American Idol: Now with more queens?

We don't generally talk much about the planet-eating Karaoke Voltron that is American Idol unless it's to whine about the gay-baiting schoolyard behavior of Ryan and Simon and bemoan the fratboy press's coverage of the show's less butch contestants.

But when we found an article with a quote from a former contestant that reads "there are more queens on that show than I have ever seen before", the ratings behemoth stumbled squarely into our crosshairs.

The current issue of The Advocate features a story called "American Idol's Gay Dirt" (by AfterElton contributing writer Greg Hernandez) that readdresses whether Idol -- which has featured no out contestants at this point -- has a problem with the gays (something that we've discussed here in the past).

While some former Idolaters like R.J. Helton (who came out after he was booted) feel that they were pressured by producers to keep their sexuality a secret, others like Jim Verraros chalk their straight-acting antics up to old-fashioned personal fear -- although even he admits that had he come out, "Fox would've edited it out" anyway.

RealityBlurred takes the Idol worship one step further by providing an exhaustive account of the show's gay-friendliness (or lack thereof), even linking to a blog by a former contestant that outs other singers.

So what do you think? Is American Idol still stifling its gay contestants? Is America ready for a gay Idol, or even contestant? And at this point in the season, is the discussion a moot one anyway?