Elton John is 'fed up' with being treated as a 'second-class citizen' in the U.S.

* That's the title of one of the articles .. using his words of 'fed up' and 'second class citizen'

The articles don't say how exactly he feels like a second class citizen here. No exact list of complaints as to why the US allegedly treats him like a second class citizen. He complains about political rhetoric in the USA and he complains about the Church of England being behind the times .. but he doesnt' specify why exactly he thinks he's being treated as a 'second class' citizen here in the USA. From the looks of things, I'd say the USA has been very good to him - IMHO.

I looked around and couldn't find a list of complaints. If anyone can find it .. please post.

In addition to saying that he is "fed up" with being a treated like a "second-class citizen" in the U.S., he has this to say -

msnbc - Elton John feels like 'second-class citizen' in the U.S.

"In this country, we need more dialogue," he said during an interview Friday. "We don't need any more stone throwing. We don't need any more vitriol. We need people to say, 'OK. I'm straight. You're gay. Let's get along. I'm Republican. You're Democratic. Let's work together.' I'm sick and tired of people being hateful to each other in this country."

And he also said this -
New York Daily News

"Everyone is entitled to have their own beliefs and their own spirituality," said John. "The big difference is that the dogma of the church can be so hateful and divisive. It's stuck in the stone age. We don't live in the stone age anymore. The church is losing people left, right and center because people are fed up with the rhetoric that they're giving them."

The only thing remotely available is his complaint about Californias gay-marriage ban. But just two years ago he was happy with his UK civil partnership and said he didn't want to get married. So he was fine with everything in the UK, but now in the US he's unhappy that he can't get married .. even though he doesn't want to??
Newser - Elton John

(Newser) – In Britain, they call him "Sir," but the United States makes him feel like a "second-class citizen," complains Elton John. Speaking in California, the AP reports that the new dad/singer swiped at the state's gay-marriage ban, saying that "as I get older, I get more angry about it." It's a different tune from the John who two years ago expressed satisfaction with his civil partnership in the UK, saying he didn't want to get married .

Here's a wikipedia biography on him

John, who maintains a part-time residence in Atlanta, Georgia, became a fan of the Atlanta Braves baseball team when he moved there in 1991

According to wikipedia (not the best source, I know), he has a part time residence in Atlanta, Georgia. His son was born of a surrogate in California.

Um .. what's his citizenship anyways? I can't figure it out. Is he an American citizen now?
Is he refering to the California ban on gay marriage and that's the '2nd class citizen' thing?

Actually I think that the Atlanta thing might factor into this... Atlanta is just horrible where race relations are concerned, from both the white and the black POV. There is a lot of racial animosity to go around.

Atlanta also had a high profile case, not too long ago, regarding a police raid of a gay bar. There has been a LOT of fallout from how this raid was handled and even over why it happened.

The gay issue is divisive and difficult enough, in the US... but as seen through the prism of the hatred that permeates the city of Atlanta....

Well, I'm a straight white guy and it's almost all enough to make me want to leave.

~Heff

Yes, I've read the articles on his "2nd class citizen" rant a few times and it does seem like he is talking about gay marriage. To an extent, he is right and he speaks for all gay people in the U.S. Civil Union is a nice, sugarcoated way of saying "You're not really married in the eyes of God - you're just partnered."

I'd like to be treated like that kind of second class citizen.
Piles of money for not doing much, limos, people running and fetching for me...

Oh, to be that kind of second class...

I think Elton needs a hug.

""In this country, we need more dialogue,"" lool says the 4 eyed fruitcake ...


We have had enough dialogue we need some f'kn action not more useless talk .

He can shove his second class citizen up his british arse

Maybe he should lose all his money and fame and come down to slave level like us and see how he likes it

reply to post by Hefficide

I hear ya' .. I lived in Alabama for 9 years. Unless you went to the 'right' church and were the 'right' color .. you were looked down upon. I was very glad to leave that state and move up here to the Philly area. No one says 'so what church do you go to' upon immediately meeting you like they do in Alabama.

He said that HE was being treated like a second class citizen and I'm pretty sure he said in while in California. He's not black and he hasn't been run out of any gay bars .. so I'm not sure what it is. If it's the gay marriage thing in California .. well, he has a civil union from the UK and he said he didn't want to be married anyways. So I'm really not sure what he's talking about.

