Reporter: outrageous gay TV characters may be hurting the cause
Mon. November 16, 2009 12:00 AM by GoPride.com News Staff
In a recent Newsweek article, reporter Ramin Setoodeh suggests effeminate men on TV is promoting stereotypes and hurting gay rights.
In his article titled Kings of Queens, Setoodeh writes that gays on television once helped promote tolerance, but now might be hurting it.
He points to characters like Glee's Kurt (Chris Colfer), "the sensitive gay boy who really wants to be a girl." Setoodeh also notes Ugly Betty's Marc (Michael Urie), Lloyd (Rex Lee) from Entourage and the gay couple on Modern Family.
Setoodeh isn't necessarily blaming set-backs in gay rights – from marriage to the military – on these characters.
"It's not that gay men and women should pretend to be straight, or file down all their fabulously spiky edges. But even Rachel Maddow wears lipstick on TV," Setoodeh writes. "The key is balance."
Michael Jensen, Editor at AfterElton.com, takes exception to the article calling it "one of the worst articles about the subject."
Jensen argues that Setoodeh seems to have overlooked a number of gay characters currently on the small screen. From Tyler (Kevin Rankin) the gay paramedic on Trauma, United States of Tara's Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) to Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) on Brothers and Sisters.
"Mr. Setoodeh doesn't seem to have a clue what he's talking about when it comes to what kinds of gay characters are currently on TV," writes Jensen.
"The GLBT community is as rich and varied as any other and the idea that one segment of us — in this case, effeminate men — need to be hidden or toned down shouldn't even be up for discussion."
In his article titled Kings of Queens, Setoodeh writes that gays on television once helped promote tolerance, but now might be hurting it.
He points to characters like Glee's Kurt (Chris Colfer), "the sensitive gay boy who really wants to be a girl." Setoodeh also notes Ugly Betty's Marc (Michael Urie), Lloyd (Rex Lee) from Entourage and the gay couple on Modern Family.
Setoodeh isn't necessarily blaming set-backs in gay rights – from marriage to the military – on these characters.
"It's not that gay men and women should pretend to be straight, or file down all their fabulously spiky edges. But even Rachel Maddow wears lipstick on TV," Setoodeh writes. "The key is balance."
Michael Jensen, Editor at AfterElton.com, takes exception to the article calling it "one of the worst articles about the subject."
Jensen argues that Setoodeh seems to have overlooked a number of gay characters currently on the small screen. From Tyler (Kevin Rankin) the gay paramedic on Trauma, United States of Tara's Marshall (Keir Gilchrist) to Kevin (Matthew Rhys) and Scotty (Luke Macfarlane) on Brothers and Sisters.
"Mr. Setoodeh doesn't seem to have a clue what he's talking about when it comes to what kinds of gay characters are currently on TV," writes Jensen.
"The GLBT community is as rich and varied as any other and the idea that one segment of us — in this case, effeminate men — need to be hidden or toned down shouldn't even be up for discussion."