Clay Aiken Says Gaycists Today Are Like Racists of the Past on Subject of Gay Marriage

Clay Aiken wasn’t even out of the closet when he shot to prominence a decade ago on American Idol, though the singer was long the subject of gay rumors before he finally came out of the closet years later.

In fact, Clay Aiken is almost like a metaphor for our acceptance of and cultural tolerance of people being gay. Back when Clay was a closeted reality TV show contestant, far fewer Americans were comfortable with the idea of equal rights for gay Americans, and the issue cleanly divided the country enough that it didn’t seem overwhelming acceptance was looming just ten years down the line.

But it did. Clay Aiken came out (surprising few), we got shows like Glee, where gay people were just part of the storyline rather than the focus, and by and large, Americans came to support the legality of gay marriages. Yay, progress! While ten years ago, it was more accepted to be anti-gay-rights socially, those who espouse those viewpoints look ever outdated as Americans, like the president, evolve on the issue.

Aiken made a comparison that is oft-cited on the internet, likening those who vocally oppose gay marriage to the anti-segregationists of the civil rights movement. Speaking on Face The Nation, Aiken himself referred to the changing climate during his own career, before adding:

“…obviously you’ve got people who make the argument that interracial relationships back in the seventies, people made the same arguments against interracial relationships, as they’re making against same-sex marriages today.”

Aiken continues:

“So, I feel, I really strongly believe that in the next 20 years, we’re going to look back on this and be sort of ashamed of the fact that we were against this, just as we’re ashamed today that we didn’t let people of different races get married.”

Clay Aiken hails from North Carolina, the state that most recently passed anti-gay marriage legislation in the form of Amendment One.