Lady Gaga is ‘every icon’ but never said she was a ‘gay icon’

“I am not nearly as protective of my fame as I am protective of my fans and their justice as LGBT youth,” Lady Gaga said in an interview with Attitude.

In a rare moment of humility for the Artpop maker, she then insisted she has never called herself a gay icon . . . Although a couple months ago she was telling WWD, “The statement is that I’m not one icon. I’m every icon. I’m an icon that is made out of all the colors on the palette at every time. I have no restrictions.”

Gaga also talked about a real icon, opening up about how pissing off Madonna was a dream come true:

On Madonna singing her song: I have to be really honest, I was completely kind of floored that Madonna was singing my song on her stage every night! I’m certainly not thinking about anybody but me and my fans when I’m on stage. The fact that I was on her mind at all. I mean, Madonna’s . . . she’s Madonna. I looked up to her for a long time. I’m not quite sure what her intention was — to do that in the show, but I don’t really care. I think playing into the gossip of the tabloids and, I guess the fodder of the competition, that’s just not what I’m about. She chooses to use her voice the way she chooses to use hers and I choose to use mine the way I use mine. All it meant to me was that Madonna Ciccone was singing my song on her stage and I’m 27! And as a punk-rocker from New York, I’ve basically been hoping that I would become so good that one day I would piss off Madonna.

On how the “Born This Way”/”Express Yourself” controversy was really about who was the bigger fag hag: I truthfully believe that was nothing about those records sounding alike, and everything about this gay icon versus gay icon [is] nonsense. I don’t need to take anybody’s torch. I have no interest in taking anybody’s torch. I am over here and they are over there and if you feel connected to it the door is open for you to come in and enjoy this with us. But this need for competition was everything that “Born This Way” isn’t about.

On how she never said she was a gay icon: But . . . but . . . but . . . but here, where do I say I’m a gay icon? I never said I was a gay icon. When did that happen? Are those lyrics on the album? Absolutely not. I don’t even consider myself . . . I don’t even know what that word means. That was a label that was invented years ago. I’m a . . . [pauses] I’m a gay supporter.