Like some of the disgusting things she does in concerts, it appears to be more about selling music than about being sincere.
Have you ever seen her in concert? Didn't think so. I have, twice back to back in December, and a year before that. I didn't see anything disgusting at all. OK, lots of sexy costumes, but other than that (and Miss Diana Ross, Beyonce, Miley Cyrus, and Trish Yearwood et. all. ain't doing any different) its no different from the last time I watched Tina Turner when she was wearing much, much less (no matter what outfit she had on). And I don't see people calling Tina 'disgusting' - least ways, not to her face.
it appears to be more about selling music than about being sincere
You know what we call those people? Stars. You know what we call the "sincere" (because when you do it night, after night, after night, your faking it after a bit) ones? We call them 'Ed' or 'Mary' or whatever else everyone calls them at their day job.
She got a huge boost in her career from the gay/trans/club people in NYC, and I'm sure to her, that they are pretty much the same. Part of the group that first told her "You go girl!." And she supports them. She has spoken out repeatedly for gay rights, given large amounts of money (she has a mountain of it these days) to AIDS research and stuck up for the trans community. When all that stuff came out (and it's a lie, as any number of people know) she wasn't embarrassed, she was not outraged, she was proud. Good lesson to all of us I would think.
Either way, doing outrageous things to make a sale is hardly a new gimmick for the music business.
Yeah good think that people like Jerry Lee Lewis, Elvis, Mick Jagger, James Brown, or Jimi Hendrix never fell into that trap eh? You know what you get when you have an act that refuses to do anything outrageous to make a sale, who refuses to do the BIG ROCK BAND OPENING, who refuses each and every convention of the industry and still makes it? You're stuck with the Grateful Dead and Gov't Mule.
