The State of Gay TV Today

Romine: The gay community is large and diverse and increasingly multigenerational, and as that becomes truer, I think we’ll see more diversity on TV and a move from stereotypical things to less stereotypical things, as there’s more diversity to choose from.

Jensen: It’s mostly male and white when it comes to gay characters. How do you think we can address that problem and include more black gays and lesbians?

Fuller: We’re slowly getting there. It all depends on perspective. I’ve been at casting sessions when I honestly could say that actors were being cast on the merits of their skills and not their skin color. On Heroes, we tried to cast a broad ethnic net as far as how the show’s going to be. We need to be more conscious of making sure gays and lesbians of ethnicity are presented on shows and to take steps to make sure the parts aren’t just going to white guys.

Romine: Out of the nine lead gay characters this season, The Office is the only one with a nonwhite gay character. But Oscar [played by Oscar Nunez] has hardly been on since he came out this season. And then there’s The War at Home, with the character of Kenny [played by Rami Malek], who is gay and Middle Eastern. And that’s pretty progressive. We saw on [SonoTORIous, the Tori Spelling show] the character of Sasan [played by Zachary Quinto] and there was a character on that Geena Davis show [Commander in Chief]. So more and more this is something we’re seeing.

Because being gay is not acceptable in these cultures, this is something that is very interesting. That is good news. But overall, there is a basic lack of gay people of color. There’s 28 characters in all, and only 8 of them are not white.

Jensen: Two shows that dealt with gay issues this year were Rescue Me — which had the coming-out of Probie [played by Mike Lombardi], but played it for laughs and did I thought it rather offensively — and Nip/Tuck, which had this whole thing with Sean and Christian and then dropped it and haven’t done much with it. Maybe the show will pick up that plot again. [Editor’s note: Since the roundtable, Nip/Tuck did, indeed, address the issue again.] I’m curious what your reaction to those shows were.

Plotnick: I worship Nip/Tuck. I thought a lot of the episode where Christian is confused about his feelings for his friend.

Romine: I’m a fan of both, and I think both are telling interesting, character-driven stories. I know you disagree on this, Michael, but I thought it worked in the context of either show.

Jensen: Well, before you all go, I’m interested to know what you all thought of the coming-out of T.R. Knight and Neil Patrick Harris. Is there any chance this might affect gay actors and the roles they can do?

Plotnick: I do feel it’s changing. Neil Patrick Harris and T.R. Knight coming out is a change that started years ago — we’re just seeing the effects of that. I know in my heart that them coming out isn’t going to affect the viewership of their shows, even though both their characters are straight. Just that they came out is a big next step.

Jensen: Jack, have you ever received any feedback on your role as a womanizer on Lovespring?

Plotnick: Oh, you must think a lot pf people watch our show. Maybe that’s a good thing. It’s hard to think because people aren’t interviewing us, but no — it hasn’t been an issue.

Jensen: And you think [Knight and Harris] will be fine as far as their careers?

Plotnick: They’re not leading sex symbols on the show, so I don’t feel it will affect their shows. I don’t think that everybody should come out, particularly leading men, because people need to project their fantasies onto the characters they watch.

Fuller: I think Jack said it well that they’re both supporting characters, so that the risk to their sexiness isn’t going to impact the show. If it were Patrick Dempsey coming out and saying he’s gay, there might be more scuttlebutt. But because they’re both character actors, there’s no one pinning them up to a wall.

Jensen: Do you think we’re within striking range of having someone on the level of Patrick Dempsey coming out?

Fuller: It’s hard to say. … I think we’ll be within striking distance when the strike is made.

Plotnick: That last comment blew my mind.

Jensen: Well, I guess to close the talk, I’d like to talk about the issue with Isaiah Washington on the set of Grey’s Anatomy. We had a poll on our website about whether Washington got off too easily for using the word “faggot.”

Plotnick: If he did a meek apology, that’s bullshit.

Fuller: It’s hard to say without being there and seeing exactly what happened. The media does have a way of making things more dramatic than they really were. “Faggot” is pretty unacceptable, but it’s a different set of rules for actor behavior. I’ve seen actors behave much worse. If it were me, I don’t know what I would do. Should [Washington] be fired for what he said, though? I don’t know. If the shoe was on the other foot and instead of “faggot,” “n*gger” had been used, then the backlash would have been bigger. It’s more acceptable, unfortunately, to say the F-word than the N-word. It’s hard to comment on it just based on what I’ve heard and read in the media.

Romine: I agree with Bryan. I wasn’t there and I wasn’t party to the incident. The media spins a story, and without being witness to what occurred, it’s hard to say. None of the other actors have spoken out about it. Without that piece of the puzzle, it’s really hard to weigh in. What it comes down to is that [the fight] didn’t happen on media or on TV; it happened in the workplace and was an issue handled by ABC and Touchstone.

Jensen: That’s it. Thanks, everyone.