From Queer as Folk to The L Word, some of the most loved and convincing gay and lesbian television characters have been played by straight actors.
So when a Newsweek article published last month suggested that there wasn’t a place for gay men to play straight characters, all hell broke loose.
Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy launched a boycott of the publication; tabloid media fuelled the firestorm with condemning words from actors and the online community barraged the writer with abuse and even ‘a creepy letter’ sent to his home.
Openly gay Newsweek writer Ramin Setoodeh received the phenomenal backlash for his article, Straight Jacket: a critique of the Broadway performance Promises, Promises.
The article criticised former Will & Grace star Sean Hayes’ portrayal of the straight leading role in Promises, Promises; labelling Hayes’ performance as ‘the big pink elephant in the room.’
He also went on to single out and question the legitimacy of gay Broadway actor and Glee star Jonathan Groff on his straight role in the popular TV show.
Ryan Murphy labelled the article as ‘homophobic’ in an open letter; while Hayes’ co-star Kristin Chenowith lashed out at Newsweek, calling Setoodeh’s article ‘bigoted’.
While Setoodeh later claimed that his comments were made without malice, he nevertheless opened up the conundrum of gay and lesbian actors in mainstream media.
The actuality of Hollywood has shown that there are few openly gay actors that make it in straight roles; the proof is in the little known numbers.
The Newsweek writer acknowledged that some openly gay actors had landed and played convincing heterosexual roles such as Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother or Cynthia Nixon’s role in Sex in the City.
The issue was intensified last year by actor Rupert Everett when told gay actors to stay in the closet.
Setoodeh’s redemption arguably came in the final words of the offending article where he posed the question ‘If an actor of the stature of George Clooney came out … tomorrow, would we still accept him as a heterosexual leading man?’
Benn Dorrington
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