When erstwhile boybander Lance Bass came out in 2006, he told People magazine, “Being who I am and living my life the last few years and not hiding it, I’ve met so many people like me that it’s really encouraged me. I kind of call them the SAGs—the straight-acting gays. We’re just normal, typical guys. I love to watch football and drink beer.”
Now, he says that he regrets the way his coming out unfolded, telling Wonderwall, “At the time, I wasn’t involved in the LGBT community and I was uneducated with what the issues were and what was going on at the time. When the story was at its height, I could’ve had some really great ammunition to support the LGBT community.”
Years later, Bass is engaged to be married to fiancé Michael Turchin with normal, typical white picket fences in his eyes. The two plan to get married in California where Bass exercised what ammunition he had left to support the marriage equality cause.
“I was very involved in Prop 8 opposition,” he explained. “It’s something that would be very meaningful to me to be married where I live and just because of how hard my friends worked on letting us be able to get married here.”
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In the meantime, Bass is working overtime on making a comeback happen, pimping his new song, “Walking on Air,” which Bass insists bears no resemblance to the Katy Perry nightmare track of the same name. Produced by Australian producer Anise K—whom Bass boasts “could be the next David Guetta”— the track also features Bella Blue, who recorded another version of the song with Snoop Dogg earlier this year.
“There’s a guest rapper on it too,” Bass said. “And that’s going to throw people when you see my name next to his.”
We all know the rapper is Snoop, Lance, and we’re not thrown — not even a little bit. But hey, Snoop’s got bills to pay and so do you. After all, someone’s got to bankroll that over-the-top wedding as well as the house he and Turchin recently bought together. And this song—which sounds like something Rhianna spit into the ashtray with the rest of her roaches—is what we call a paycheck.
Degas
SAGs, Gaybros; whatever. Bass may have felt he could have done more, but he CAME OUT. That’s doing a lot for the GLBT community.
jimstoic
Don’t beat yourself up, Mr. Bass. You navigated a path few others have. No one expects perfection. Snoop hasn’t always said the most thoughtful things about us, so this seems like a good thing.
Dixie Rect
Please no new ‘music’ from this has been back up singer, who stopped ‘performing’ at least 10+ years ago. He came out as a career move and to jumpstart his non career. Of course he regrets it now, he had to get some publicity to promote some horrid new single. Even on the cover of People he looks like a special needs adult.
Lance is, yet another, desperate has been Z list ‘celeb’ trying to get something going, but, due to a complete lack of talent, he cannot.
jimbryant
Lance Bass made his money by being part of a band that marketed itself as heterosexual to young females.
Young females would have rejected the band if Lance had come out during the band’s build-up towards success. That’s because young women are an extremely homophobic demographic. Young women are offended by gay men because homosexuality in men means a rejection of women.
There is nothing more hurtful to a woman than being rejected sexually by a man.
jimbryant
The music business is EXTREMELY homophobic in its attitude towards gay men. EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY, EXTREMELY. I can’t stress it strongly enough.
I know someone who works in the business. Male artists are told point blank that they must NOT reveal their homosexuality because it’s bad for business. Even though there are gay men working at the labels, they are all part of the same policy set-up. You have gay men telling gay male singers that they must NOT come out.
It’s no surprise that there has been only ONE openly gay American male singer who has had even a moderate amount of success in the last 50 years. Only one, and that was Adam Lambert. His success has faded, however, because female buyers won’t sustain a market for him.
Music industry = EXTREMELY homophobic towards male homosexuality.
dougmc92
this is why I don’t think outing is all that bad….every guy who was outed always comes to the ultimate conclusion that their life is so much better and that they have had a huge weight lifted off their shoulders…can’t think of any celeb who was outed who didn’t become an engaged, active member of the LGBT population.
LandStander
@jimbryant: “That’s because young women are an extremely homophobic demographic…”
Clearly, you have never been to Japan, where Shounen-ai (boy’s love) comics are immensely popular with young women. Perhaps you should rethink your blanket statements regarding women.
jimbryant
LandStrander,
Citing a voyeuristic fetish hardly does justice to your cause. Fetish is not the definition of orientation.
yaoming
Wait – we’re supposed to believe anyone ever thought LB was a “straight-acting gay”?
