ABC, GLAAD issue statements about Lambert

UPDATED: The Gay & Lesbian Alliance AgainstDefamation spoke to ABC about their decision to cancel Adam Lambert'sperformances on "Jimmy Kimmel Live" and "New Year's Rockin' Eve."

After, GLAAD says ABC issued the following statement to their organization:

"Giventhe live nature of the American Music Awards, Adam Lambert’sperformance, which differed greatly from his rehearsal, caught many,including the network, off guard. This is not a question of Lambert’ssexual orientation. As is evidenced by GLAAD’s media report card, ABCis at the forefront of positive gay and lesbian portrayal ontelevision. We welcome openly gay performers and look forward tocontinuing our great work within the LGBT community."

To which GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios replied:

"Itwould appear that the kiss between Adam Lambert and his keyboardist didnot factor into ABC’s decision. ABC has a history of positive gay andtransgender inclusion that includes featuring kisses between gay andlesbian couples on-air. We applaud the visibility of openly gayperformers and congratulate Adam Lambert for sharing his story on the'Ellen DeGeneres Show' this week as well as his upcoming appearance on'The Jay Leno Show.'"

UPDATE: GLAAD issues a new statement ... about their old statement. GLAAD says some media outlets took their earlier statement "out of context" (hmm, I'm not sure an emailed media statement has context ... if the GLAAD statement was criticized for going easy on ABC, it's probably because the statement went easy on ABC). Anyway, GLAAD is trying this again: