Fan groups all over ArchuWorld are banding together on June 1 for a Twitter Trending Party…

“As we (David Archuleta fans) already know, June 1 is the official release of his book. How about we make it extra special for him and make it trend on twitter? By making it trend, it would also help with his sales. Because not really everyone is aware that he has a book coming out.”

Add #ChordsofStrength to your tweets!

This fan community is nothing if not passionate. But the hate that has been hurled at the dedicated people of this publication recently has surprised even me (and as the Svengali Arch Villain of Archuworld, I’m used to it). We tried to make light of it with a humorous take on the accusations of our “agenda,” but the hateful emails continue. There have been times in the past when we may have deserved some animosity for immature or unsophisticated choices, but this was not one of those times. Something else is going on here.

Of all the ugly things posted about us, the one accusation that got under my skin was that we intentionally, in some conspiratorial way, sought to perpetuate controversy and major media attention. In comment after comment across the fan boards, even in correspondence from well-respected über-fans, we have been accorded a range of slick skills and cunning capabilities that I sometimes wish we actually had. These people give us too much credit.

It needs to be stated outright and yet again that the story picked up by the major media was not that David Archuleta had been seen at a club, or even a gay club. The major media could have cared less about that. Despite the fact that our original article was referenced by some large publications as basic background, it was not the story. The story was David’s backpedaling tweets, which were in response to Sunday’s twitter storm, which had nothing to do with the article at TDC. We did not break the news. We did not promote it. Everything was already on Twitter (and had been for some time) before we posted it.

Here is where the fork in the road seems to lie. Regardless of the fact that there were hundreds of tweets already – and hundreds, perhaps thousands, more to come over the course of that day – somehow or other TDC is accused of “fanning the flames.” Why, because we treated it as a minor news item? (If we had been so hell-bent on sensationalizing this then why didn’t we make it a feature article?) Was it because our headline was automatically posted to Twitter amid a torrent of other tweets about the same thing? Or because we included a description and photographs of the venue? Just because certain people find something scandalous does not mean that that was its purpose. Interpretation does not mean intention. How can we be accused of trying to perpetuate scandal with content we found to be completely innocuous? I’ll tell you how: because plenty of people consider anything to do with the gay as being inherently scandalous.

The very notion of “fanning the flames” implies not only the existence of flames in the first place, but an intent to encourage bigger flames. But if we examine what those flames actually mean, what the nature of those flames really are, we can easily see that a gay-friendly publication like TDC not only has no vested interest in those flames, but in fact is much more aligned with efforts to normalize gay news and information so that no such flames need ever exist. It is quite preposterous to accuse the very people who would seek to normalize gay issues with an intent to sensationalize them.

Common to a large portion of this fan base is an underlying assumption that any association between “David” and “gay” is cause for alarm. It is therefore inconceivable to them that such an association may in fact be a good thing, and that those who view it as a good thing may be seeking to foster not scandal but detente by drawing focus to it. This mental barrier is either homophobia or heterosexism and can be extremely dense; I well understand that there are fans who will never comprehend the idea that David being associated with anything gay could be positive. Even within our own admin team there were apologists for the selection of the original headline because it contained the word, “gay.” Perhaps we might have chosen a less scandalous headline, so the argument went. Oh, really? So, the word which describes millions of highly respectable, loving, good-natured people who pay their taxes, raise their children, attend PTA meetings, and buy David Archuleta records is scandalous? There is nothing inherently scandalous or controversial about anything gay; only entrenched homophobia and heterosexism make it so.

Anyone who wishes to ignore this issue because it is “uncomfortable” is by proxy voting for the status quo. Which, as we have seen all-too clearly, is marked by perfectly innocuous circumstances being treated as scandalous simply because they happen to involve gay issues or gay people. If fans think I have an agenda because I refuse to let stand a status quo that favors discrimination, then so be it. If fans think TDC has an agenda because we fail to tow the stay-mum-about-that-topic line, they might consider that exactly the reverse is true: This topic holds no more weight for TDC than any other topic because we do not see it as inflammatory; it is those who seek to avoid this topic who have the agenda.

