Did the Gay Mafia have it in for Isaiah Washington?

No, not that Gay Mafia...

Isaiah Washington's firing from Grey's Anatomy continues to make news. The Associated Press has a lengthy article on Washington's firing from Grey's Anatomy that takes a look at the story from a variety of angles. This part stood out:

One black gay activist sees the lobbying far differently. Jasmyne Cannick, a friend of Washington's, said the case reflected a division between Hollywood's powerful white gays and lesbians and those who are minorities.

"The ones calling for (Washington's) head are what I refer to as the gay Mafia," Cannick said.

Now, here's one thing I can understand -- Dr. Preston Burke was one of a too-small-number of compelling African-American characters on television and Washington is a talented actor who made that character come to life. I can see reason for frustration with Washington being fired from Grey's. When good roles are rare, losing a even one is a major loss.

However, Washington did attack a co-worker and he did repeatedly show insensitivity to the repurcussions that his use of an anti-gay slur caused. Maybe you can make a case that a white actor would have been unfairly given a pass, but one wrong doesn't justify more wrongs.

And it doesn't help, either, that so far, Washington's response has been either angry or lacking remorse (as in: "I can only apologize so many times. I can only accept so much responsibility."), which makes his apologies sound like he wasn't sorry about what happened, and just saying what he hoped would make his trouble go away. Looking at all this, I have a hard time seeing ABC's decision or the media's response as being primarily driven by a collective desire to bring down a successful Black man.