AuntieChrist
What he really should have regretted was that unfortunate something about Mary hairdo that he was sporting for a while. Glad to see that he finally washed his hair….. He does have pretty eyes……
Cam
I am SO beyond sick of hearing about how homophobic the entertainment industry is.
ANY other industry that had so much anecdotal evidence of ingrained bigotry would have already been investigated. Why hasn’t the entertainment industry?
If Lance REALLY wanted to help the gay community he would give the names of the music producers, PR folks, and record execs who stated to him that he had to stay closeted.
jimbryant
Cam,
The music industry hasn’t been investigated because it is gays, themselves, who are helping to cause the bigotry against male homosexuality. Gay men working as executives in the music industry are actively telling male pop singers to pretend they are heterosexual.
Furthermore, a gay male singer will easily sell his soul – and his sexuality – if it’s going to mean the difference between having 10 million dollars and 10 dollars in his bank account. Ever heard of George Michael and Ricky Martin?
AuntieChrist
@jimbryant:You are annoyingly stupid… How long you gonna beat that same tired old drum???…. Einstein said….”Only two things are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the former.”….In the last three days you wrote this….
What has Cher ever done for gay men? Has she ever marched in a gay rights parade? Never seen her. Does she include male-male sensuality in her videos? Never seen it…..
How is Adam Levine “open and accepting to gays”? To my knowledge, he has never put male-male sensuality in his music videos. Why should we support someone who has failed to show male-male sensuality in his music videos? Adam is a product of the homophobic music industry, an industry that scrubs out gayness in almost all male music acts and their videos…..I think Weird Al is fake. Wake up, gays. You’re being manipulated by those in the entertainment industry. Stop being the useful idiots
stanhope
Mommy please, just make him go away!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Lance Bass that is. I still get a chuckle out of a sterling silver ring from Saks Fifth Avenue as the engagement ring given his income level. David Yurman??? LOL LOL No wonder his fiancé looked so glum in the picture. That elaborate story he told about where to propose had me gasping for air I laughed so hard. She’s a cheap gal, that one. LOL
Cam
I also LOVE the way that he says HE came out.
Um, no, actually you were outed. But nice try on rewriting history there Lance. 😉
Oh, and nice of you to come out and say this now…you know, when you have a song to sell.
Rockery
Lance is unattractive and his nose job made his look even worse. I’m really not sure what his talent is, did he even do anything solo? All the rest of Nsync did
@yaoming:
He’s delusional, the fact that he was (possibly still is) celebrating being a “straight-acting gay” (in his mind only of course) in itself is shows he still interalized homophobia
GO AWAY LANCE
Degas
Wow, some really harsh words about his appearance. Any of you look like Michelangelo’s David? He and his friends like football and beer. One can be on the more effeminate side in demeanor and still have masculine tastes and interests.
As far as internalized homophobia, gays have always struggled with it. We are told from the cradle that being gay is sick, wrong, immoral, disgusting and worse. We heard it from our family, church, politicians, athletes, entertainers, and everywhere we turned.
Nasty comments about other peoples physical appearance, or their lack of hotness is internalized homophobia, too. People have value other than what they can offer you as eye candy.
jimbryant
Lance never did come out as far as I can recall. He was outed, wasn’t he?
Lance wasn’t solely a victim. He was the both victim and perpetrator. He was the victim of the homophobic music business and he was also the perpetrator of the marketing strategy which underpins boy bands, which is to appeal to a female demographic.
jimbryant
Just to add to what I said before, do you guys seriously think that N Sync would have become hugely successful if Lance had come out during the early days of the band? If he had, the band would have been immediately called the “boy band with the gay guy in it”. It’s a hex.
Young females – who are generally very resentful towards the concept of male homosexuality – would have stopped screaming for them. Their income would have dried up. The media would always have been asking them questions about Lance’s sexuality, such as “How does it feel to be the first boy band with an openly gay member?”.
