Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (December 15, 2006)

HELL HATH NO FURY LIKE A GAY HEROES FAN SCORNED
As many of you no doubt know by now, on Monday we broke the story of how NBC straightened up the character of Zach (Thomas Dekker) on Heroes, apparently at the behest of Dekker's management. So far they are refusing to comment, but Heroes creator Tim Kring sent us an email apologizing for what happened and explaining outside pressure had been brought to bear. I knew this was a big story, but I had no idea it was going to be like tossing a Molotov cocktail into the middle of an oil refinery. Let's just say that most of Heroes' many gay fans put the “P” in PO'd.

I spent a fair bit of time reading the comments on our blog, and checking out posts on others sites as well. I can't repeat most of the names NBC and others were called, but “weasel”, “louse”, and “scumbucket” came up fairly frequently. All in all, it amounts to huge sense of betrayal on the part of gay and gay-friendly viewers. During my surfing, I also repeatedly encountered a number of issues and themes about the brouhaha, mostly from straight folks, that I'd like to address here.

1) ZACH WASN'T REALLY GAY
If all of the evidence presented in our article—Tim Kring's comments before the show even aired, Zach's Myspace page, NBC's own transcription of the “Homecoming” episode—weren't enough to convince folks, then Kring's email to us presented irrefutable proof that Zach was conceived as gay, written as gay, and was gay up until last week. You might as well argue Santa, the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy are real instead. So enough of the “ Zach didn't seem gay to me” comments.

2) SO WHAT IF THEY MADE HIM STRAIGHT? WHAT'S IT MATTER ANYWAY?
What happened to Zach matters a great deal for several reasons. For better or worse, television is a large part of our social currency. It is how we tell stories about ourselves. It's where we go, not only to be entertained, but to see ourselves reflected and to be validated. There is a reason there are thousands of blogs devoted to hundreds of television shows that people chew over at the office the next day.

Television matters. People care about the characters they watch every week. Just ask any fan of Grey's Anatomy who tunes in to see who McDreamy chooses or an ER fan who has watched characters grow and change for years. Imagine the outcry if the character Terry Hatcher plays on Desperate Housewives, lovable Susan, turned out to be a serial killer who hated men and abused her daughter. But just as much of America has invested time and energy in watching Susan's ditzy antics, the gay community was coming to know and appreciate Zach being gay.

I still remember how pissed I was when Tara was murdered on Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Heck, I still haven't entirely forgiven Joss Whedon for ruining the single best same-sex love story on TV.

(As an aside, I learned myself just how much people can care about characters when I killed off a beloved character in Firelands, one of my books! Okay, Joss. I guess I have to forgive you.)

It also matters because by making Zach straight, NBC sent a terrible message, no matter the reason why they did it or at whose request. In straightening him out, they told viewers that there is something wrong with being gay, something risky and shameful. Nice message to send to all the gay kids who identified with Zach, eh? And while I hope it's strictly a coincidence that Zach had just had his mind-wiped, it does reinforce the creepy idea that a person's sexuality is something that can be changed.

3) TIM KRING DESERVES CREDIT FOR HIS APOLOGY
Some people put forward the idea that Mr. Kring was trying to “spin” the situation by sending his email to us. I certainly understand that suspicion, and pondered it myself. But the fact that Dekker's management has refused comment, and that NBC has issued bland statements about valuing diversity only confirms that the party line was to either say nothing or something that said nothing. Kring's apology not only validated everything we said, but served to raise the profile of the issue that much higher. Trust me, far more people heard about this story because of that apology than if Kring had stayed silent. Furthermore, I think it's telling not one other person has had anything substantive to say on the issue.

I hope that Kring and others close to show yet choose to speak even more publicly, but let's keep in mind those that have said nothing and those that are truly trying to spin the situation.