“Well,” some might exclaim, “even if you don’t agree that such issues or information should be scandalous, you undoubtedly know that they are, so why add to it?” The answer is this: Anyone who continues to allow bigotry and heterosexism to define what makes something scandalous is responsible for helping to perpetuate discrimination. Even if we know that the narrow-minded still consider such references as scandalous, choosing not publish them for that reason would, by omission, support and perpetuate that connotation. TDC will not be complicit in casting gay issues and gay people as the subjects of whispers and raised eyebrows. It is wrong, and anyone with any sense of morality or conscience knows it. The real scandal here is not that TDC posted a news item about David having been to gay club. The real scandal is that none of the other fan sites posted it also.

As Ronald observed in his wonderfully magnanimous and inclusive article, David’s artistry has the ability to create kinship between people who would otherwise have little in common.  I would like to think that the efforts we undertake to explore and dissect our differences are done in a spirit that David would recognize and appreciate. Bringing a wide variety of news, views, information, and discussion to light may carry with it the risk of confrontation with people who would prefer to keep certain things quiet, but that’s a risk we are willing to take in order to build bridges of understanding over moats of isolation.

–Rascal

To be perfectly honest, we never realized we had an agenda. But after so many sensible, rational fans pointed out with such convincing evidence how obvious our agenda really is, we had to be honest with ourselves and say, “Hey! You know what, guys? We really do have an agenda — a gay agenda!”

Self awareness can be so cleansing. So, now that we have figured out who we truly are, we thought it was time to share with the world just exactly what the TDC Gay Agenda actually is. We hope this will clear up any remaining questions or misconceptions about us, and help put things into perspective.

The TDC Gay Agenda

Let it be known that

• Henceforth and for all time in all regions, all gay fans of David Archuleta shall be afforded priority seating at all concert venues, and preferred access to tickets and special events shall be supplied on a gay first-come gay first-serve basis.

• Henceforth and for all time in all regions, all stylists, costume designers and hairdressers will be required to evolve the David Archuleta stage persona into that which resembles a glam-rock, guyliner wearing, Adam Lambert clone (because, as so many have so often observed, we don’t really like David Archuleta the way he already is, anyway).

• Henceforth and for all time in all regions, all lyrics in all David Archuleta songs shall be gender-neutral, implying neither specifically heterosexual or homosexual relationships. When he sings in French, David shall use neither “le” or “la” to describe inanimate objects, so as not suggest a gender preference for things like flowers or food processors.

• Henceforth and for all time in all regions, all female reveries about David Archuleta shall be confined to fantasies involving David not as a boyfriend or a husband, but as the proverbial gay best friend. TDC will supply links to reruns of the television sitcom “Will & Grace” for any females who are unfamiliar with the territory. Furthermore, any late-night online chats held in private for the purposes of salacious fantasizing about David’s physical attributes will be required to include an equal number of young, single gay men as there are mature, married women.

• Finally, and most importantly, let it be known and understood throughout the land that we hereby acknowledge as accurate the oft-proposed observation that we desperately, passionately want David to be gay. We know that wanting him to be gay will have a significant influence on his being gay, and, really: Why shouldn’t we want David to be discriminated against? To never be able to get married? To lose the support of his family and his church? Yes, those are the things we wish for David, beyond everything else.

– davidfanLiz, jackryan4da, ronaldsf, Marlie7, and Ras–oh, ha ha, there we go again, failing to acknowledge what the arbiters of the fan community have already observed: that none of the TDC team members have any real independence or voice of their own. They’re all hypnotized by Rascal! Why bother listing their names at all? Relax and look deeply… deeply into my agenda…

The recent discussion surrounding David’s own personal Twittergate has brought to the surface, yet again, the political differences that lie among David’s fans. This debate has prompted heated exchanges and caused hurt feelings.

As crazy as it sounds, that only means that David must be doing his job.

In the course of David’s young, incipient career, he has accomplished the highly unusual feat of bringing together people from a wide variety of backgrounds and viewpoints under a single umbrella. His enigmatic appeal draws in young and old, socially conservative and liberal, men and women, straight and gay, and people from different cultural backgrounds and nations.

Many of us were struck by David’s performance of “Imagine” on American Idol, and felt his hope for a better world. But what was that world we imagined? It was a world “without religion.” Or a world with religion. Or a world of peace and cooperation. Or a world without the injustices that divide us. Or a world that upholds principles and morals. Or a world that embraces change and diversity.

