Actor Matt Wilson has earned the ire of the Internet for comments he made about the gay character he plays on the long-running Australian soap Neighbors.
Related: PHOTOS: aussieBum Goes To The Beach
The offhanded remarks that caused the offensive were made on Channel 5’s The Wright Stuff, during which the straight 28-year-old performer (who’s modeled for swimwear brand Aussiebum, as you can see above) said:
“There are a lot of people who think you should have a gay actor playing a gay character, but that’s like saying you should get someone in a wheelchair to play a character in a wheelchair.
I think it’s important that we are expressing it. We specifically designed the character to act straight and act normal.
When I say “normal”, I mean he’s not like the characters on Modern Family, where they are flamboyant and camp and they walk around tiptoeing.
That creates separation – that’s us and them. It shouldn’t be like that. It should be all equal and no-one should have a problem with that. The way other characters act around my character is that there is never a problem at all.”
You can watch the clip here:
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— WayneDavid???? (@WayneDavid81) June 29, 2017
Meanwhile, Twitter has been swiftly eviscerating Wilson for his comments in a steaming, noisome pile of offended tweets:
Oh god the level of ignorance in this is… just… staggering. Glad to know I'm not 'normal' because I'm effeminate. ???
— James W.B. (@dontforgetjames) June 29, 2017
Ooh no. That was a car crash in slow motion. We should all act normal and homophobia will stop.
— anthony (@ant_917) June 29, 2017
Wow – his offensive stupidity is shocking. Why is a homophobe playing a gay character?
— mursim (@mursim99) June 30, 2017
Wilson later took to Twitter himself, to quickly release this apology:
“Choice of words wasn’t right and apologies if it comes across as offensive.
The message I want to get across (and this is in support of one of my closest friends as he is having issues coming out) that he sick and tired of people assuming that because his sexuality is different to the guy next to him that they “expected him to act different”. This isn’t the case, and shouldn’t be preached on TV.
Once again – apologies for offending you, I trust you can see through this and see we are promoting the same message.”
KaiserVonScheiss
Nothing he said was wrong. Good for him. The only bad thing he did was apologise to these pusillanimous first-worlders with nothing better to do.
Mack
I have to say I agree with you. They’re called actors because they generally portray someone they’re not. Having a gay or someone in a wheelchair playing a gay or someone in a wheelchair is not acting, it’s playing yourself. The gay actor needs to play a straight macho man. And I’m sure there are plenty doing that now but haven’t came out because they’re afraid they can’t get the job again.
Donston
A gay person playing a gay person is “playing yourself”. A person in a wheelchair playing a person in a wheelchair is playing yourself? Why are people so damn stupid? Like, why?
Manolete Garcia
Matt Wilson is right. I’m gay and I get told all the time “I would never have guessed you were gay, you don’t sound and act gay”. There are a lot of differing mannerisms among gay mean as there are among straight men. from hyper-masculine types, metrosexual types to extremely effeminate types that you would swear were gay but they’re not. Matt is right about the stereotypes. He doesn’t need to apologize for a damn thing. The ignorant are always so easily offended.
DarkZephyr
@KaiserVonScheiss, @Mack, @Donston The issue people are taking with what he said is not that he said straights should be able to play gay characters. I agree there. I have never EVER believed that only gays can play gays, only straights can play straights, only trans can play trans, only men should play men, etc. Never.
WHAT people are taking issue with however, are his words about normality.
A) he called butchness “acting straight”
B) he called “acting straight” aka butchness, “normal”.
What he said was not offensive, it was actually dangerous. Gay men who are “effeminate” are not creating “them and us”. It is words like THIS that are creating “them and us”.
@Manolete Garcia “Matt is right about the stereotypes. He doesn’t need to apologize for a damn thing. The ignorant are always so easily offended.” Calling effeminate men “stereotypes” is a goddamned problem. Implying that effeminacy is abnormal is a goddamned problem. Speaking out against that is NOT a problem. You attacking those who speak out against that as “ignorant” IS a goddamned problem.
Raymond
Who the Hell do you think you are? You’re just a homophobic troll that constantly bashes the LGBTQI+ community in comments.
The problem is this ignorant piece of garbage says that only a straight man can portray what this idiot erroneously claims is “normal”.
