By ALEX VAUGHN

Lady Gaga (left) and Justin Beiber both are facing backlash from the gay community.

As Lady Gaga soars on the success of ‘Born this Way’, the song called ‘the new gay anthem’ by Elton John, Justin Bieber finds himself in hot water after implying that being gay is a choice. The two polar opposite pop stars are joined by the fact they are currently the only two artists in history to reach over a billion views on Youtube, and, now by the backlash from the gay community they are BOTH facing.

The 16-year-old Grammy nominated Canadian pop star made his comments in this month’s issue of Rolling Stone, now on newsstands. When asked his views on being gay, Bieber responded: “It’s everyone’s own decision to do that. It doesn’t affect me and shouldn’t affect anyone else.” Bieber also told the magazine that he doesn’t believe in abortion.“ What about in cases of rape?” he was asked. “Um. Well, I think that’s really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don’t know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven’t been in that position, so I wouldn’t be able to judge that,” Bieber responded.

Rolling Stone reporter Vanessa Grigoriadis, has came under fire in some quarters for asking the teen about issues like abortion in the first place. She defended her line of questioning Thursday on Twitter. “

A 16 year old kid, to be 17 in a couple weeks, who has control over a large population should be asked all questions,” she wrote.

Responses to Bieber’s comments were luke warm and questioned the ethics of the reporter than his statement itself. Its ambiguity made it unclear as to whether he believed it a choice, or whether he was simply saying let anyone love who they want.

Meanwhile on the other side of the fence Lady Gaga’s anthem has not been free of controversy. She was questioned for the blatant similarities of ‘Born this Way’ to Madonna’s iconic empowerment anthem, ‘Express Yourself’. The eccentric 24 year old made an appearance on Jay Leno, fresh from winning three more Grammys. When asked about Madonna, Gaga said ‘I got an email from her people and her, sending me their love and complete support on behalf of the single and if the queen says it shall be, it shall be…’ However just days later, Liz Rosenberg, Madonna’s publicist put a statement out saying there was no such email from Madonna’s people.

Simultaneously to fans accusing her of copying the ‘Queen’, the backlash of Gaga’s ‘Gay Anthem’ spread online like wildfire. Joseph Alexiou of The Business Insider ran a story claiming the gays have had enough of Lady Gaga. He said, ‘I don’t hate her message. I love that she has taken the issue of gay invisibility and made a big, sparkly, meatwearing deal out of it. Her refusal to be silent is refreshing and, yes, I have danced to her music, starting in 2007. It’s catchy and the lyrics are easy to remember — and while it works, that’s not always a good thing. Good music has staying power, and I’m not sure this stuff does.’ He then went on to address the ‘gay anthem’ aspect and how just telling people what to think wasn’t going to cut it. “Sailing through the gay blogosphere, gay men seem to be at odds with being told what the new gay anthem is, instead of deciding it for themselves. As former club kid James St. James points out, a gay anthem becomes one “because we find ourselves empathizing with the singer’s passion or pain or exuberance. It’s the realization that their pain is our pain too, that their joy is our joy…”

Daily Beast’s Jacob Berstein posted his own take, Gays Turn On Lady Gaga. Bernstein points out that Gaga may have over played her hand and that the reactions from her ‘gay’ audience was mixed and in no way all positive, he quoted, Eric Ord, an openly gay chap working in New York in commercial real estate, who said, “I think she sees herself as the gay messiah and it bugs me.” According to him, the song would be like “white people writing a song about breaking free from slavery and expecting black people to worship us for it.” And Aaron Newbill, a modelling agent, referred to an old quote where Gaga said she wrote the song in 10 minutes. “She should have taken at least 11,” he said.

However the backlash has not slowed the Gaga juggernaut, or the dollars rolling in. The song is number 1 on the Billboard 100. The single in fact became the 1000th No.1 hit in Billboard’s 52 years to which Gaga said “It is a tremendous honor to be the 1000th No.

1 on Billboard…I would be silly not to say this is the greatest honor of my career” adding that “I am so humbled and so honored and overwhelmed by the reception to Born This Way”. The single made 448,000 sales in digital alone in the opening week breaking previous records of female artists including Britney Spears’ ‘Hold It Against Me’ which sold 411,000 upon its arrival. It was also the fastest selling song on itunes.