Lady Gaga's VMA Escorts All Victims of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" Policy

[KingOfLostSouls]

Source: Gather.com

When Lady Gaga walked the red carpet at the 2010 MTV VMA's tonight, her escorts served a purpose far beyond walking the singing sensation to her destination.

Don't Ask, Don't Tell

According to Popeater, Lady Gaga's escorts at tonight's VMA's were all "ex-servicemen who were all discharged or left the military as the result of the Don't Ask Don't Tell policy."

"I'm here for a very, very important cause tonight," Lady Gaga said. "These are all my friends and they are with SLDN.org, which is an organization that was founded in 1993 under the reaction to the 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policies. Their stories are very inspiring and there's so much we can do right now."

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was a policy activated under the presidency of Bill Clinton. It basically advised gays and lesbians to keep their sexuality quiet, and all would be well while they served in the military. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is one of several current administrators who are actively seeking to bring an end to the policy. President Obama is awaiting a decision from Congress.


<snip>



"No one person is more valuable than another person," she added, prior to concluding her stroll on the red carpet.

Read more: http://celebs.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474978514069

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it kinda says something when a celebrity is more socially conscious and brave than our elected officials on instituted discrimination as an issue.

[Skittles]

1. not a Gaga fan but this is awesome

:thumbsup:

[immoderate]

2. She is a standup GaGa!

:patriot:

--imm

[eyeofdelphi]

3. i really didn't like her at first

but she's kinda growing on me. i think it's awesome when celebs with this much coverage bring attention to causes like this.

[Tunkamerica]

7. like a rash.

but, seriously, folks. It's great the statement she made.

If only she weren't so manufactured and plastic. It's so very shocking to be revolutionary. At least I like MIA's music.

[tuvor]

11. "If only she weren't so manufactured and plastic." Beggin' to disagree.

I'd like to see more of this brand of plastic in pop music.

[Frank Cannon]

13. I'm not a huge fan, but I do recognize that she is quite sharp and talented.

She's nowhere near as manufactured and plastic as the Britney Spearses and Miley Cyruses of the entertainment world.

[AlbertCat]

29. plastic as the Britney Spearses and Miley Cyruses

Her music is just as forgettable and dull. (Costumes are not music, y'know)

And some people ARE more important than others, but that has nothing to do with sexual orientation. I mean, President AWOL was much less important than, oh, Kerry, or even McCain! But all of them are straight (I think).

[TexasObserver]

52. There's no comparison between Gaga and those two.

Just because you don't like her doesn't mean she's not talented. She's a classically trained pianist and an accomplished song writer, unlike those two you mention. She has a very good, balanced, trained voice, unlike those two you mention. She has a large following among people who like music and art, unlike those two you mention.

Comparing Gaga to Britney and Cyrus only labels you, not her. If you can't tell the difference, the problem is on your end.

If you think Bad Romance is like anything done by Britney or Miley, you need to spend more time listening to music.

[Lisa0825]

10. I don't like her music, but I like her statements. nt

[CLANG]

30. ditto!!

[izquierdista]

45. I like her music and her statements

and the costumes are.....interesting, to say the least.

[Lisa0825]

49. I think she is very interesting, and I love what she has to say, but....

I am mainly a rocker and just don't get into her style of music. That being said, I totally recognize that she has a lot of talent!

[safeinOhio]

4. Findlay Ohio's

Katie Miller, in the white uniform standing next to her. I love em both.

[Karenina]

55. I am SO HAPPY Mz Thang gave KM a high profile.

Katharine Miller is the real deal. She gives me the chills of TRUTH backed by STREET CRED being spoken to power. So is Victor Ferenbach. So is Dan Choi. So is........ Homophobia threatens America's national security. What DUMBASS wants to can competent translators? :freak:

I am NOT a fan of the military. Sonst NICHTS. But were I, THESE are the folks I would want covering my jenky exposed-to-live-fire-ass. I cannot understand their commitment to carrying out predatory American foreign policy and at the same time cannot fathom HOW those who support such goals would wish to so brutalize those ON THEIR OWN SIDE. :freak:

This world is fucking nutzoid.:crazy:

Re MiLady: She was, in my perception, a pop figure whose celebrity made my stomach churn. With this event my tummy is calmed, I thank her sincerely for the moment, will stop stereotyping her in my o'lady way, pay more attention to her "nuance" and appreciate how she uses her platform. I always reserve the right to change my mind abruptly given new information.