FYI, the members of the LGBTQI+ community are extremely divers because we come from ABSOLUTELY ALL types of people (race, ethnicity, religion, “mannerisms”, levels of intelligence, economic, etc, etc, etc.). As in our entire species of humans THERE IS NO NORMAL)!
I hope he is either fired or the ratings of the show plummet.
cabe
His main problem is that he is not very well spoken. To say “I play a gay person that acts normal”. WTF is normal? So, stereotypical acting gay people are not normal? That is offensive. I’m not bothered by anything else he said but that. I guess I just chalk it up to the fact that he is young and not well spoken and frankly, kind of clueless but he does seem like a decent guy.
DCguy
Oh Look, one of Mo Bros screenames on here to defend anything anti-lgbt again.
The actor said that they needed the character to act straight or act normal implying that a gay actor couldn’t do that.
But again, remember, Mo Bro and his other screenames are not actually here for any other reason than to defend bigots and attack the lgbt community whenever they can. They know that a lot of people read these blogs and they are simply here to lie and pretend that there are people in the lgbt community who are fine with our civil rights being taken away. Nice try Troll.
woodroad34
I agree with you and him, also. The problem comes with the word “normal”. To him, being straight and acting straight is normal. To me, ‘normal’ is being around people who behave as I do. I had a friend, who loved her finger-snapping, bitch-talking gay co-worker. Then I came along and her complaint about me was that I wasn’t as “fun” as her co-worker and why couldn’t I be more like him or her version of what gays are. It was annoying to think I had to act like that all the time to win her favor. I can be silly, but to act that way all the time is exhausting. I’m not a jock, but I like to exercise; I’m not an outdoorsman, but I like nature; I like fine dining, but I’m not a gourmet; and, I’m gay, but I’m not Jack McFarland. The other problem is his analogy to someone in a wheelchair acting like a character in a wheelchair — his comment about “straight acting” is disingenuous because he’s a straight actor acting straight with just the label of “gay” on him–there’s more to gay than just body positioning and speech patterns. Even ‘straight-acting’ gays have tip-offs and ‘tells’ that ping gaydar.
KaiserVonScheiss
@DarkZephyr
Normal (via google) – “conforming to a standard; usual, typical, or expected.” Are you trying to tell us that most men are effeminate?
As long as I’ve been alive, being effeminate has long been the stereotype for being gay.
@Raymond
See my reply to Zephyr.
“I hope he is either fired or the ratings of the show plummet.” You sound like the epitome of tolerance.
jsmu
Everything he said was imbecilic, full of shit, and completely supporting homophobic stereotypes and homophobia.
jsmu
You sound like the epitome of moronic attempts at justification for every bit of the homophobia which still exists (you being Exhibit A.) ‘Normal’ is a word just like ‘expected’ or ‘typical’ which, of course, is chock-full of the bigotries of whomever uses it. As long as I’ve been alive, self-loathing closet queens like you have been the bane of all NORMAL, healthy, civilized gay men’s existences–and here you still are, Blanche. LOL!
Moritz
First of all, the guy is on our side. He may not express it in the most pc way, but give him points for trying.
I object to the term normal, of course, but I really wish people would stop calling it straight-acting. Straight guys aren’t the only ones who are masculine. Gays come in all shades in the masculine/feminine department. No one has cornered the market on either set of behaviors.
Gilliflower
His phrasing was a wee bit awkward, but yeah he was right. Although, I myself would like to see mor actual wheel chair users acting.
amigay
That’s not the issue. They wanted a gay character to be played as straight and “normal.”
As if saying a character portrayed as gay is of course always queeny, screaming and not normal.
loulou2lou
Strut your Aussie bum Mr.actor Matt Wilson you stupid hunk.I do not accept your apology.In my 70
years on earth I have heard one too many apologies.(aside) I even read gay men as apologists for
you in these postings.In my opinion you are a homophobic gay man and that is the most dangerous kind.Your looks will bring you lots of friends and money but you will never earn my respect.
loulou2lou
Strut your Aussie bum Mr.actor Matt Wilson you stupid hunk.I do not accept your apology.In my 70
years on earth I have heard one too many apologies.(aside) I even gay men as apologists for
you in these postings.In my opinion you are a homophobic gay man and that is the most dangerous kind.Your looks will bring you lots of friends and money but you will never earn my respect.read
RamblingManNJ
Good lord cut the guy some slack. We all phrase things at times that are not exactly what we intended.
batesmotel
Yeah he never should have apologized since he didn’t say anything that wasn’t inaccurate. Like it or not. The hyper emotionally dramatic don’t warrant an apology.
