That's what Steve Steinberg of the gay singing group Men Out Loud, says. And Ellen DeGeneres' mistake is one that Men Out Loud is steering clear from.
'I praise her, for coming out, but her show almost became a private joke after that,' Steinberg said. 'You had to be gay to understand her show, and in that sense she went too far.'
Although they don't hide their sexuality, Steinberg, 38, and the reat of the a cappella singers, including Santo Ragno, 32, Rob McElroy, 29, and Joseph Pearce, 35, have opted to let their audiences in on their sexuality through the words that accompany their music.
'In a lot of the songs, we're singing about men, so like in the Beatles' "Yesterday," during the line where they sing, "Why did she have to go," we sing, "Why did HE have to go," ' Steinberg explains. 'So at that point they'll start to giggle and go like, "Oh ... OK." '
Men Out Loud won't have to clue its audience in this weekend when the quartet performs on Sunday at the Long Beach Lesbian and Gay Pride Festival. It'll be one of 15 pride celebrations they're scheduled to perform in throughout the country this year.
Although Steinberg and the others enjoy performing to "our people" and the party atmosphere of these events, it isn't necessarily any easier on the nerves.
'It's interesting because in the same way actors get nervous in front of a theater full of actors, we get that way, too,' Steinberg says. 'We feel as if we have to live up to certain expectations. But in the gay pride circuit, most of the acts are drag acts or lesbian folk singers. We are so different from that that we fill a void.'
Men Out Loud's sound is a cross between the harmonies of Manhattan Transfer and the dance beats of Boyz II Men. Theis debut release on Mercury Records, Sweet Enuf 2 Eat, features covers of Madonna's "Express Yourself," the Bee Gee's "More Than A Woman" and Van Morrison's "Moondance."
The singing group was discovered two years ago when they made their debut at the California's Harmony Sweepstakes singing contest in Hollywood. They came in third, but as luck would have it, a relative of record producer Vivienne Crawford was in the audience and later mentioned Men Out Loud to her.
'We've had such tremendous luck,' says Steinberg. 'I feel like I'm living a charmed life.'
Men Out Loud is currently recording its second record which will contain an even number of original and cover tunes but will still maintain the dance grooves. Steinberg says it's the group's next step toward winning over the American public as an openly gay singing group.
'Being gay isn't our central theme,' Steinberg explains. 'We're a singing group that happens to be gay. Ellen was always a comedian with a show and happened to be gay, then she became a gay comedienne with a show.'
'Lesbian singers have been widely accepted in music, and
that's because I think straight women are not threatened by them. But I
think we're pushing buttons. Some straight men are scared of us because
we look like their buddy. But somebody has to push that button."