Adam Lambert came out as gay as an "act of defiance", after he was publicly outed in the media during his stint on American Idol.
The singer opened up about his sexuality publicly after snaps of him kissing his ex-boyfriend emerged during his time on the hit Fox series in 2009.
"It was stressful and it was confusing. I was like, 'What am I supposed to do?'" he told BBC News. "In hindsight I realise there is power in coming out.
"The act of declaring your sexuality publicly, once you're a public figure, is an act of defiance in some ways, and it's also a form of activism."
The New Eyes singer went on to reflect on the number of stars coming out as LGBTQ allies in recent years, and lauded Taylor Swift for her You Need To Calm Down music video - which was packed with queer and transgender celebrities, including Adam himself - for being so vocal about her support.
"People are like, 'Oh, she was exploiting the community for her own gain'," he said, seemingly alluding to Christine and the Queens singer Chris' recent comment that Taylor was exploiting LGBTQ issues "to sell things".
"But the thing that excuses that is that she called people to action," he argued. "She got a ton of signatures on a petition for the Equality Act (to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and identity). That's real action, so it's not just for personal gain. She's putting her money where her mouth is, and I thought that was really admirable."
