it wasn't a factor at all.

In the end, we'll just have to wait to tally Adam's album sales figures to see if this tell-all article was a turn-off to more conservative record-buyers, or if it indeed refocused the attention on Adam's music.  Most successful openly gay celebrities--Elton John, Rosie O'Donnell, Ellen DeGeneres, George Michael, even Clay Aiken--have only come out well into their careers, after developing such strong fanbases that they could afford to lose a few fairweather fans put off by the news of their homosexuality. But Adam, possibly the bravest and boldest Idol contestant ever, faces a unique challenge by (as Kara DioGuardi recently worded it on The View) pretty much being out from the beginning.

And although Adam insists in his Rolling Stone interview, "I'm trying to be a singer, not a civil rights leader," I still hope that--as Adam so passionately sang during Idol finale week--a "Change Is Gonna Come" in this country, and that this article is a start.