Tante K.

[krispos42]

5. Excellent idea.

I think everybody in the audience could have a squad of discharged DADT GI's for an escort, unfortunately.

[KingOfLostSouls]

6. She gave a shout out to them

when she was getting the first award of the night.

really cool chick.

[Wraith20878]

8. Can't say I'm a Lady Gaga fan

But I'll give her props for this. Well Done. I wish more celebrities would do stuff like this.

[TexasObserver]

9. I'm very proud of her.

She is doing something good with her celebrity.

[Javaman]

12. perhaps this is a new type of celebrity?

While applaud here stance on this issue, the controversy also helps her as well.

[66 dmhlt]

14. Lady Gaga's "DADT" Escorts ...

[xultar]

15. I cannot stand her music I think her looks are silly but this is AWESOME!

[xchrom]

39. Don't they look Grand? Love me some GaGa! Nt

[flyarm]

16. I love and adore Lady Gaga..I love to dance to her music and I love everything about her!!

I dance with my 1 yr old Grand daughter to lady Gaga!!..and Sing it to her..I have been a fan of her music since day one!! I saw her in Concert in LA last Christmas time..and my hubby got me front row seats for a Xmas gift!!..I just love her..

and this makes me love her more!! if that is possible!!

Check out her web site ..

Servicemembers Legal Defence Network on her web site!!
http://www.ladygaga.com/sldn/

[awoke_in_2003]

42. "I dance...to lady Gaga"

DADT :)

[izquierdista]

46. You're not the only one

Snowball does too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B6mhkaf4f10

[dembotoz]

17. wow just wow

[Hannah Bell]

18. but she wouldn't support the prop 8 boycott -- that would cut off some income.

[femrap]

19. I'm glad she has a social

conscience and I hope it's real. But as a feminist, :wtf: is it w/ her 'shoes?' They are f*cking torture devices!

I saw these a couple of months ago and thought they were a joke....but there was a phone number to call if you wanted a pair made for you.

I suppose there is some slave wage Chinese factory that makes these. They so reminded me of 'foot binding.'

What a great way to enslave someone....placing their feet in something that is so difficult to walk and impossible to run.

I was writing a song for Lady Gaga because I do like her music, but now those torture device shoes really leave me so cold. She is setting an example...and these fucking shoes epitomize oppression. Oh well...you won't see lesbian military women wearing them I guess.

Go ahead...attack me. I have a long Ignore List that hasn't been used yet.

Are there any Feminist Bands/Singers out there? Melissa Etheridge...I guess I could write a song for her.

[Bluenorthwest]

26. No one puts GaGa in anything.

Read up on her background, she's always working with intention. I find your assesment to be atavistic and extremely limiting to artists according to gender roles as you see them. This 'example' she is setting is not about her shoes, it is about her courage, and her self determination. I remember when Bjork went to the Oscars dressed as a swan. Was she setting a trend of dressing like water fowl or was she sending a message of freedom and humor? Does it matter that military people would not dress like a swan?
It amazes me that you can type 'lesbian military women' in a thread about an artist opposing the oppression of those very women, and still miss the point of the shoes. Think about it for a minute.

[Name removed]

32. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Bluenorthwest]

35. Well, you were dismissing the fact that her freaking date was

a lesbian in military shoes.
Your personal attacks are indicative of a territorial and aggressive sort of thing, and that is dull and boring to me.
You claimed to be an artist. I spoke to you like one. In my opinion, your view of what a woman should and should not do as an artist is dated, and it is creatively constrictive in ways no shoes could ever be.
Those were clown shoes. Art shoes. Joke shoes. Those were the shoes most unlike the shoes she would be next to as possible. Those are her boots on the ground.
I'm sorry you thought horrid things about my post. I just happen to think that artists of such courage are rare indeed, and she's one of my favorites.
What she did was fantastic. What she said was truth. What she wore was entertaining, and meant to draw attention to what she said and what she did. And they did that. The world says 'you must be joking, where did you get those shoes' and her message rolls out. The shoes that sold the world.
Peace to you.