Maybe he said that 'HE' was being treated like a second class citizen but he was thinking of others when he said it? Perhaps he projected it upon himself too? Dunno.

Does anyone know what his citizenship standing is?
Is he an American citizen? I thought he was 'Sir' Elton from the UK and hadn't given that up?

reply to post by FlyersFan


I cannot find anything to source yet, but it appears that Sir Elton is a citizen of the UK, and an honorary citizen of Italy - but only a resident alien in the US.

~Heff

reply to post by seedofchucky


When you have done as much for charity as that "four eyed fruitcake" as you so delicatley put it then you can come back and complain.

From what I can gather from the article he is angry about the gay marriage ban, he probably sees it as homosexuals being a the bottom rung of society, which in the 21st century isn't to be tolerated, some places need to step out of the dark ages.

Eltons well known for his temper tantrums but they are usually for a good reason, and lets face it, he's a good guy with a big heart.

I didn't know that having filet mignon while you have rented out The Rainbow Room(for two) in New York City is considered being treated as a "second class citizen. Or riding in a limo, earning millions from America or being cheered by 10's of thousands of fans, etc. This "guy" is so out of touch he could work in Obama's cabinet.

Is he an American citizen? I thought he was 'Sir' Elton from the UK and hadn't given that up?

One can hold dual citizenship.

Unlike a poor person from Guatemala, Sir Elton us welcome in the US. He qualifies for a green card based on his celebrity status. The green card is a step up the expensive and steep ladder to citizenship, so no problem for him.

Look peeps, regardless of his citizenship standing here in the US and regardless of whether or not he's rich and famous, the man has a very valid point and we're missing it by wrapping it in who he is and where he's from. We all just need to get along regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or political standing. We need to stop all this hate and vitriol because it gets us nowhere as a human species.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
He said that HE was being treated like a second class citizen and I'm pretty sure he said in while in California. He's not black and he hasn't been run out of any gay bars .. so I'm not sure what it is.

A person doesn't have to be physically run out of gay bars to feel persecuted or discriminated against. So, I think he feels like a second class citizen because of how much of the US perceives gay people. A person doesn't have to be hit over the head to feel that gay citizens in our country aren't treated equally. They don't even have to be gay to be sick of it. They don't have to be a citizen, either.

If it's the gay marriage thing in California .. well, he has a civil union from the UK and he said he didn't want to be married anyways. So I'm really not sure what he's talking about.

Likewise, a person doesn't have to want to be married to feel the oppression of a whole group of people based on sexuality. I'm fed up with how the US treats gay people - not allowing them to marry - and I'm straight and married!

I understand what he is saying. I'm fed up with it, too. The division, the anger, the judgments and vitriol... Yeah, I get it. We're being asshats, basically - turning our backs on the principles on which this country was founded:

One Nation. United. Equal. Justice.

reply to post by Terrormaster


Starred. Elton John does have a point. He sems like a nice person with a GSOH. The political differences are one thing but we are all going to need to work in a nonpartisan manner because the extreme right and the extreme left have run out of answers and the centre (Democrats and Republicans) just continue the same old same old but with added vitriol.

The country is tearing itself apart!

WTH? All I gotta say to him is STFU! He has more money than every being in my entire family tree to his name, that's a lot of cash, if we treated him so D*** bad he wouldn't be a multi-millionaire 100 x's over because nobody would have bought his records. I think history will prove his retarded rhetoric wrong (lazy wikipedia link):

Elton John Discography
How many have gone gold/platinum? Give me a freaking break!!! WAAAAAAH WAAAAHHHH!
Wow celbrities really are so full of themselves really!!!!

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic

Likewise, a person doesn't have to want to be married to feel the oppression of a whole group of people based on sexuality. I'm fed up with how the US treats gay people - not allowing them to marry - and I'm straight and married!

I agree with your point. I think we should let gay people get married. If they want to be as miserable as straight people, let them. Seriously though, I think they should be given equal access to all of the things that straight couples have. They are human and deserve every right other humans get. It isn't right that they can live with some one for thirty years, love them, nurse them through bad health, and then have no right to that person's effects. It is even worse when a person in that situation has no control in matters such as life support and end of life care. Those decision automatically revert to family members that may or may not have been there for all of the hardship.

