American Idol Anti-Gay?

Funny stuff:

Bosses at America's leading gay rights group are demanding a summit meeting with the producers of TV talent show American Idol after claiming the programme is "increasingly homophobic".

Officials at the Gay And Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) were appalled by homophobic remarks made by judges Simon Cowell and Randy Jackson on the first show of the new season, which aired in America on Tuesday.

On the programme, Brit Cowell told one effeminate wannabe to "shave off your beard and wear a dress," while Jackson asked another audition hopeful, "Are you a girl?" Both contestants were rejected.

Link.

I earlier commented on the nastiness of Tuesday's show. With respect to the two allegedly anti-gay comments above:

1. Cowell's comment about shaving off the beard and wearing a dress was flat-out mean. The contestant wasn't particularly effeminate, and sure didn't strike me as though he thought he was effeminate. There is no greater insult to a man, yet Cowell gratuitously dished it out.

2. Jackson's question ("Are you a girl?") was honest. I thought the guy was a girl: he wore his hair like a girl, he talked like a girl, his face looked like a girl, he walked like a girl, his top looked like a girl's. The "guy" obviously wanted people to think he looks like a girl, so I thought it was an appropriate--though sensitive--question to ask. The contestant, incidentally, also wept like a girl after his rejection.

Both contestants, by the way, were properly rejected. They were poor singers (at least compared to the talented singers on the show).

As for American Idol being homophobic: Ask the gay Ryan Seacrest--whose career has soared because of AI--what he thinks about that.