About a week after CBS’ Amazing Race ended one of it’s most notable contestants, Luke Adams sat down with me over a cosmo at Hamburger Mary’s to talk about the race. Luke was primarily labeled in the show as “the Deaf guy” but he is also gay, a fact not mentioned on the show. Towards the end of the interview we got into a really interesting discussion comparing gay and Deaf in regards to both identity and culture.
Myself: So how many times did you apply for the show and who did you apply with each time? And what do you think it was about this most recent application that finally sealed the deal?
Luke: I applied with my mother three times. I applied with a Deaf friend once. Well, it helped the most is that I kept sending the application in over the years which put my name on the producers’ minds and I knew they would like to have me on the show at some point. I was not sure [what it was about] my most recent application that finally sealed the deal. I guess the producers realized that I might be ready for the show or something like that.
Running across Novosibirsk (Russia) in nothing but his underwear.
Myself: You seemed to be in good shape since you did the cross-town Russian underwear run in the snow and also pulled your mom in a rickshaw in Phuket, Thailand. What sort of training did you do in advance of the show?
Luke: I just tried to run few miles everyday and go up big hills every day with my backpack on. Not serious training though. I knew the race was mostly about mentally. It can tire you out pretty easily – the stress can really wear your mind out. I was physically fine on the race though. I took past racers’ advice which is that there is nothing you could prepare for the race ever! So, I didnt really go into any serious training. Just brushed up on a few words in other languages and studied how to read maps in case that we have to navigate.
Myself: AfterElton.com reported that several cast members were gay or lesbian but this was never shown on the air. How did all the various queer cast members come to learn about eachothers’ sexuality? And were you out to the straight cast members for that matter?
Luke: On [our] first night at the barn in Switzerland, Mel [White] (of Mike and Mel) walked around and telling people that he’s a gay preacher and an activist for SoulForce then my mom just practically blurted that I’m gay, then KIsha just joined and said she’s lesbian as well. It was a strange night. Every cast member are pretty awesome with it so we all are really lucky that we got to race with great people.
Much more interview after the jump!
Continue reading ‘My interview with Deaf + gay Amazing Racer Luke Adams’
This is B-roll footage from the upcoming documentary Outrage which examines the “hypocrisy of closeted politicians with appalling gay rights voting records who actively campaign against the LGBT community they covertly belong to.”
