Talk:Ari Gold (musician)

Comment
For such a prominent gay singer, there's a lot more to edit with and from this article. It will be on my watch list. COI notice: I am 2 degrees of separation from Ari Gold, as my gay brother knows him. Bearian 03:15, 26 May 2007 (UTC)
 * Knowing someone who "knows" someone does seem terribly COI to me. Benjiboi 05:55, 14 August 2007 (UTC)
 * Just in case it wasn't apparent I was using sarcasm in the above comment. Benjiboi 19:57, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

Prostitution
Ari Gold has openly discussed in various interviews the period he spent as a hustler. Isn't this interesting enough and relevent to the article to be included? 206.218.208.57 14:09, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Absolutely, but to conform to WP:BIO we need to provide WP:RS. Hustling for a cute out gay guy is hardly news but we should present content encyclopedicly regardless and do so without undue weight. Benjiboi 20:00, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
 * I did a quick Google about this and couldn't find anything. He comes from a pretty affluent background (the dude went to NYU and Yale), so I don't know why he'd need to hustle. -- David  Shankbone  20:16, 2 November 2007 (UTC)
 * Motivations for hustling are varied but we seem to agree that reliable sources have to first assert allegations before they can be entertained per WP:BIO. Benjiboi 21:36, 2 November 2007 (UTC)

the "first" status
The intro sentence makes two dubious claims: 1)that Gold is the first openly gay R&B or pop singer- in the world?- that was openly gay from the start of his career and, 2) that Gold is the first openly gay pop singer period in the US.

I looked at both of the links at the end of the sentence and didn't read them in depth but used ctrl+f to search "first". The latter article featured an interviewer who speculated that Gold was the first openly gay "R&B" (not pop) singer in the US. Importantly, the interviewer him/herself was not even sure this was true (he was asking Gold if it was). Obviously the first sentence of ari gold's wiki article misquoted "r&b" for "pop". But more importantly, I believe the interviewer was wrong-- which is significant in that it is unfair to all those gay artists before Gold (whose contributions are undermined by these falsities/exaggerations).

I am no expert in this area but I would encourage anyone else doubting the veracity of these claims to point them out. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Gay_musicians http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians_from_the_United_Kingdom http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Bisexual_musicians http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:LGBT_musicians_from_the_United_States

What about American artist RuPaul? Rupaul's wiki article describes one of her genres as R&B, categorizes her as LGBT, and dates her music career as beginning before Gold's. Admittedly, distinctions such as "gay vs transgender" and "mainly R&B vs dabbles in R&B" strengthen the claims for Gold's 1st status. Nevertheless, in the most literal sense Rupaul would absolutely disprove both claims 1 & 2. As to claim 1, what of David Bowie, Elton John, Boy George... —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.34.65.204 (talk) 01:25, 14 February 2008 (UTC)

We should probably attribute this and quote it; I do believe he was the first out gay R&B singer from the start of his career and that possibly covers pop as well. There are plenty of out singers who weren't out when they started their careers so I don't find this too hard to be true. RuPaul was actually a dancer who later became a singer but I'm unclear when she was considered "out"; none of David Bowie, Elton John, Boy George were out from the beginning of their careers. Banji boi 13:33, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

Caption for lede photo
The following has been removed several times now as being possibly homophobic and/or anti-Semitic. Has any seen a reliable source that would support this? Banji boi 13:26, 25 March 2008 (UTC) _____ wearing Puma brand Chelsea-style kippah
 * It should be noted that the anonymous editor is banned, and Gold is not observant (and if so, then why in this photo is he not wearing his kippah? or here? Or in many photos on his site?  Additionally, no such thing as "Chelsea-style kippah" exists, except for some kid who spends his time on his parent's computer obsessing about porn stars and Wikipedia editors. -- David  Shankbone  15:01, 25 March 2008 (UTC)

editprotect Hi, please remove "wearing Puma brand Chelsea-style kippah" from the lede photo caption as it seems readily apparent that it is not only untrue but is also being used as veiled homophobia (Chelsea-style is considered a gay district of NYC) and anti-Semitic (kippah is a religious garment covering one's head.) The Dynamic IP vandal is likely this anonymous editor who has been harassing User:David Shankbone. I was the one who requested semi-protection of the article to stop abuse on this article. Banji boi 22:39, 25 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Done - the hat is obviously not a kippah. The use of Chelsea-style seems to be a homophobic remark. The IP matches that of David's stalker. Protection reduced to semi - caption removed. WjBscribe 04:56, 26 March 2008 (UTC)

Age?
Can anyone find a reference for his age? The closest thing to date of birth I can find is this. He's kept it well hidden...  Majorly  talk  01:20, 31 December 2008 (UTC)

Well according to an interview he did for Capital Pride in 2004 he was 27 at that time. One could conclude he is 32 now. If you combine that data with your link we have a pretty good idea of the date and year now. Brendrek (talk) 02:30, 16 July 2009 (UTC)

Unless he was a boy-genius, I highly doubt he was actually born in 1977. I took classes with him in college, and I was born in 1974. My hunch is that he's 2 or 3 years older than he's letting on, which doesn't seem like it would be too uncommon in the entertainment world. I don't have any other proof of his age, but it seems like an interview he did wouldn't exactly be trustworthy necessarily. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 173.228.117.50 (talk) 23:22, 27 May 2011 (UTC)

He is also the first American male openly gay pop singer
What about Elton John? Luminifer (talk) 06:31, 1 August 2009 (UTC) Also, those references only seem to mention that he is gay, not that he is the first. Have I missed something? Luminifer (talk) 06:38, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I think Elton would have to be considered British. I'll see what references pop, I've read this a couple places and then there was Donnie, the "first openly gay African-American RnB singer on the major music scene." (sigh)
 * OK, found it - "the first openly gay pop singer to be out in his music from the beginning of his career." -- Banj e  b oi   08:25, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * He says. What he said was what he thought but with a tiny bit of research was clearly not true. Where is the source for your qoute? A look at Bronski Beat shows what he thought is wrong. The source did not say he was, he did. The sources also did not say what was claimed in the article. The sources said he was openly gay (no dispute), that someone thinks that "You are to my knowledge the first ever openly gay R&B artist" Not pop and "to my knowledge" (in other words, not fact). And where did "American" and "male" come into the sources? Duffbeerforme (talk) 12:57, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * I'm digging but have found this "When I came out with my first album in 2000, there was no other openly gay R&B or pop singer who was out from the beginning of his career like I was. Certainly no one else was singing about being gay." I'll look for more. -- Banj e  b oi   20:53, 1 August 2009 (UTC)
 * The Bronski Beat statement seems unsourced but hardly means it's not true - full disclosure I once danced with Jimmy Sommerville but we were both very drunk (no tongues or anything just dancing) - LOL! He also is still British.  I also found Event: 'Ari Gold - Untitled: The Making Of A Gay Pop Star' @ Laboratory Theater. I think there is a way to write this that is NPOV and accurate without being silly. His point, which I think is quite valid and notable, is that he is quite out and openly gay and still very successful, if we dug enough we likely could find other singers who were technically out at the beginning of their careers. I think adding Jimmy Sommerville in a footnote on this issue would help this article.  -- Banj e  b oi   21:15, 1 August 2009 (UTC)

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