When gay college student Matthew Shepard was beaten to death three years ago, Elton John spoke eloquently about the need to eradicate hatred and discrimination against homosexuals.
"When I fly over America on my broomstick, as I often do a lot, I get to feeling what a big country this is it's big enough for everyone," he said at an anniversary observance of Shepard's death in 1999. "And despite all the progress that has been made in rights and tolerance, we are still living in a world of hate."
Two years later, John has outraged many in the gay community by saying he will take the stage at the Grammy Awards ceremony Wednesday with Eminem the rapper whose album is riddled with derisive or violent references to "fags."
To activists' added frustration, there also has been little interest among other celebrities gay or straight in condemning Eminem.
"Overwhelmingly, artists have been very silent on this," said Scott Seomin, spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD).
"We're hearing neutrality, and 'Off the record, Scott, I'm really horrified by Eminem's lyrics, but I can't risk speaking publicly against him."'
Worse, he said, musicians from Sheryl Crow to Wyclef Jean have described Eminem's album as one of their favorites. Even Melissa Etheridge, the lesbian singer and outspoken proponent of gay rights, has declined to criticize him, describing Eminem as talented while acknowledging that his words were hurtful.
Etheridge declined to comment to The Associated Press.
Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP has been nominated for the Grammys' highest honor, album of the year, and he is also nominated in three rap categories.
He has said his lyrics should not be taken literally.
"I think that Elton John, I think he gets it," Eminem said backstage during a concert last month. "Because the kids ... they are taking my music for what it's worth, you know what I mean? They're taking it with a ... grain of salt."
Eminem's lyrics call gays "sick" and joke about stabbing them. In the song "Criminal," he raps: "My words are like a dagger with a jagged edge/ That'll stab you in the head/ whether you're a fag or lez/ Or the homosex, hermaph or a trans-a-vest/ Pants or dress hate fags? The answer's `yes'."
Women's groups also have criticized the rapper for violent lyrics: One song depicts the murder of his wife, Kim, and another mentions raping his mother.
Eminem's spokesman, Dennis Dennehy, said the music industry has not flogged Eminem because "Artists are tuned to artistic expression, and I don't think any of them would favor stifling that."
One of the few gay artists who has voiced disdain for Eminem is Boy George, whose gender-bending ways with the band Culture Club pushed the boundaries in the 1980s.
"Nobody wants to sort of battle against success. It's one of those things; if you slag him off, you on the one hand will appear bitter, and on the other hand you will appear uncool," George said.
"If Pol Pot had a successful record, people would probably be running around him as well."
He accused John of performing with Eminem simply to bolster his own hipness.
"Eminem is a really cool young artist, and Elton I guess feels it's good for his career. I don't think it's anything deeper than that," he said.
"The thing is, Elton John is fine, Elton John is a multimillionaire Elton John lives in a bubble," George said. "But what about all the little kids who live in the projects, the effeminate boys or lesbians and gays out there in the real world, getting beat up? What about people like Matthew Shepard? They don't live in that bubble."
John has said he does not believe Eminem is hateful.
"I'm a big fan of his music, and I said I would be delighted to perform with him," the British superstar told the Los Angeles Times. "If I thought for one minute that he was (hateful), I wouldn't do it."
When Eminem's Grammy nominations were announced last month, Recording Academy President Michael Greene defended artists' right "to say things that anger people."
He called Eminem's lyrics "truly some of the most repugnant things that we've heard recorded this year," but added: "He hates everybody. He hates himself. He uses the microphone as a therapist most of the time and doesn't edit himself."
Gay activists plan to picket the awards ceremony. George supports the rally, but wonders whether attention paid to Eminem isn't counterproductive.
"I think sort of blacklisting him is just as bad," he said. "The more people moan about him being there, the more people moan about what he's saying, the more records he seems to sell."
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