Ramin Gets it Wrong Again. Anyone Surprised?

Neil Patrick Harris holding his Emmys

Given all of the outrageous and inaccurate things Newsweek "journalist" Ramin Setoodeh has said in the past, it's no surprise that his latest attempt to play the victim ("the gay media elite is mean to me!") over on The Daily Beast is as poorly written and reasoned as his usual work. But this time it also includes a mention of us that completely misrepresents the article it references. (We also write about the rest of Setoodeh's bait-and-switch/I'm a victim! argument.)

In an attempt to obfuscate and distract his past observations about gay actors being unable to play straight roles, Setoodeh changes the subject to the fact that according to him the Hollywood powers that be don't seem willing to cast gay actors in gay parts. To support his claim, he references our article 2010: The Year Gay TV Grew Up and writes "The blog AfterElton.com could only name nine working gay TV actors, and they all hold minor or supporting roles. "

Except that's not what we said. At all. Our article was in no way a comprehensive list of gay actors working in Hollywood. Instead, what we actually said was, "This year, out gay actors, not just comedians and journalists, managed to work. Despite the controversy incited by Ramin Setoodeh’s essay on gay actors who supposedly can’t play straight, plenty of out actors got roles. Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Chris Colfer led a pack of out actors who got to play gay, including Ugly Betty’s Michael Urie and Brothers & Sisters’ Luke Macfarlane, each doing stage work in addition to their TV gigs."

The inaccuracy of Setoodeh's claims are breathtaking. Neil Patrick Harris, Chris Colfer and Jesse Tyler Ferguson have minor roles? On what planet is Setoodeh living? Colfer's Glee and Ferguson's Modern Family are two of the buzziest, highest rated shows on U.S. television and yet Setoodeh can't mention either actor or show? Or maybe these aren't the "right kind" of gay characters for Setoodeh who seems to have issues about masculinity.

Chris Colfer as Kurt Hummel on Glee, Jesse Tyler Ferguson as Mitchell Pritchett on Modern Family

Oh, and Glee also includes some actress named Jane Lynch who married her same-sex partner this year. I hear she won an Emmy or something for her "minor role."

Frankly, after Setoodeh's previous attempts at "journalism," his errors here don't surprise me. But I would've thought The Daily Beast had at least one editor on staff who could've read his work and asked some questions about his assertions.

Don't get me wrong —  Hollywood does need to do a much better job in how it treats gay actors and gay roles, and in how it tells gay and bi stories (I mean you, CBS!). But by so inaccurately reflecting current reality, Setoodeh only makes himself, and by extension the gay community, look ridiculous, out of touch, and hysterical.

And that doesn't help anyone except Setoodeh who somehow keeps getting publications to pay him to write.

In case Setoodeh wants to revisit the issue and write about it accurately, here is a list of some of the gay and bisexual actors who have worked on American television in the past year.

Luke Macfarlane — Brothers & Sisters, Scotty Wandell (gay)

Jonathan Slavin —  Better Off Ted, Phil Myman (straight)

B.D. Wong —  Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Dr. George Huang (gay)

Scott Thompson —  Kids in the Hall: Death Comes to Town, Various roles (gay and straight)

Neil Patrick Harris —  How I  Met Your Mother, Barney Stinson (straight)

Jonathan Groff —  Glee, Jesse St. James (straight)

Cheyenne Jackson —  Glee, Dustin Goulsby and 30 Rock, Danny Baker, (undetermined, straight)

Jesse Tyler Ferguson —  Modern Family, Mitchell Pritchett (gay)

Parvesh Cheena —  Outsourced, Gupta (straight)

Alan Cumming —  The Good Wife, Eli Gold (straight)

John Benjamin Hickey —  The Big C, Sean Tolkey (straight)

Chris Colfer — Glee, Kurt Hummel (gay)

John Barrowman — Desperate Housewives, Patrick Logan (straight)

Alec Mapa — Ugly Betty, Suzuki St. Pierre (straight)

Guillermo Diaz — Mercy, Angel Garcia, No Ordinary Family, Frank Cordero (gay, straight)

Tim Bagley — &!%* My Dad Says, Tim (gay)

Stephen Wallem — Nurse Jackie, Thor Lundgren (gay)

Scott Evans — One Life to Live, Oliver Fish (gay)

Nicholas Rodriguez — One Life to Live, Nick Chavez (gay)

Michael Urie — Ugly Betty, Marc St. James (gay)

Denis O'Hare — True Blood, Russell Edgington (gay)

Michael Hitchcock — United States of Tara, Ted Mayo (gay)

Not included are lesbian actors or the many more gay actors playing very minor roles, doing one episode appearances or actors presumed to be gay, but not officially out.