(She's calling from inside the country)

September 17, 2010 7:21 AM

Lady Gaga for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network for the repeal of DADT (SL TPM/GAGA/YT post)
posted by device55 (33 comments total)

Old-school NY Post version:

Gaga Goo-Goo for Gay GIs
posted by Mister_A at 7:22 AM on September 17, 2010 [16 favorites]

I'm busy programming flash games at the moment, so in lieu of an insightful comment using my expertise on the subject, let me just say this:

Good to see that she's lobbying for something important. I'd insult Taylor Swift, but she's generally been apolitical (AFAICT) and did help out people in Nashville during the floods, so yeah.
posted by mccarty.tim at 7:39 AM on September 17, 2010

Basically, we have to give in to her demands or the gay GIs will stage a Big Gay Coup and install her as Fairy Princess For Life.
posted by The Whelk at 7:44 AM on September 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

I like the cut of that woman's jib.

Literally - look at her - she has a jib sail rigged up on her brassiere.

I keed. This is good.
posted by Salvor Hardin at 7:45 AM on September 17, 2010 [2 favorites]

Basically, we have to give in to her demands or the gay GIs will stage a Big Gay Coup and install her as Fairy Princess For Life.

I, for one, welcome our new Gay-stapo overlords.
posted by device55 at 7:47 AM on September 17, 2010 [5 favorites]

I love what she's doing, how earnest she is and how true to her word she is about this. Unfortunately I also have spontaneously morphed into my grandmother overnight because that whole video I just wanted to shout "wash your face!" and "get that hair out of your eyes, how can you even see anything??" Oh, Gaga, why must you give me such conflicting feelings?

Luckily, if anybody can make apathetic 18 year olds vote, it's Lady G.
posted by Mizu at 7:54 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

And Sens. Gilibrand and Schumer, what's the deal with not answering your phones for constituent calls?

I guess she's not gonna reach their telephones.
posted by Joe Beese at 8:50 AM on September 17, 2010 [6 favorites]

And Sens. Gilibrand and Schumer, what's the deal with not answering your phones for constituent calls?

Seriously? That's incredibly unusual. Like, really unusual. Staffers have been fired for letting phones ring too many times.

_{Also, if you think it's annoying to have a phone number that's one digit off from a pizza place (or some other entity that (usually drunk) people call frequently, try having a phone number that's one digit off from a Senate office. Constituents say the darndest things, and sometimes it's impossible to get a word in lengthwise to say "I'm not a senator. I think you pressed 5 one too many times when dialing."}
posted by schmod at 8:59 AM on September 17, 2010

Sometimes I wonder how I can love her more. Thanks, Gaga, for using your celebrity for something truly important.
posted by fiercecupcake at 9:05 AM on September 17, 2010

Oh, Gaga, why must you give me such conflicting feelings?

Oh man when it comes to Lady Gaga, I am totally a stereotypical gay. I love pretty much everything about her pop-culture trolling ways. This only makes it better.
posted by kavasa at 9:06 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

I, for one, welcome our new Gay-stapo overlords.

Sure it's an abocracry but are our uniforms are so hip!
posted by The Whelk at 9:08 AM on September 17, 2010

Much too long.

I wish she'd memorized her lines, or at least used a teleprompter that let her look into the camera.

Still, she's doing the right thing.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:25 AM on September 17, 2010

Luckily, if anybody can make apathetic 18 year olds vote, it's Lady G.

I was under the impression her fans are a lot older in general. Is she popular with 18 yr olds?
posted by shinybaum at 9:29 AM on September 17, 2010

Anecdotally, at Lollapalooza this year The Strokes and Lady GaGa were playing at the same time at the end of the night, and from what I could tell the GaGa crowd skewed younger. That may just be because The Strokes were at their peak of popularity almost 10 years ago though, so most of their fans are mid-20s and up.
posted by burnmp3s at 9:52 AM on September 17, 2010

I think it's an inverted bell curve from age 12-25, with the nadir around age 18.
posted by mccarty.tim at 9:53 AM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

shinybaum: "Luckily, if anybody can make apathetic 18 year olds vote, it's Lady G.

I was under the impression her fans are a lot older in general. Is she popular with 18 yr olds?"