[eleny]

36. Do you mean the Alexander McQueen shoes?

[femrap]

51. I don't know what they're called....

but a man must have invented them....they look like the hooves of a horse, somewhat. Most uncomfortable and distressing. Lady Gaga didn't look too steady in them.

Alexander McQueen, if these are his design, should have those shoes duct taped to his feet for life.

I do not, nor never will understand why men design women's shoes.

[femrap]

53. I googled McQueen....

who knew there were so many torture devices for women's feet?! I would use them as works of 'art'....maybe use them as vases. I guess a woman could sit while wearing them....but walking would not be advisable.

Thanks for the name...Maybe I could make a fortune designing torture devices for men's feet.

McQueen has a boot and line called 'Faithful Hobo.' As a child I remember the end of the 'hobo era.' We lived in the country and my grandmother would always have the hobo join us at the dinner table. I thought they were quite 'adventurous,' not realizing they were homeless, jobless, and poor.

So McQueen's 'faithful hobo' really is a slap in the face to those who lived during the Depression and had to be 'hobos.'

I don't really like the culture of today...it's mean, cruel, and shallow. But then I am a cynic!

Again, thx for the info....

[eleny]

54. McQueen died in February of this year

So you won't be seeing more shoes from him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alexander_McQueen

[femrap]

56. Guess not. nt

[ooglymoogly]

20. I can't say I know her music or even that I have heard any

but the more I see and hear of this lady the more I become a fan.

[stevenleser]

21. Huge Gaga fan here. Love the music, the fashion and her politics, like described here.

She can show me her poker face any day.

[Blue Owl]

22. She's miles ahead of Lady Blah-Blah

when it comes to human rights.

Good on ya, Ga Ga.

[Hamlette]

23. she is such a freaking media creation

yes, its cool for her to do this but really, its her biggest fan base (not that there is anything wrong with it) what do you expect?

If there is anyone I hate as much as Gaga its Camille Paglia but she nailed it in this review:

Although she presents herself as the clarion voice of all the freaks and misfits of life, there is little evidence that she ever was one. Her upbringing was comfortable and eventually affluent, and she attended the same upscale Manhattan private school as Paris and Nicky Hilton. There is a monumental disconnect between Gaga’s melodramatic self-portrayal as a lonely, rebellious, marginalised artist and the powerful corporate apparatus that bankrolled her makeover and has steamrollered her songs into heavy rotation on radio stations everywhere.

From Gaga the Death of Sex http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/public/magazine/article389697.ece

"Music is a lie"? gag (short for Gaga) I just can't get past her whole manufactured persona.

[Bluenorthwest]

28. She's a very talented artist.

Can you name me a pop music star that is not bankrolled by Corps? Or major motion pictures? Oh, yes, all the homemade music that rises to the radio by the force of the public! That happens all the time!
Paglia is what she is. Her opinion here is all about the bitter.
I offer to you that a kid named Davey Jones from nice cozy private schools with formal music education got all dressed up and called himself 'Ziggy' and Bowie and depicted himself as being from Mars. Arists depict themselves as various things. I mean, take Eddie Murphy, whose parents were middle class more than mine, who stood up and did a poem called 'Kill my Landlord' on SNL. As if, Eddie, as if. It goes on and on. It is called 'art'. I heard about this guy from Minnesota name of Zimmerman, who funked up a whole image and style and way of being that was not exactly Minnesota, nor Zimmerman, and he sure got by with that. He pretended to be Woody Guthrie. He was not. He was an art boy.
Mick Jagger, the devil, went to the London School of Economics. He left that out of his rock bio at first, you know. Street Fight'n Man indeed.
Lame to call out artists for being artists.