In a word: a million-and-one things.

A song is not a conduit to a spiritual world that lies outside of this one: it is a call upon our imagination. It is a channel—in David’s hands a powerful, direct channel—to thoughts and emotions we otherwise could not access.  When David sings a song such as “Imagine,” we feel connected once again to our own hope in humanity, our own courage that we once thought lost, our better natures.

David’s greatest crime is that he does this so well, for so many. And the kicker is that David’s extraordinarily generous and compassionate nature means that his fans project all of their hopes not only onto his music, but onto him—he becomes each fan’s paragon of virtue. And so, in each fan’s eyes, David becomes that disciple who can most effectively spread to those who would otherwise live in darkness the “good word,” whatever that should be. He becomes that person on whom we can project our deepest and sincerest hopes for the world.

And so it should surprise absolutely no one that David walking into a gay bar and then responding to rumors with some inartful statements have aroused passion. Not only were fans’ differing political views placed in direct conflict, but hopes we had kept in our heads had slipped away as well. While there remains much disagreement, there is one thing everyone can agree on: no side can lay exclusive claim on David as their angel, which he never was in the first place.

The ongoing exchange here at TDC has not been without some hurt, but it has also fostered greater understanding among people who otherwise would never talk so frankly, let alone be in the same room. That would never have happened, had David not initially united us. Thank goodness that David, when communicating, is not limited to 140 characters.

Perhaps the process of creating a more harmonious world is nowhere near as harmonious as singing “Imagine.” But in our case we did get somewhat closer. And starting us on this journey did require a boy to sing.

-Ronaldsf

Let me start off by saying that it has been a real challenge for me to view this situation objectively. David’s staunchest defenders are always counseling to “take David at his word.” Except, of course, when his word so plainly and unequivocally implies prejudice. Then, we are supposed to somehow accept the dubious interpretation that, “oh, he only meant the eroticized nature of the event, not the fact that it was a gay event.” This might be a reasonable spin, except for one critical fact: None of the fuss and drama on the twitters and blog boards — the self-stated reason why David decided to break his Sunday communication rule and address the ruckus in the first place — was about the fact that David was at a club where the performances included scantily-clad dancers.

It was all about the gay.

I find this turn of events troubling on a number of fronts. As evidenced by an accidental public tweet that was later removed, David was obviously in consultation with someone regarding how to respond to the hullabaloo. As RonaldSF reported in the previous thread:

…at 10:09PM Eastern (20 minutes before his “clarifying” tweets) he sent out a public tweet that said: “Should I tweet that or put it in a blog? Twitter is honestly more public. Only fans really read the blogs.”

If the words he tweeted were supplied to him, or of they were vetted by someone advising him on his public relations, it was extremely shoddy work indeed, and only served to make the situation worse with more polarization.

Somehow or other, David is going to have to contend with the fact that, perhaps more than any other artist, he is straddling two very different worlds. On the one hand, he hails from, represents, and appeals to a highly conservative, deeply religious community with canonical discrimination against homosexuals (and please spare me, beloved commentators, your hair-splitting equivocations about “the person” versus “the behavior,” it doesn’t wash). On the other hand, he is championed and loved by an inclusive collection of people who embrace diversity as a virtue.

Any suggestion that David is choosing sides in this culture war has dire consequences. I feel for him, I really do. As someone stated in the previous thread, it is a no-win situation. Perhaps he simply got some very bad advice. But what seems awfully clear to me is that he was leaning far more heavily on justifications demanded by his conservative constituents than on an inclination to defend inclusiveness and diversity.

The forces of darkness are not in that club, David, they are in people’s hearts.

Update 11:30 a.m. EDT

David has evidently responded to the firestorm of reaction to his thinly-veiled anti-gay sentiments with a couple of tweets including comments like, “I have friends who are gay, and they’re great people,” and “I have nothing against anyone, I’m sorry if that’s how it came across. I’m just not into the partying scene lol.”

Don’t even tell me he just said, “some of my best friends are gay.” Oh, David. And what about, “I’m just not into the partying scene”…? That’s what you’re hanging this on? Really?  Exactly what did you expect from a 1:30 a.m performance? Carnagie freaking Hall?

A word of advice, David: When you’re in a hole, stop digging.

