Adam Lambert did not let the homophobia he faced keep him from being his truest self. In fact, he became even more committed to doing exactly that.
Adam Lambert rose to fame on the American Idol stage. The world watched as the performer came in second place and then went on to have a fresh and exciting career. However, as a gay man trying to take on the music industry in the early 2000s, he encountered a lot of homophobia that constantly threatened to hold him back. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the star recounted:
"There were no gay guys. It was kind of the Wild West in terms of that...I did a performance on the evening of my first single coming out, on the American Music Awards. And I did the kind of performance I had seen since I was a teenager. I was kind of sexy, and had dancers on stage, and I did a couple of suggestive moves with a couple of dancers, and an impromptu kiss with my bass player. I was feeling it. Well, I got off stage and I got in trouble. The network was like, 'How dare you?' They banned me for a while. They threatened me with a lawsuit. It was like, 'Oh, okay, that's where we're at.' I didn't know. I'd been in a bubble in LA amongst artists, weirdos, and I didn't realize that that kind of thing would ruffle feathers the way it did."
However, this backlash did not keep Lambert from being himself. In fact, it filled him with the resolve to, "be as gay as I f****** can be. And be flamboyant and be wild, and if it gets me into trouble, it gets me in trouble, but I'm not going to back down from it." While it is unfortunate he had to deal with this blatant homophobia, his refusal to apologize for who he is or to hide is inspiring. Read the entire interview here! 