It is an extremely messed up system. However, Elton John is not an American citizen. He can very easily pack his bags and leave if he has a problem. We have enough people in our own country having this debate. We do not need him casting stones from an ivory tower we helped him build.

Originally posted by MikeNice81
However, Elton John is not an American citizen.

What does his his citizenship have to do with anything? Any of us can leave if we don't like it here. That's not the point. He has opinions and, last I checked, he has a right to express them just as any person does, whether they're citizens or not.

Plenty of US citizens have no problem expressing our feelings about how they do things in other parts of the world. Why should it be any different for him?

We do not need him casting stones from an ivory tower we helped him build.

Even if what he's saying is TRUE? Are we so nationalistic that we disregard anything negative that people might say JUST because they are not citizens of our country?

Originally posted by Benevolent Heretic

Originally posted by MikeNice81
However, Elton John is not an American citizen.

What does his his citizenship have to do with anything?

It has a whole bunch to do with it. If he's so 'fed up' and feels that he's being treated like a second class citizen ... and he's not an American citizen .. then he can leave. He's got the big $$$ to go back to the UK if he wants to. Big $$ that a lot he got from a lot of Americans through the years .. concerts here, people buying his music, etc.

And sure .. he's got a right to express his opinion .. but so do we .. and some of us are of the opinion that if he doesn't like it here and he's 'fed up' with it .. then he can GO HOME.

He did not say what exactly it is that makes him feel that America treats him like a second class citizen. As I said, he complained about the Church of England .. and he complained about rhetoric in American politics ... but he didn't say anything about himself personally and what America did to HIM personally that makes HIM feel like a second class citizen. It can't all be about the gay marriage ban in California .. afterall, Sir Elton has a civil union in the UK and he has said that he's perfectly happy with that.

reply to post by Benevolent Heretic


It isn't about disregarding what he says. It is simply that since he is not a citizen, he can freely go back home. If he feels the place he is staying, as a guest, is disrespecting him he is free to leave. I wouldn't stay at someone's home if I felt I was being disrespected and treated as second class. I wouldn't stay in a hotel with horrible customer service. I most certainly would not choose to live in a country that I felt treated me like a second class citizen. I definitely wouldn't if I was a multi millionaire.

He is welcome to his opinion. However, I feel his hyperbole is a bit hypocritical. There are millions of Americans in this country treated worse than him. He also has the right to a civil union that offers him all of the benifits of mariage in England. So, if he feels that America treats him as second class he can go home where he has the rights he wants.

Don't move here and then start complaining because it isn't like the place you voluntarily left. If home was so great you should have kept yourself there. Of course, I am from the south and hear this type of stuff every day. I constantly hear, "well in New York we didn't do it like that," "in Boston we didn't have so many country stations," "In California we didn't have weather like this," and some other variation every day. I am just fed up with hearing things like that. If where you come from is better go back. You don't have to be miserable here. It won't hurt our feelings if you feel it just didn't work for you.

Originally posted by FlyersFan
It has a whole bunch to do with it. If he's so 'fed up' and feels that he's being treated like a second class citizen ... and he's not an American citizen .. then he can leave.

If a citizen is 'fed up' and feels that he's being treated like a second class citizen ... he can also leave. ANYONE, citizen or not, can leave if they want. So, again, what does his citizenship have to do with it?

He's got the big $$$ to go back to the UK if he wants to. Big $$ that a lot he got from a lot of Americans through the years .. concerts here, people buying his music, etc.

It sounds like you've taken what he said as a personal insult against Americans... But I guess I don't. His money or where he got it makes no difference to me. He's a man with an opinion. One that I happen to agree with. I could also leave the country if I want.

.. afterall, Sir Elton has a civil union in the UK and he has said that he's perfectly happy with that.

And as I said, I'm straight and married and I'm perfectly happy with that. Doesn't mean that I don't care about inequality just because it doesn't affect me personally.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Poor Elton, he's become a fit throwing little tot in his latter years.

Whah!