Adam Lambert has no regrets about coming out of the closet in a Rolling Stone cover story.
"People who can't appreciate an entertainer because of his sexual preference are ignorant, so I don't care," the American Idol runner-up says to USA Today.
But that's not quite the same thing as being a gay role model, he clarifies: "I don't want to be a gay poster child."
This, he explains, was the reason why he ignored speculation about his sexuality — and refused to confirm anything — during the American Idol competition in spring 2008. "I wanted the focus to be on my entertainment value, not my personal life. It was scary. I had never been on national TV."
Today, as he prepares to release his debut album For Your Entertainment Nov. 23, Lambert has begrudgingly accepted the "poster child" label.
"Like it or not, it's projected on me," says Lambert, 27. "I'm not saying, 'Do what I do.' I say, 'Do what you do.'"
In late October, he and boyfriend Drake LaBry split up after several months together. "They're still friends, and it's totally mutual," the source told Us. "They will still talk and see each other."