He’s the Austrian singer with Filipino heritage who was announced as a Eurovision 2020 star just last week. And in the days that followed, Vincent Bueno was immediately caught up in Euro-drama over a newspaper article published in Heute earlier this year.
The article, which has since been deleted, was originally published in March 2019 and titled “Auch Ich wünsche mir heterosexuelle kinder” (“I also hope to have heterosexual children”). The “also” referred to Austrian boxer Fadi Merza, who faced criticism earlier this year after he said that he wanted heterosexual children.
Merza subsequently clarified that he isn’t homophobic, but that he simply wants grandchildren (the assumption being it’s easier for straight couples to have kids). Merza got a lot of flack, partly because he made this statement at the Life Ball, which has many links to Austria’s gay community.
The Heute article suggested that Vincent, like Merza, wanted straight kids. The same article went on to say that Vincent said the sexual orientation of his kids is not up to him and that he would love his children no matter what their sexual orientation. That would seem to qualify the statement on wanting straight kids.
As many people have pointed out, gay people do, in fact, face some additional burdens and stresses (such as anti-gay harassment and violence) that a parent would not want their child to endure. Even while accepting that, others have stressed that such comments could negatively impact young gay people, who might not think they are valued.
Vincent Bueno says he is not homophobic and loves his gay cousin
In recent days social media has been alight with comments that Vincent is homophobic. On Tuesday, Vincent — who sang backing vocals for Nathan Trent at Eurovision 2017 — took to Instagram Stories to respond to the claims and to share his perspective.
Seated in front of his computer and speaking into his phone, he looks straight into the camera and seems to speak from the heart.
“I’ve been experiencing some crazy…bullying on Instagram,” he says, explaining that his account was limited after someone reported him, potentially for hate speech. As a result, he can only like comments but can’t actually respond to them.
“To clear things off, honestly guys, I am not a homophobe. For all the people who think that or all the people who believe the [newspaper], oh my gosh, guys. It’s really poor if you believe what’s been written about me or in that article.”
“I have a gay cousin. I love him so much and he knows that I love him so much. I have so many friends who are gay. I come from musical theatre. I even find that gays are [some] of the most funniest people. Without the gays, it’s going to be so boring in this world, man.”
He went on to thank those who have supported him during these difficult days.
“Thank you for all your comments and beautiful posts,” he says. “Because of this one article of Heute, it destroyed so much.”
“I love so many people that are LGBT, so please don’t get me wrong. This is just so important for me for you to know… I know I should be bigger than people who hate and do actual hate speech and I shouldn’t react to this. I should be way bigger than this but at the same time… my account has been locked.”
He ends by stressing that the people lashing out at him don’t know him like the many gay people in his life do.
“You guys don’t know me. A lot of people know me, especially a lot of gay people know me, and they know I’m not a homophobe. Please stop the drama. If you still want to hate I can’t stop you guys from doing that, but I have an army of lovers and supporters. We’re going to stick together. If you are getting tired of hating me, just switch to the other team because I think we can be friends and I’d love to have you on my team.”
He should pull out a Mans Zelmerlow: just issue a statement 2 days before the contest saying “Oh I would totally date a dude”, and people will buy it.
Yes, the Swedes are the ones who do this game the best. It’s already a Swedish tradition. First, the homophobe comments. Then, the victimization: oh i was misunderstood (twinkling their eyes just like Bambi) Finally, serving themselves on a platter for the brainless Ikea-loving Sweden-famished die-hard ESC fans. Think of Carola & Mans Zelmerlow. Both did this game. And look at their excellent results.
i dont read fake news. I like to read news that are important. Was that important to me? no. I think you should do the same. Ps thats over 100 years ago now. move on
Given that the Euro fandom is forgetful after someone would make that statement (especially Mans), this is quite possible.
You don’t need to be too clever to understand this message, and I haven’t made that comparison.
The idea is: not every idea deserves to be respected. So if you hate black people, is that an opinion to be respected? Also taking away their rights?
Alfonso you really are pathetic making accounts to downvote my comment and upvote yours. Get a life.
I think we all agree that all people, regardless whether straight, gay or bi, cis or trans, deserve respect, equality, marriage and adoption rights and safety in workplace, streets and from any form of bullying. That said, some SJW trolls are ridiculous. I have a feeling that these people aren’t necessarily LGBT or even the real supporters, but just losers who want to nitpick to provoke a reaction. Hang on, Vincent, it will be just fine. I’d like to believe that most of us are much above this kind of silliness.
I agree. But if you say something slighty negative like that you dont like that there are 99% only men in the ESC audiencene which there are and i dont like that and i said it to. Its like a gigantic grinder app in there. Then you can be called names here by the ” nice and respectful” Community haha. So i support Vincent in having opinions.
SJWs are out in force again, I don’t think Vincent is homophobic and it’s sad to see him already get dragged down in the toxic woke cancel culture who are clearly dividing communities. He seems a pretty cool down to earth guy and I look forward to hearing his entry for Rotterdam.