A WONDER WALL OF STARS…

Here is David at his best – reaching out to those universal connections of compassion and love.

Joshua served as the medium for each of us to be there, to be close to David, to share an intimate moment, to be supported by David, to hunker down, to unfurl our wings and fly!!!

Thank you David for all that you do.

~ davidfanLIZ

Just to be absolutely clear – this new singer is not somebody to replace our sweet guy, but just somebody or some kind of music that fills that spot till he returns.

…And may that be soon!

Who is your #2 in these parched times?

with David?

For me, it was “Shop Around.”  I came late to the party.  I had never watched AI before (and haven’t watched it since).  But when I saw him sing “Shop Around,” my world shifted.  Damn!  Who was this kid?  Here was this Mormon boy from Murray who didn’t look like any Mormon guy I had grown up with – that’s for sure.  He was sassy, his voice grabbed my heart, he was from a different generation.  He was from a time when a voice mattered, when the emotion in a song mattered, when the uncluttered, un-autotuned voice was the medium and the message.

This is a strong love that endures.  Who the heck is this kid that he has such power over otherwise reasonable, rational people?

“Shop Around” FTW.

When was your “fall-in-love” moment?

~ davidfanLIZ

Hey guys!

Have you ever wanted those lovely pictures of David and stories of his accomplishments all wrapped up in a nice little package? Well, now you have an opportunity to purchase a book that I have put together of David’s career growth in 2009. It features some of our favorite fan photographers as well as some professional photos and it benefits two worthy causes! I have documented David’s accomplishments last year in a high qualilty, hard-backed book that covers David’s career in 2009 and 100% of my profits will be divided equally between MS and Make A Wish. The book is $62.45 plus tax and shipping and almost $19 will go to charity. Go to the link, take a look and enjoy the walk down memory lane!

Click on the link (or copy/paste)
http://tiny.cc/FNzWL

If you ordered a book from me last year, you can use your old sign in. If not, create a new one and click on the bubble below the “David Archuleta 2009″ icon. Then go above it and click on “preview” and you can see each page. Sorry you can’t read what I printed on the back cover, but it’s a statement about the proceeds going to charity, photographer credit for the front cover pic and a quote from a letter one of David’s fans wrote. Anyway, if you’d like to purchase one, just click on “order” and follow the steps and that’s all you need to do.

If you are outside of the United States, you can “preview” the book but it will not allow you to “order” due to shipping limitations. So email me at amynorfleet14@yahoo.com and let me know you are interested and I will be happy to help you.

Many thanks to all who have supported me and this project! I hope you all enjoy it! But mostly, thanks for your support of David’s music and his charitable spirit.

Blessings & peace,
Amy (in VA)

” DAVID…LOOK WHAT YOU INSPIRED US TO DO!!!”

Last fall, a group of fans got together trying to come up with alternative gifts to give David for Christmas and his birthday! They wanted to come up with something that may have a lasting impression, and would show David the love that he always shows to his fans. Brainstorming began….

The seed was planted…it has grown, changed and has been nourished by many of David’s fans working together to make this happen. We want this to be a gift from ALL fans around the world. Therefore……….

~~~WE ARE PLEASED AND HONORED TO ANNOUNCE~~~

The David Archuleta Music Scholarship

David has done so much for his fans.  We would like to honor him by showing our
support for this wonderful cause ….gifting talented students with scholarships to encourage them to keep the music alive.

Each year the music scholarship(s)  will be awarded to a senior student(s) from David’s
home town high school:   Murray High School, in Murray Utah.  These will be given to those who have plans of furthering their education in Music.

Please join us and Help Give Back to David by gifting  Murray High School Students!!!
by donating to:

‘THE DAVID ARCHULETA MUSIC SCHOLARSHIP’

Visit our web site at www.thedavidarchuletamusicscholarship.org and check out our web page for all the details.

Your donation, large  or small, will help fund higher education,
keep music alive, and honor David…all at the same time.

You are all invited to participate.!!
All donors  names, city and state, will be included in a journal that will be given to David.
(The donation amount WILL NOT BE INCLUDED)

Fans let’s all put our hearts together and show David some love!!!

Please !!!
WE  ‘Can’t Let The Music Stop’!

DAVID’S FAN’S