Hypocrisy at ABC?

The LA Weekly's Nikki Finke had the most interesting reaction to Isaiah Washington being fired from Grey's Anatomy that we've seen thus far: she accused ABC of hypocrisy.

Finke notes three storylines on ABC's daytime dramas that she finds anti-gay -- a closeted, married gay man who becomes a serial killer to protect his secret on One Life to Live, as well as two queer male characters who are the primary suspects for rape or murder.

Her accusations make for an interesting juxtaposition for ABC's history with gay characters. Recently, we rated ABC the highest amongst the five broadcast networks for gay visibility -- an honor earned for a history of breakthrough moments as well as for Brothers & Sisters and Ugly Betty, two shows treating gay characters with an impressive level of sensitivity and depth.

On the other hand, we quickly received a comment disagreeing with our high ranking of ABC noting Elizabeth Vargas' 20/20 revisionist story on Matthew Shepard. Also, at the time of the One Life to Live storyline, we noted the storyline as part of an emerging trend of making gay men villains, a story that included Desperate Housewives' Andrew Van De Kamp.

I tend to be an optimist, so I'm inclined to say that Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters show that ABC's treatment of gay characters has improved, but some of these past instances make me look towards ABC more cautiously. What do you think? Has ABC shown too many offensive stories to claim sensitivity to gay viewers?

And there's also the fact that ABC seems to be lagging in its daytime programming more than its primetime -- wouldn't it seem that the target daytime audience would be more prone to accept and demand positive gay storylines, not less?