Yeah it was the same thing with Måns and Benjamin and Carola. They do one thing or say one thing and all LGBT are crying crocodile tears. Give me a break haha. No one is perfect. Im not. They are not so i dont really care about small things like that. I like them all and Vincent to
Gay people “think they are […] respectful of other peoples opinions”? Not all opinions are to be respected. Opinions of intolerance are not to be respected.
Speaking against a collective of people, defined in this case by their sexual orientation, is intolerant by definition. Tolerating intolerance results in intolerance.
Well, I think it would be preferable to think of people as individuals.
Such things should be of no importance. Esc is about music not «right» opinions
Indeed! 5 dislikes for a quite “self-explainary” thing says a lot about those disliking it. Some people can’t think outside their own navel when it comes to the LBTG-thingy
Yes…you are right. Whoever throws the first stone…
Prepare to get downvoted for speaking truth which lgbt people are in denial to.
i think i will get downvoted 600 times but its okey. Then i know its the truth 🙂
Why boycott Bali? Bali works on a completely different system than the rest of Indonesia, punishing them because of the decisions of a government they have little control over is a dick move.
well the case is settled. he can have his religious views n all the limits that religion brings n that doesn’t mean i’ll write him off. i will if his song is bad tho
so true! If you scream up for tolerance….start with yourself
Also his original comments came from a place of ignorance and could have been taken out of context. This reminds me of Måns’ gay contreversy, even though he hosted the Swedish version of Life Ball.
I don’t think Vincent did a good job handling it, but also I do think media has sensationalized this issue a bit.
I think that we got way to invested in how One person views us. I myself think that Vincent said some rather, well, homophobic things, This video didn’t help him but honestly, if he is willing to learn we cannot attack him. We have to educate.
All Eastern Europe and the north of South America.
No no no no, you know very well who I’m talking about. Don’t come with South America and Eastern Europe. No no no, you know what I’m talking about here. You know very well where are the countries where gays are thrown off the roof. Nice try tho.
I say this as someone who¨s not entirely straight : Music should come first, always. It is a music contest. I want music to be the main point. The last thing we need is for media to sniff this out and turn it into a frenzy. So that in the end its a statement to not vote for him just because of what he said, not because the song is bad. Sort of how everybody reported about Conchita making people vote for her and what she represented rather than the song itself. If he doesn’t qualify it should be because… Read more »
Fair point as to the severity of what we are talking about, I completely agree. My point was that most people attach their feelings towards the artist to the song. For example, I am into Christmas songs, but do you ever hear Another Rock and Roll Christmas, which is a great Christmas song, in shops, on the radio, etc? No, because people think “I can’t like this music because the singer is a paedophile.” So let’s take Vincent, his song “Alive” might be about how he’s searched deep into his soul and now feels alive, and wants everyone else to… Read more »
Yes, but again if anybody mentions he said something and if he doesn’t qualify people would ask if they didn’t vote for him because of his comments and not because of the song. Which would be unfair because it’s not that big of a thing.
It¨s the same with Conchita. Everybody mentioned how bullied she was, how mocked and all that. People of course sympathized with her and voted for her because of that, not so much because of the song. And is that much fairer? She should have won because of song, not because they felt sorry for her..
His cousin is gay and gays are very funny. Maybe ORF should invest some money in a PR team that advices Vincent what to say and what not to say.
I think the reason why Vincent’s comments are problematic is because real acceptance of others comes from an authentic acceptance and presentation of one’s self. The feeling I get is that he does have some views on homosexuality and is trying to bury them. My connection to an artist in ESC comes from whether I believe in them as a person and what message they are sending out. Of course, if it has a good vibe and is well presented, that helps but it only gets you so far. It doesn’t get you under the skin of a song. His… Read more »
Austria is still a problematic country when it comes to LGBT acceptance. Remember the backlash that Conchita received when she was picked to represent her country?
“the assumption being it’s easier for straight couples to have kids”…
Err…William? I’m pretty sure that’s a safe assumption. I had two without even trying, bro. 😉
Lol. I mean, being dick towards gay people is one thing, but that’s just funny. How can you be mad over this? It’s like being mad at someone saying that men live shorter than women or that woman get obese faster. Don’t be delusional, please.
Whenever famous people are caught up in scandal like this THEY ALWAYS HAVE THAT ONE COUSIN THAT IS GAY AND THEY LOVE THEM VERY MUCH. Cmon.
This made me remember one Key & Peele sketch about an “office homophobe”. Before the sketch ended, the gay man accusing someone as homophobic said “I’m not persecuted, I’m just a(n) a**h***”.
Too many stereotypes for me in his responses:
“I come from musical theatre”, “gays are (some) of the most funniest people”, “without the gays, it’s going to be so boring”.
Perhaps it is because English is not his first language, but I’m not sure he has done himself any favours here.
