No, No! Tell Me it Ain't So!

From Stacy McCain: Demi Lovato Is Gay?

Probably not. The ex-Disney starlet’s announcement of her appearance at the Los Angeles Gay Pride parade was deliberately ambiguous.

The last time I noticed Demi Lovato was in 2010, when she was in “starlet meltdown” mode — reports of drug abuse, rumors of a sex video, a trip to rehab — all of which was reportedly a consequence of being dumped by her one-time boyfriend Joe Jonas of the then-popular singing group the Jonas Brothers. Demi was only 18 at the time, but she has managed to recover and establish something like an actual career, appearing as a judge on a talent show (The X Factor) and doing an acting appearance onGlee, where she played somebody’s lesbian girlfriend.

Being a little slow on the uptake of popular media, I didn't even know Demi's name until 2012, when she briefly made the news by taking on rappers who were glamorizing "bath salts", a stance for which I both applauded her, and honored her with a formal "Rule 5" post.

However, a careful reading of Lovato’s press release shows that she describes herself as “an active advocate of the LGBT community” and, while there was at least one vague rumor of a lesbian affair last year, Lovato did not confirm that rumor and has never described herself as gay. More than likely, she’s just using “the LGBT community” as a marketing base, knowing how influential gays are in the music and entertainment industry.

It's probably better that she's not; straight people are a wider market in the long run, although, good knows Elton John and Joan Jett made it work in their favor.

And good for her, y’know? I mean, whatever’s good for her career is good for her career, and certainly it’s better that Demi is working than for her to be sitting around in a depressed stupor, getting coked up and contemplating suicide. She has escaped the kind of downward spiral effect that has destroyed others — e.g., Lindsay Lohan’s career is over, although she continues desperately clinging to a pathetic “famous for being famous” celebrity.

Anyway, on the canonical scale of Lesbian Hotness (Rosie O'Donnell scores "0", and Angelina Jolie scores "10"), Demi would only score a 7 or 8.

Anyway, Demi Lovato has recovered from her Troubled Starlet phase, and is now going through her Maybe I’m Gay phase, so it’s possible she may eventually confront her basic problem — the damaged human being she sees in the mirror every day — and become a reasonably well-adjusted adult some day. Or not.

But what comes around, goes around, and a few weeks ago a woman in the band I play with decided that she wanted to sing Demi's cover of the song "Let It Go" from the Disney Movie "Frozen", and I been playing guitar to the YouTube version it several times a day a day for the past couple of weeks. Say what you want, she has a set of pipes (even if she does use autotune to straighten them out a little):



178 million hits, and gaining about a million a day. I've never seen anything like that. And only 40 or so of them from me. . .

A belated acknowledgement of the Wombat-socho's giant Rule 5 manifesto: "Rule 5 Sunday: Floating."