GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios talks about the handling of the ABC-Adam Lambert controversy

I’ve seen new GLAAD President Jarrett Barrios speak at three different events in recent months and he is dynamic and passionate.

But somehow, he’s not coming off so well in the written statements GLAAD issued recently regarding ABC’s banning of Adam Lambert from its shows (He will, however, appear on The View this week in a taped performance) following his controversial performance on the American Music Awards.

GLAAD issued several statements that no one seemed to find effective and actually downright confusing. Barrios sat down with radio host Michelangelo Signorile to talk about the controversy:

“This is a very problematic statement,” admits Barrios of GLAAD’s original release. “We released a clarifying statement the next day. … All during this time, we’re still talking to ABC, and we were very pleased with the partial victory the next day.”

That victory would be Lambert being booked on The View after being banned from Good Morning America, Jimmy Kimmel Live and New Year’s Rockin’ Eve.

After the Barrios appearance, Signorile wrote on his blog: Barrios came into the studio to sit down with me and sincerely wanted to clear the air. He accepted responsibility for what happened and admitted that the group’s first update after ABC banned Lambert from two more shows was problematic, attributing it to a lack of clarity. But I still believe the explanations given weren’t adequate — and judging from the callers to the show afterward, many people agree — and that GLAAD is still not taking a forceful stand. Nor do I believe, as I told Barrios, that the decision by The View to book Lambert for a taped segment Thursday was a “partial victory,” as he called it, since he’s still banned from shows they had dumped him from.

Overall I think GLAAD has a long way to go in explaining what happened here and also its larger mission. It is compromised by the fact that it takes money from ABC –something else we discussed — and that it just doesn’t seem to be at the forefront of controversies and defamation, more so focused on giving out awards and patting media on the back.