Lady Gaga Wears meat Dress to VMAs as Sign of Protest

Lady GaGa has drawn criticism after wearing a raw meat dress from Franc Fernandez when accepting her Video of the Year nod at 2010 MTV Video MusicAwards. The "Bad Romance" hitmaker, however, was quick to explain that her dress doesn't contain message against animal rights. It was rather tied to her protest against the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Speaking to Ellen DeGeneres immediately after the VMAs on Sunday night, September 12, the big winner at the annual awards first confirmed it was her sign of support to her gay fans who have served and been discharged under the policy. "It is a devastation to me that I know my fans who are gay ... feel like they have governmental oppression on them. That's actually why I wore the meat tonight," she said.

"It's certainly no disrespect to anyone that's vegan or vegetarian," the 24-year-old further explained. "As you know, I am the most judgment-free human being on the earth. It has many interpretations, but for me this evening, it's 'If we don't stand up for what we believe in, we don't fight for our rights, pretty soon we're gonna have as much rights as the meat on our bones.' "

GaGa has angered PETA for donning the beefy number to the event. In a statement, PETA president Ingrid E. Newkirk slammed the singer, "Lately, Lady Gaga has been having a hard time keeping her act 'over the top'. Wearing a dress made out cuts of dead cows is offensive enough to bring comment, but someone should whisper in her ear that there are more people who are upset by butchery than who are impressed by it."

On Sunday, Lady GaGa has shown her domination at this year's MTV VMAs bynailing eight Moonmen. She grabbed Video of the Year, Best Female Video, Best Pop Video and Best Dance Video among a number of other kudos. Meanwhile, her interview with Ellen will air on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" on Monday, September 13 afternoon.