What was so overtly swishy about Clay Aiken? Everybody seems to have assumed he was gay or “probably gay”, but what specifically about his behavior was pinging everybody’s gaydar?
Don’t be a non-offending PC scaredy-cat, be specific. What was so gay about Clay?
It has nothing to do with swishy. It doesn’t have to do with specific characteristics, more like the “gestalt” of a person. I just *know *when someone’s gay.
Soft-mannered, neat, and gay.
With all due respect, my husband is soft-mannered, and neat. I’ve heard him sing…quite well, actually. He’s not gay. Try again.
Love, Phil
Actual quote from Aiken: “Well, I was watching this Britney Spears interview while I was getting my manicure and pedicure…”
Your husband may very well come off as gay to Red Barchetta.
He looks gay, his demeanor is gay. The human mind can pick up on all sorts of subtle cues that are not easily verbalized.
I never really saw it either, but I don’t find it hard to believe. The one that confuses me is Ryan Seacrest. Why do people think he’s gay?
This husband is also married to someone named “Phil”
<d&r>
Add me to the list…he always struck me as a bit shy and unassuming, but not at all gay.
[40 Year Old Virgin] You know how I know Clay Aiken is gay? He likes Clay Aiken [/40 Year Old Virgin]
He was so gay he could redecorate a room just by looking at it.
It’s some of those same hard to verbalize things. Having met the man (we used to have the same grocery store) I said to myself “Gay!” before I even knew who he was.
Clay reminded me of two college buddies, Jay and Craig, both from central NC, small towns. They had a lilt to their voices, not particularly masculine, SLIGHTLY swishy, and roommates. This was mid- to late 80’s. Assumption: Gay.
After graduation they moved into an apartment as roommates. Assumption: Strengthened. A year or two later I was talking to Jay, who said he was so concerned about Craig, he had been sneaking around more, telling lies, and generally being odd. Jay told me breathlessly that he had found out Craig was GAY!
I burst out laughing, and told Jay I thought BOTH of them were. Jay couldn’t understand why I thought that.
I wonder if Jay has come out of the closet? Or is he really straight?
Well, just LOOK at him.
Magiver stated it best.
Gaylty by association?
I can’t exactly say why he pinged my gaydar. He just did. I’d have to agree with Magiver about the mind picking up subtle cues.
OTOH, I have a very dear friend whom my husband insists is a lesbian. I said that if she is, she sure doesn’t know it yet. But my husband’s gaydar is usually more accurate than mind, so now I’m wondering.
Effeminate and soft-mannered. But his trailer hitch de-chroming business really clued me in.
He looks gay, for starters. As Red Barschetta points out, he was also neat, well-manered, and soft spoken. All of his mannerisms scream “Gay!” He also, you know, made a name for himself basically singing showtunes on American Idol. He turned songs that weren’t showtunes into showtunes on a weekly basis, for goodness’ sake.
And as Kathy Griffin is fond of pointing out, there was the post-Idol period during which he kept mentioning in interviews that he “Just hadn’t met the right girl” to date at a time when he could have had his pick from thousands of women. He also has the gay man’s tiny dog (“Raleigh”).
Basically, he’s the gayest gay to ever gay.
I’m honestly not sure if I’m being wooshed or not. Seacrest is groomed within an inch of his life, has a serious case of what Perez Hilton calls “gayface,” and rose to stardom exchanging homoerotic banter with Simon Cowell (and Anderson Cooper).
I thought he was gay, but I think lots of people are gay. Sometimes I’m right, sometimes I’m wrong, and sometimes I’ll never, ever know. If you think tons of people are gay, though, eventually somebody’s going to come out of the closet and you’ll look like a friggin’ genius.
When Savage Garden was popular, I annoyed my friends by declaring that Darren Hayes was gay. Why did I say that? Because he just gave me that “vibe.” Clay Aiken gave me that same vibe. There was just some basic little thing that was “off” there, some unspoken straight guy behavior that wasn’t there, or wasn’t quite right.
I’ve also alternately declared Brandon Flowers, Brendon Urie, Jake Gyllenhaal, Ryan Phillippe, and Seth Green gay. If I’m right about any of them, I’ll look like I have amazing gaydar. There’s no real way to prove they aren’t gay, though, so I’ll never know if I’m wrong.
Since the tabloids pretty much say everybody is gay at some point, they’ve got the same racket going as me.