Also, I’m sure the last article said he had a “deep faith”. Most major religions state that homosexuality is wrong. I would much prefer for him to be honest and say that if that is what he truly believes. I’m sure he would get more respect for doing that.
Yeah, I‘m sorry but to be honest, it really IS a poor excuse and not the right choice of words. There are so many much more rightful and important arguments why one isn‘t and shouldn’t be homophobic nowadays and that arguments exactly should be given. Because the least of the straight people have „gay cousins“! He is representing a nation in a huge international music competition – he should be able to communicate much more distinctively about those issues, and really say the right words about homophobia and why he doesn’t agree with it. Just pushing the allegation away panicky… Read more »
‘I have a gay cousin’ is the new ‘I have a black friend.’
‘I have a black friend’ is a very strong argument since actual racists can’t stand different races and are uncomfortable around them…so there is nothing wrong with saying that
I actually think Bogdan is spot on.
I mean, I’m gay and I as well would like straight children
Don’t want them to go through this too
I will, of course, love them anyway, it really doesn’t matter ._.
Now can we leave him alone? Whether he is (or anyone else) a homophobe or not, I’m here for the music
You have no idea how glad I am that someone else wrote this
What’s wrong?
Vincent Bueno is not homophobe !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
He handled this way better than Jacques Houdek or Laura Bretan. Kudos to him.
Laura bretan was 16 years old. I’m pretty sure she doesn’t manage her own pr
I think they were far more homophobic to begin with
Romania is mostly Orthodox, not Catholic!
sorry, my bad.
Unbelievable how anyone can get blocked from his own accounts over literally nothing. Goodbye, free speech. Do these companies actually investigate before punishing people willy-nilly? Unfortunately, I’m sensing that this ‘topic’ will be the most ‘interesting’ part of Austria 2020. Speaking from a strictly musical standpoint here, ORF really knows how to disappoint me even when I have no expectations. At this point, I legit would be delighted if Aly Ryan represented us instead.
Why? Do you think that ORF wanted to throw Vincent to the lions, just because it had nothing better to do?
Why is Vincent accused of hate speech? Some people say : I want a son / I want a daughter, is this hate speech?
Why exactly are you writing this under my comment? My only criticism of him is purely his music.
Because you’ve said you are disappointed by ORF.
I literally wrote I’m disappointed by ORF regarding the musical choice. I can’t help you if refuse to read the entire sentence.
Have you heard the song?
I have yet to hear a good song from him.
You edit your comments, to deny what you’ve said in the beginning. Just stick to what you’ve said in the first place.
I have nothing to deny.
Edit: Bye now. You bore me. Stay strong, loser.
I’m right. You can’t talk to someone, if you change your comments.
Ich schreibe Dir in Deutsch, weil du ja anscheinend Österreicher bist…Du gehörst leider zu den Menschen die nichts anderes zu tun haben als alles und jeden,zu kritisieren…Dieses ewige negative Gequatsche geht mir so extrem auf den Senkel. Der Song ist nicht mal öffentlich präsentiert und du hast nichts anderes zu tun als alles schlecht zu machen..Es gibt nur zwei Möglichkeiten, entweder bist du extrem frustriert oder einfach nur dumm…..und sich Aly Ryan zu wünschen sagt ja leider alles über deinen bescheidenen Musikgeschmack aus. Gruß aus Österreich
Lol, Great post
Is that the new “I’m not racist I have a black friend”?
At first, that was kind of the vibe I was getting, but he does seem to be sincere, if not incredibly articulate. It’s not a Xavier Naidoo kind of situation.
@Imfao…..stupid
I am quite ok with Vincent but he hasn’t recognized yet that saying “I’m not homophobic yet I have gay cousins and gay friends” is like making an excuse. He could’ve discarded it instead. People should be educated when they give an answer like that.
Leave Vincent alone. LGBTQ does itself no favor by bullying him.
Ikr. If he said that he wants his kid to be homosexual, same people would love him. That shows their idea of “equality” – equality is alright but gay people Has to be better. Discrimination at its finest. And he has valid point. Don’t you think that heterosexual kid would have it easier to find partner, etc? So what’s wrong with that? We’re talking about kids life and not your ego.
Friday, August 30, 2002
Alanis Morissette says if she had a son she would want him to be gay.
She told German women’s magazine Emma she is determined to have a baby girl.
“I’m already looking forward to having a daughter. If it wasn’t to happen straight away then I would simply keep trying even if I had to have six boys first.
“Hopefully one of them would be gay so I could support his feminine side,” she said.
And you think that’s alright for kid’s sake, right?
No, it’s not right
LGBT community sadly has a twisted obsessive side of cancelling whoever with different opinions or said anything awkward years ago(like who hasn’t) they’re always ready to play the homophobic card on anybody they don’t even know, Vincent just rounded up his positive history with LGBT people but he’s still getting bullied by the Twitter snowflakes who expect everyone to have exactly same mindset.