» Leaving This Thread for Personal Reasons: Mario Vazquez Options

[Xiabelle]

Personally, the sexuality has absolutely no meaning to me, so whether he's gay or not... who cares?

HOwever, I can almost understand the whole fame thing, too. Personally? I don't think I'd want that kind of fame, where people follow you around all the time. Ugh. Your privacy really is compromised.

I heard a good comment by Louie Anderson (or all people!) in an interview the other day: he was talking about doing a film with Eddie Murphy and how the fans were, and he said he wanted to be famous, but not /that/ famous.

[cattiva]

Yes, this whole thing seems to be very contradictory. He is contradicting himself, even. It all seems a bit shady. I can't wait to find out what all the fuss is about. But I agree that if this is all about his sexuality, that is in really bad taste.

[dratty]

All I know is that there's no way this 'personal reasons' thing is gonna fly. I live in NYC and the local media are all over this like white on rice. Add that to the call-in 'friends' who may or may not know what the story is, but will be sure to make it as unflattering to him as possible in order to get THEIR 15 minutes and you know that the truth will have to come out....and soon.

[ChocolateCherry]

personal issues could difinitely be that he hasn't "come out" to his family yet and doesn't want them to find out through such a public venue.

What if 19E was about to position him as their first openly gay finalist? The contract says they can say whatever they want about you, whenever they want whether it's true or not. Top 12 is the time to be made over and have your image honed and to film your opening videos, right? Maybe they wanted to shave him bald. I can't stop theorizing, I better head back to the knoll.

[MomToSean]

I for one am doing my happy dance now. Hated him anyway. However, it does sound suspiciously like some relationship issue, whether gay or otherwise, with family or against. Which is unfortunate for somebody. But not for me! Because he won't fake his way across my TV screen any. more.

[Nutjob]

What if 19E was about to position him as their first openly gay finalist?

Wasn't Jim Verraros openly gay?

[danely]

If Mario is indeed in a gay relationship, then perhaps that is why he thought the fame and the hiding would put too much of strain on his relationship. Not to mention a potentially clueless family. Though considering what a frenzy quitting has caused, I think he went about it all the wrong way.

[bel326]

Wasn't Jim Verraros openly gay?

Not while he was on the show. He came out sometime afterward.

then perhaps that is why he thought the fame and the hiding would put too much of strain on his relationship. Not to mention a potentially clueless family. Though considering what a frenzy quitting has caused, I think he went about it all the wrong way

If he is indeed trying to keep something from coming to the surface, then quitting at this stage was the dumbest move ever. Everyone and their brother is now digging through his past and won't stop until they get an explanation.

[theseventhbrady]

This may not be at all about the fact that he is possibly gay and has/has had a gay relationship, but more specifically, about with whom he may have had a relationship.

Remember the Michael Jackson connection? Perhaps -- remember, this is only speculation on my part, and therefore most likely utterly meaningless -- there is more to the timing of this than meets the eye. It's certainly food for thought, to say the least.

[darling]

What he's apparently said about the "live" aspect of the show being a problem is throwing me. What kind of "personal" issue could involve possible scheduling conflicts/an inability to commit to a live-broadcast program? "I'm gay, so I may not be available at 5 p.m. Pacific on Tuesdays" doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Or is it just a red herring?

[moonmarked]

I've been thinking about the ways that Mario, as an adult, and as an almost 30 year old guy, might say "family" reasons, and mean his own family, meaning the family that he has created with his partner, and other friends, and ex-partners, and other queer folk (going with the assumption that he is gay) that make up his "family" of choice. There's no reason to think that the issues that come up within his own family would be known to his mother and brother at all, much less in any detail--no more than a heterosexual couple would necessarily tell the particular details of their relationship/challenges within a relationship to family until they felt it was necessary or helpful to. And maybe his family has decided that they will just keep pretending that what they know, they really don't know, and rather than expect his family to support his decision, which might be around sexual preference and sexuality, he needed to just make the decision and let them know. Not everybody's family is so supportive!

And although there is a general sense that a contestant's sexuality is not a big deal, we are also living in the times of don't ask don't tell and a variety of conflicting ideas about what is permissable in terms of "normal" sexuality, even for gays and lesbians and maybe bisexuals, but probably not transgender folk. After all, it was just last year that the US Supreme Court struck down the laws that made homosex (and sodomy between consenting heterosexuals, too) illegal. Maybe his lover is 22 or 59 or is having top surgery or is an immigrant who will be deported (yes, really) because the INS "can" do that based on sexual preference, and since he can't marry his lover to allow for citizenship they might be s**t out of luck.

