Last month, a dozen queer-identifying musicians got together to discuss homophobia in the music industry. When a photo of the event showing mostly white gay men sitting around a table hit the internet, critics were quick to call out the summit’s lack of racial and gender diversity.
.@AdamLambert, @TroyeSivan, Gay Songwriters Bond Over Brunch, Talk Homophobia in the Biz https://t.co/mbvp7nhVbO
— Variety (@Variety) May 22, 2018
#nocolor #atthetable color Adam Lambert, Troye Sivan, Gay Songwriters Talk Homophobia in the Biz – Variety https://t.co/8T8fTpUt7K
— sheryl lee ralph (@thesherylralph) May 23, 2018
Love that this is happening. Sad that there appears to be no people of color in the photo. https://t.co/n1mtA3QGn1
— Todrick Hall (@todrick) May 23, 2018
White Gays Invite Journalist to Cover Them Speaking on Behalf of Women and POC LGBTQ at Exclusive White Gay Boozy Brunch pic.twitter.com/wsKhDk221m
— Chris Rollins (@chrisrollins_) May 23, 2018
“I spoke to some of the organizers. Everyone was invited,” Sivan told GQ in a recent interview. “There were definitely people of color invited, definitely women invited. People were traveling. People couldn’t make it. Seeing that photo, I’m like, ’Fuck, I get it.’ I would be pissed off, too.”
The pop sensation told GQ situations like the luncheon motivate him to continue advocating for inclusivity of all people.
“I don’t know the backend of all this, but let’s say they could only find five people who were not a white gay to invite to this thing, that’s a problem. That’s one that everyone at the luncheon is aware of. Everyone’s intentions are to change that in the future. That was an unfortunate, unfortunate photo of an unfortunate situation where we all looked around the room and were like, ’Well, shit.'”
Adam Lambert and superstar producer Justin Tranter also attended the event.
In response to the backlash, Tranter tweeted out a statement claiming his comments about the lack of diversity were not published in the article.
To everyone upset about the lack of diversity here you should be. I didn’t organize the event, I just attended. A lot of my quotes about the extreme lack of diversity in the room, and the importance of intersectionality were not published. Sent with love. https://t.co/Xmb8z4YboT
— Justin Tranter (@justtranter) May 23, 2018
