He's (or "they're") just the latest in a long line of pop stars who are using their look to court controversy and increase their success. The likes of Liberace started it, and it's been going on ever since. It'll carry on long after Sam Smith's flame has dwindled.
I love a lot of modern music Choux, but prefer 70s modern music (although it's probably classed as old now. However I like lots of different types of music and liked Sam Smiths early stuff, but that video is soft porn as far as I'm concerned and I really don't like the song.