And, thirdly, the gay community would have done what it always does best: destroy the band. When it comes to gay men who come out or are outed, other gay men like to own them and destroy them. Destroying them enables the gay community to keep playing the victim card.
Rockery
Why is @Degas: riding my dick so hard???
Are you mad darling? Are you always this passive aggressive? Just say my name
At least make sense,
1)Lance himself said “straight-acting”read the first paragraph again.
2) Yes we get bad messages but if you are coming out on People magazine, it’s not productive to call yourself “straight-acting”
3) Also, saying someone is unattractive is not internalized homophobia
BrandoPolo
The phrase “straight-acting” is a misnomer that needs to die. Unless you’re sleeping with the opposite sex regularly as opposed to going down on guys and taking it up the bum, you’re not acting straight. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. There’s no such thing as a SAG, except in their own minds.
So Lance needs some more education, apparently, on what it means to be gay. I think Lance is referring to relatively masculine gays as opposed to relatively effeminate ones, and even so he never fit the bill: he’s had gayface since forever. Like most self-described “SAGs” he wasn’t not fooling anybody but himself, haha
@jimbryant: I’m not convinced that pop music’s female fanbase is as homophobic as advertised. One Direction is the biggest boyband in the world right now, and they have taken homoeroticism to new levels. Their fans love it and have been very clear that they would not abandon the band if any of them comes out. Of course, leave it to a non-American band to push boundaries this way.
The problem, as it usually is, is washed-up, past-their-prime, out of touch entertainment industry executives and kingmakers. Porn executives, music executives, film executives all telling the same lie — “Oh, our product has to reflect the bigotry of the fans to sell, we’re just giving them what they want.” When in fact their own bigotry is the problem.
Full story here: http://www.queerty.com/lance-bass-regrets-how-he-came-out-but-now-hes-walking-on-air-20131122/#ixzz2lWX9AhqR
jimbryant
BrandoPolo,
I partly agree with you, particularly in relation to your last paragraph. However, you are underestimating the homophobia of women, particularly young women.
Women are playing a clever game when they say they “accept” gay men. It’s clever because, in reality, it’s an acceptance with a caveat. The caveat is segregation. Thus, it’s an acceptance based on segregation. In other words, “so long as you gay guys stay segregated and away from the mainstream, we’ll accept you”.
Once male homosexuality enters the mainstream – particularly through male bisexuality – women become very resentful. Male homosexuality in the mainstream represents a competitive threat to women, particularly young women, in their interactions with the opposite sex.
This notion that male homosexuality must remain segregated if it is to be accepted by women is a huge attempt to keep our sexuality as gay and bi guys out of the mainstream. It’s a power play by women.
BrandoPolo
@jimbryant: I don’t follow. There is a large swath of gay men who are resentful of male bisexuality — are you claiming they too are homophobic?
Degas
@Rockery: Ah, because the things you say sound dickish.
jwrappaport
I never understood why “straight-acting” has become synonymous with an affinity for beer, football, and monosyllabic frat talk. I was under the impression that “straight-acting” referred to people who, you know, are primarily sexually attracted to women and perform sex acts with primarily women. It doesn’t refer to smooth Corbin Fisher bottoms who throw around a few sports references to titillate us (but how they do!). It certainly doesn’t refer to Lance.
I really don’t get it. Why can’t people just like what they like without feeling the need to bolster their street cred? Good for Lance for showing us that he thinks he has the essential trappings of heterosexuality, but he’s still getting plowed by a dude, bro.
LandStander
@jimbryant: “Citing a voyeuristic fetish hardly does justice to your cause”
You are confusing Shounen ai with Yaoi (I can understand why that would happen, it is a common misperception). Shounen ai is NOT a voyeuristic fetish, in fact there are few if any sex scenes in them; that would be yaoi. Instead, they are simply love stories, stories of two men falling in love. Not something homophobic people would read, and also not a fetish (though there are plenty who do read yaoi as a sexual fetish :P)