[iamthebandfanman]

57. just because you worship her, doesnt mean the rest of us hafta.

she is manufactured.

ill give her the fact that she does write most of her own music, but beyond that please.

she doesnt really have that great of a voice in my opinion, and is super weak live (voice wise).



you should youtube/google her back in the day..
before she decided the way she looked wouldnt make her famous.

you know, when she had to use talent instead of gimmicks to be somebody.

[TexasObserver]

58. She has a very good voice and it is strong.

Let's debunk your claim she has a weak voice live. Here she is playing an acoustic version of Paparazzi live at a radio station. She plays the keyboard and sings with no other accompaniment.

Please listen, so you'll stop make that ridiculous claim.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l3R3KqrJAI4

She's got one of the strongest female voices of the pop era, much stronger than Cher, Madonna, and a host of others. Be picky and say you can't stand her, but don't make up things about her skills. She's very talented as a singer and a songwriter.

[GreenArrow]

37. Artist?

She's pure product.

[Bluenorthwest]

40. Gee, convincing argument

Art and product are not mutually exclusive, the only ones who think so are artists who can not make any money. All artists make product. She is her own invention. A trained musician and a performance artist. She's pure product like Bowie was pure product. Unlike Andy, she makes her own.
I mean, even aside from and before her fame, she had art creds in a couple of fields professionally and academically. Not sure what standards you use for this Art vs. Soup thing you have a running, but by my standards, she's an artist. She's sure not soup, where did you get the idea that she is soup?

[GreenArrow]

50. Well, I generally like your posts on political subjects

but we'll have to disagree on Gaga. You think she's an artist, I think she's an attention grabber and a money grubber, and someone whose success gives living proof to PT Barnum's dictum about the birth rate of suckers. It's kitsch. Bowie is pure product. I never have been a Bowie fan. IMO, he's a derivative hack who stole his shtick from Lou Reed and Iggy Pop who did it much better, with greater sincerity and authenticity.

I'd have to disagree with you on art and product being mutually exclusive, as well. I'd flip your statement on its head and suggest that "Art and product are not mutually exclusive", but that the only ones that think so are "artists" whose primary interest is in making money. Art is something bigger than the renumeration that one can potentially make from it.

But, this is a sterile conversation. NOBODY ever agrees on what art is/what makes art good or bad, etc. If you like Gaga, you listen to her, and enjoy her. I doubt you'd like some of the stuff I listen to, either (not all of which I'd qualify as art, or at least as good art).

[KakistocracyHater]

24. rejecting what she has to say because of her shoes is hilarious! hahaha

I wonder why Gaga isn't rejected for her current haircolor, because she simply MUST be making fun of old people:sarcasm:

[Lilyeye]

25. This was great of her to do, but

she comes across so fake and contrived to me at times. I hope she is genuine. Besides that WTG!

[iamthebandfanman]

27. now if we can just get her to realize meat isnt meant for wearing n/t

[DeSwiss]

31. YES! - K&R n/t

[Tx4obama]

33. Breaking News: Reid to schedule senate DADT vote next week

http://tinyurl.com/38dpcnq

[myrna minx]

34. K&R n/t

[uppityperson]

38. Fuddy duddy here asking who? Good for her, whoever she is

[Jamastiene]

41. K&R

[iamjoy]

43. Sorry, Everytime I Think of Lady Gaga

I think

"All we hear is Lady Ga-ga. Lady Goo-goo. Lady Ga-Ga."

[MrSlayer]

44. At least she is using her fame to promote good causes.

I don't believe I would care for her music at all but she seems like she's on the right side of issues. Thus I will not bash her.

[Divine Discontent]

48. I love Rush, Queensryche, Dokken, etc. and I really like Bad Romance by her.

But, as always, to each their own likes. I didn't think I'd like her when she first put out Poker Face, but the newer songs I really enjoyed. She's a strong advocate for equality, and she's certainly one who doesn't care about pushing the envelope of creativity. ha

[Divine Discontent]

47. AND she sang a sentence from an unknown song as part of her acceptance for the big award,

and it said something along the lines of "God doesn't make mistakes"... She's a wonderful person for all she does for equal rights!