"My reasons for declaring a sexual preference had to do less with the pursuit of personal freedom than with the lust for pure shock value"

Lance Loud's quote suggests that his decision to state his sexual orientation was not inspired by a desire for individual liberation, but rather by a desire to shock and surprise people. This could be translated as a commentary on the state of society at the time, where homosexuality was still mainly taboo and not commonly accepted. It might also be seen as a declaration of defiance versus the status quo, a way of asserting his own identity and asserting his right to be who he is. By stating his sexual preference, Loud was making a declaration that he was not afraid to be himself and that he was not going to be silenced by the expectations of society. In this method, his declaration was a kind of demonstration and a way of pushing back against the standards of the time.