Judging from her concert audience a few weeks ago, I'd say yes. There were lots of college age types there.
posted by octothorpe at 9:56 AM on September 17, 2010

Hey! Can I be in the abocracy? I'm not gay, but I do have an ab.
posted by Mister_A at 10:13 AM on September 17, 2010

No mention of the meat dress? It too was in protest of DADT, although I'm a little fuzzy on how that works exactly, that's what she said.
posted by ErikaB at 10:23 AM on September 17, 2010

Oh, Gaga, why must you give me such conflicting feelings?

My Gaga feelings are completely not conflicted. There's no there there.
posted by Trochanter at 10:25 AM on September 17, 2010

I was talking to my boyfriend about Lady Gaga's support for the repeal of DADT, and he said "Isn't she basically preaching to the choir?" And yes and no. Her older fans, more than likely, but I imagine there's a good deal of her younger fans that haven't really thought about it. And bringing gay and lesbian servicemembers affected by DADT to the VMAs does bring the message to people who probably don't really care about Lady Gaga (and also, makes it less of an abstract thing -- that there are actual people whose lives have been adversely affected by DADT).

The video is a little long and her delivery is a little awkward, but it's so sweetly sincere and genuine. It doesn't seem like she's paying this cause lip service but absolutely wants to see change and it willing to work for it. She's fabulous.
posted by darksong at 10:28 AM on September 17, 2010

♥
posted by juv3nal at 10:46 AM on September 17, 2010

Basically, we have to give in to her demands or the gay GIs will stage a Big Gay Coup and install her as Fairy Princess For Life.

And this is bad why?
posted by bitter-girl.com at 11:44 AM on September 17, 2010

I'm sure there's a downside somewhere.
posted by The Whelk at 12:02 PM on September 17, 2010

I could think of worse things. I mean, c'mon. George W. Bush? By comparison, the reign of Gaga will be bloodless and much more fabulous.
posted by bitter-girl.com at 12:07 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

Will it be sexier though?
posted by Mister_A at 12:22 PM on September 17, 2010

This video proves that she is not a part of the Illuminati conspiracy... or does it?
posted by iviken at 12:59 PM on September 17, 2010

It would be loads more effective to use military personnel or brass who support the taking down of dadt.

That has already happened.

But i guess she ... doesn't really care that a lot of service members will look at her support as "oh great...the queen of the gays is against dadt".

If that were true, why should she care? It's not up to military service members to repeal DADT.

Are the scissor sisters going to do a benefit concert for this too...cuz that would be really effective.

I don't know, but I don't see how it would hurt. Is it news to you or others that the repeal of DADT would benefit many gay people?
posted by Salvor Hardin at 1:06 PM on September 17, 2010

I could think of worse things. I mean, c'mon. George W. Bush? By comparison, the reign of Gaga will be bloodless and much more fabulous.

Bloodless? I'm guessing you haven't seen her performance at last year's VMA...
posted by baf at 1:27 PM on September 17, 2010 [1 favorite]

"...the queen of the gays"

She's already Queen Of Twitter.
posted by The Whelk at 1:32 PM on September 17, 2010

I love this woman more and more.
posted by hellphish at 3:55 PM on September 17, 2010

I've seen her tour twice - the smaller, simpler version last year and the more recent Broadway-esque update. One thing that struck me about the new show was how much time was spent promoting the charity StandUp for Kids, and how many times she repeated the phrase "gay and lesbian people are born that way." I was thinking she might be preaching to the choir, too, but she's saying this almost every night in front of 20k people for a year. That can't help but change some minds. I'm really impressed with how determined she is to use her sudden fame to do something good and lasting.
posted by heathkit at 8:53 PM on September 17, 2010

Can I be a weird stickler for protocol on one point about this? She should ask for "Senator Schumer's office." Not "Chuck Schumer's Office". I'm reminded of that scene in West Wing, which I of course can't find right now but here's what leads up to it, of Pres. Bartlet telling Debbie Fiderer (Lily Tomlin) that she's a "class act" because, in a letter suggesting he drink water with arsenic in it, she refers to him consistently as "President Bartlet".
posted by knile at 11:03 PM on September 17, 2010

Gaga is really REALLY good at this internet thing.

I thought maybe she had been slipping up since it'd been a week since anyone mentioned her on a metafilter FPP.

But yes, this is a good thing.
posted by Theta States at 8:08 AM on September 20, 2010