Thomas Dekker's Big Gay Hat-Trick

Heroesgate continues, as Thomas Dekker -- the actor who played the de-gayed character of Zach on the hit show -- speaks out on his Myspace page regarding the whole mess (which AfterElton broke in December). Dekker notes that blaming him or his management for the whole ordeal is ridiculous, as he has played gay three times already (which is basically a "get out of gay free" card, apparently):

I am truly sorry for what transpired on the series and who it has effected. I have been shown a lot of, to be blunt, hate mail directed at me and my manager for the way the character of Zach played out. I would like it to be known by everyone, that I have played a gay character three times before in my career, one when I was twelve (which is on youtube), one when I was fifteen, and another when I was seventeen. I, nor my management have ever had any kind of problem with creating a gay character. To me acting is about being prepared to play all kinds of roles and it is an honor and a challenge to portray ANYTHING that comes my way. What transpired on heroes is something far more complicated than anyone being "afraid" to make Zach homosexual. The character that I created in the beginning of the show, a process I take very seriously, was based on Zach being an outcast who had a burning love for Claire, a crush that drew him to her and effected every ounce of his self esteem around her. I created the character that way because it was WRITTEN IN THE ORIGINAL SCRIPT that he was in love with Claire.

Well that makes things clear, right? Er ... or not. Actually, it stands in direct opposition to statements made by the show's creator (and recently, writer) -- including statements made before the show even aired. And why would it make sense for the show to create a straight character and then "gay him up" midway through the story? And weren't references made as early as the first episode that the kid was gay?

We contacted Dekker's management last week to try to get a comment not distributed through a site held up entirely by stripper photos, homemade videos and emoticons, but we got nothing but static in return. For the entire missive, head on over to the hallowed halls of Hollywood gossip mothership Defamer (and thanks to Big Bear for the tip).

And in the meantime, check out a few clips of the other gay characters that Dekker has played in the past after the jump -- we've actually known about them for a while but didn't post, as we didn't want to make this about Dekker, "the young actor who plays gay a lot", but rather about his management and their decision to play hardball with the show. But it looks like they're fair game now.