By Charles Karel Bouley II

American Idol is homophobic. There, I've said it. Now, GLAAD can stop debating it, Fox can stop denying it and every one can stop acting like it's a surprise to anyone. I'll qualify that by saying American Idol is as homophobic as any show hosted by Ryan Seacrest can be. I mean, come on, he may not be admittedly gay, but he is by far the most metrosexual man on the planet.

Of course it's homophobic when you tell someone they should shave their face and wear a dress, or promote the fact that you can't easily identify the gender of one of the contestants and then have a judge simply blurt out, "Are you a girl?" Yes, telling male contestants they look and sound like Sylvester Stallone's younger sister or the Incredible Hulk in a dress is homophobic. What's worse, it's downright mean and not even very good television. But it's not the halls of Congress, where they do much worse things to gays and lesbians, but the airwaves of Fox, and it's par for this particular course, so why is everyone so surprised?

I've been asked this year to be an Idol correspondent by Bill Press on Sirius radio, by WOAI News 1200 in San Antonio and of course on my very on KGO AM 810 San Francisco. So, I'm paying attention. And what I've found is that the audition shows are not about singing at all, they are now fully sanctioned and produced freak shows set up to allow America and the world to laugh at others in the cruelest of playground fashion. They are not just homophobic, the judges, or the show's producers through editing, have made fun of every stereotype, every shade of person, every human foible or oddity, every difference or any uniqueness that any of these hapless people may possess. It is the ramblings of what you'd expect from someone who has a disease that prevents their brain from censoring what their mouths want to say at first thought. All barriers of good taste or spirit of fun and togetherness have been stripped away for something one step short of Survivor meets Star Search.

And America likes it that way, so stop all the babbling about how mean or homophobic American Idol has become. It's the least of our worries. What we need to be concerned about is how it reflects the mood of the country and most certainly the spirit of politics right now.

Never before in our history has it been more chic to be mean, have the politics of character assassination been more prevalent (on both sides of the political aisles, thank you very much), or propriety been at such a low point. In a time when war heroes can be called cowards and spin is accepted for news, anything is possible. And when the news becomes suspect, when the "C" in "CNN" begins to stand more for "Christian" than "Cable," when politicians on C-SPAN can say that gay marriage would destroy the very institution while just a channel away a show that swaps a couple's wives or has a group of fawning, brainless women trying to snare a rich bachelor is not only accepted but rewarded, well, what the hell do we expect?

American Idol believes it's giving America what it wants, and it got that idea from what America watches and the very tone of the country. After all, all we really want or need from that show is to find us some great singers. I love Bo Bice. Have his new album. Love Kelly Clarkson, too. So what? Cheesy? Maybe, but I love a good pop star. And at its best it can give us that. But at it's worst it makes sport of the very thing that drives most people: their dreams. Crushing people has once again become a spectator sport, just like the Romans in the arena. Except this time the participants are willing. It's no longer good enough to be better than someone; being better means destroying the competition, not just competing.

As for GLAAD and the demands for Idol's producers to meet with them -- sit down and shut up, please. We don't need to fight this battle. The public knows when someone steps over a line. Whether it was on my talk show or just in conversation, most realized the judges, namely Simon and Randy, went too far. Paula's trying to be good and not sleep with anybody. We don't need to point blatant homophobia out to America, they're not that ignorant to it any more. And when something is just plain mean, people pick up on that a lot more first. So let them fight this battle for us, the good, middle-of-the-road America that gave the first few Idol shows a resounding "that was uncalled for" and the same people that will desert it if it stays mean and doesn't remember it's a talent contest not a night with Don Rickles.

And queens, look, if you are a bit on the androgynous side, or a complete and total flamer, well, don't put yourself up for this kind of thing if you can't stand the situation. I mean, if you're gonna sing falsetto while rolling around with a red blanket like a boa or flame so brightly that if all the lights went out they'd still be able to film, well, expect the worst when the whole idea is to make sport of you for profit. Especially if you don't have the goods to back it up. We have no clue if any of the people that have made it through are openly gay or lesbian, but statistically, some must be, meaning, their talent got them the gig, not their sexuality or a judge's reaction to it.

And by the way, Idol has the right to be homophobic or racist or sexist or whatever else it wants to be in a free nation. And we have the right to either watch it or not. How many black people hung their heads when Idol made a huge deal out of the tube-top-wearin'-trash-talkin'-silver-booted-blond-haired Rhonetta who couldn't sing a note and would never shut up, readin' everyone on the show on her way out with cameras rolling. The show promoted her all night and I'm sure most of black America wished Rhonetta was white.

I, for one, would actually prefer the homophobia on television be contained to shows like Idol where the public knows they're just being mean for mean's sake to anyone or any thing. When Wolf Blitzer starts saying these things to gay or lesbian guests or they start writing this stuff in to soaps, when Oprah or Dianne Sawyer or Chris Matthews retort with lines such as these or when shows like Grey's Anatomy or Boston Legal, Commander In Chief or CSI start casting these types of characters just to make sport, well then, GLAAD do your duty. In the mean time, while it may be popular, America gets it. Idol is mean and catty this season. Half of America likes it, about half doesn't, but all have the right to turn it off or on.

It is just TV, after all, and no one is forcing any viewer or contestant to sell themselves or their values short just to "be going to Hollywood, dawg!"

I, for one, am going to watch because soon the judges become irrelevant and almost silent and the performers take over. And trust me, most of these people provide plenty of viewing amusement by themselves without intervention from the Paula, Randy or Simon.

As a gay person, nothing on this season of Idol has offended me. As an American, it has made me a little sad that we take such control of things in this country, frown on so many types of behaviors, but give a pass to a show that is so very, very mean.

But not sad enough to tune out. Bet me Paris Bennet makes it through to the finals. And either Paula or Ryan sleeps with the other Ryan, Jeffrey Ryan Baysden, who auditioned with a Rascall Flats song and looked like a god. And what was up with that Astro Coaster that floated but wouldn't hold a glass?

Yes, American Idol is homophobic. But don't stand on some high and mighty pedestal over the homophobic comments and then give them a pass over the bigger problem, which is the meanness factor. It's just a symptom of an overriding malady that doesn't just infect Idol but is coursing through the veins of middle America as well. Saying that it's not OK to pick on gays and lesbians but go ahead and pick on fat people or mentally challenged people or just plain dorky people is wrong as well. No, this isn't a job for GLAAD or any gay group, this is a job for us, the viewers. If we remind Idol to do what you want but keep a good spirit about it, then things will be fine for all contestants. Let's be real, the panel of The Gong Show probably said far worse, but were so blasted or fun about it, nobody cared. Simon and Randy try to take themselves seriously, so then what they say must be serious. I just see Simon as a taller Chuck Barris. It's not new, but maybe right now as Americans die and people attack us for who we are, we are actually paying attention to the fact that who we are is not always nice and maybe it's time to check that at the door.