Maybe Mario has a lover (that his biological family doesn't know about) who has a child, and making this relationship public would mean that the child might be removed by social services; maybe there is a lover who is transgender who otherwise passes and fears that they will lose their job if they are outed through the outing of Mario; maybe the lover has a terminal disease, and maybe Mario and the (fictional) lover made a deal that Mario would see if he made it tto the finals and drop put, as that would be a reasonable place to stop: to know that he made it to the finals, and the public will remember him and support him, but now wants to spend time with the partner. This maybe covers all of the stuff about personal reasons, clarifies the issue of which part of his family he is talking about, and could explain what folks have been reporting about Mario seeming "happy" as he shares this news.

All of this is speculation, of course, but I did want to add the idea that even if many folks don't care a rat's ass about a contestant's sexuality, and even if 19 and TPTB don't care, in many situations, the state does care, and sometimes you just can't get around that.

edited to add:
You're right, extra chunk, U.S. immigration law only authorized the exclusion of gay people until 1990. Since it's now illegal, you have to file a lawsuit on your way out if you feel that you are being denied entrance or face harrassing behavior because of suspected sexual orientation and which leads to deportation.

Sexuality can become a issue if you are applying for permanent residency or citizenship. If your country of citizenship, or the country where you reside or have resided, imposes criminal penalties on lesbian and gay identity or same-sex sexual activity—even if you have not been arrested--you could be regarded as having committed a crime and your application may be rejected.

U.S. law bans all HIV+ persons from entering or immigrating to the United States. Many gay or lesbian immigrants find out about their HIV+ status as a result of the mandatory HIV testing required for all green card applicants. The INS can use this information to begin deportation proceedings. Here in NYC, these are real issues for queer Latinos, regardless of their citizenship status. So who knows how it could be affecting Mario--because it might not even matter whether he's a boy that has sex with boys, or calls himself gay, or is, actually and in fact, straight.

This post has been edited by moonmarked: Mar 14, 2005 @ 8:12 pm.

[StankAttitude]

What if 19E was about to position him as their first openly gay finalist?

I don't see that happening. I don't think that would fly with the show's largely family audience.

What he's apparently said about the "live" aspect of the show being a problem is throwing me. What kind of "personal" issue could involve possible scheduling conflicts/an inability to commit to a live-broadcast program?

More lies. I love it.

*bugs up laughing*

Oh I love this shit. All of these lies Fez and TPTB are spewing are only going to make it easier for the truth to come out. It's the lies that get ya in trouble every single time. This guy has to be one of the worse liars I've ever seen. I doubt the truth is even worth the circus this will become. When will they learn?

[Extra Chunk]

or is an immigrant who will be deported (yes, really) because the INS can do that based on sexual preference

The INS can deport people for a lot of reasons but being gay is not one of them.

[Kiermar]

I got this from a message board, which in turn got it from "the AI message board," perhaps idolonfox. Have your salt licks handy.

Mario is going to be a dad! He wants to be there for his girlfriend through her preganancy and being on American Idol would conflict with that since he'd be out in LA and his girlfriend is back in NYC.

and later:

His brother, Rich, gave away his secret in an interview with the NY Post. I'm proud of Mario for doing the right thing.

If true, it would explain the "family" issue, and that he wanted to "surprise" his mother in person.

[RobertBlue]

I am very interested in finding out more details as to why Mario quit, and how TPTB will handle this on Tuesday.

But with all the contract talk in the past few pages, I would like to clear up as much as I know about the contracts from personal experience this season.

The first contract at the open call just gave 19 Entertainment the right to use you or your likeness for any reason they see fit related to American Idol forever (in perpetuity forever - or something like that - appeared at least 3 times in the first contract). Then, when you made it to the executive producers, you had to sign a second contract, barring you from entering into any other entertainment related contract until three months after the finale of Season 4 of American Idol. And 19 Entertainment can, if they find out, stop any contract you try to sign from going through or void it. So basically, people like me are f'd up the a (tm South Park) for actually going to the auditions and - heaven forbid - singing well, and knowing music. But I knew about this beforehand anyway, and was willing to risk it, because I was so positive I would move on to Simon, Randy and Paula (young white male with edgy bluesy-rock sound with great knowledge of classic rock and motown). Didn't happen.

While I have not been the biggest Mario fan, I wish him the best of look and hope that when all this ridiculous business is behind him he can go onto a successful career in the entertainment industry. And hopefully, this isn't some kind of huge idol scandal like every other season of the show has given us that could destroy any chance he has at success.