[email protected]
Typical PBD… pretty but dumb. Save us from perverse producers and agents who believe all audiences think with their gonads. We don’t.
drmiller
His apology just made it worse haha. As a gay man I’m not offended, I think we can all say we’ve heard worse, and this guy is clearly an ally. He just sounds like an idiot. It was a stupid thing to say and it was a stupid apology he followed up with. If you’re playing a gay character, you’d think you’d plug into that culture a little more to understand how to portray it which, in my mind, would garner a little more understanding. Again, not offended and I’m not at all angry, he just made himself look horribly ignorant.
Also, I would argue that characters in wheel chairs maybe also should be played by actors in wheel chairs hahaha.
I guess you can’t really blame him. If you look like THAT, and are straight and white living in a developed country, you’re sort of restricted to the insights of that reality. Then again, he doesn’t come off as particularly intelligent in general. Such a shame, he’s a handsome guy.
Donston
I get annoyed that with Twitter’s hourly outrage party, and I can somewhat understand where he’s coming from. But we really need to be careful about fem-phobia. It’s starting to become legitimately widespread. And the crux of the problem is that about 80% of the men who constantly bytch about effeminate stereotypes being promoted are closeted/live mostly straight public lives. Closet cases have no say.
And comparing people who are gay to people in wheelchairs (aka people with physical disabilities) is just beyond idiotic. The dude is just a simpleton. No way around that.
drmiller
Okay, one more thing. To everyone saying a gay actor playing a gay man isn’t acting, it’s just them being themselves– can you please not? Think for a minute about what you’re saying.
Look at every single straight male or female role played my straight males or females–are they not acting either?
When you act the part of someone, regardless of their sexuality or disability, there is so much more that goes into portraying that role. You play a whole person, which is so much more than just a sexuality or a disability.
Donston
This really shouldn’t need not to be explained anymore, especially to an actual homo. But the first two posters (if they’re actually two posters) have shown that type of internalized homophobia before and don’t represent anyone with sense.
Josh447
I think the guy made a good point in that his character is portraying an unnoticable gay guy instead of the flamboyant camp gay guy. Perfect. It’s time that aspect of the gay male population gets portrayed in the media more and more. It creates balance and gives straight phobes another side of the gay male personality to look at and take notice, rather than disposing of the entire gay population as something flamboyant to laugh at rather than laugh with. To “fems” it’s to your credit that all sides of the gay personality spectrum be portrayed rather than just a campy splice of it which shows a very very limited spectral personality picture, and has for the most part, ruled the media.
DarkZephyr
“To “fems” it’s to your credit that all sides of the gay personality spectrum be portrayed rather than just a campy splice of it which shows a very very limited spectral personality picture, and has for the most part, ruled the media.”
Is it to their credit that you called them “something to be laughed at”?
Josh447
Unfortunately, that is the way Hollywood has portrayed them, to be laughed at. And the gay characters have played into it and been paid for it. One hand washes at the expense of the other. Not an equal trade off.
It would be cool to see a gay character play both flamboyant and even keeled, as those types exist too. The dichotomy could be really cool to watch if done well.
DCguy
Considering a huge number of gay males do that exact thing everyday saying they needed a straight actor to play the character “Normal” doesn’t really fit does it?
Cam on Modern family is played by a straight actor and he is the most nausiating step and fetchit on TV.
Danny595
Nothing wrong with calling out toxic effeminacy. It’s gross. There’s no point in pretending otherwise.
DarkZephyr
And I suppose all those early “effeminite” activists who fought so that you could enjoy the level of equality you have today were all “toxic”.
Donston
Some people are so messed up in the head, so bitter about effeminate gay men, that they completely gloss over this man’s obvious ignorance. Let’s ignore that he thinks a gay person playing a gay person is “playing yourself”, which completely undermines his initial point. Let’s also ignore that he compared homosexuality with physical disability. And honestly, the guy doesn’t sound like an ally but a closet case with a fragile sense of manhood.
Finally, anyone with sense and deciphering ability knows it’s likely one poster who is making comments supporting this dude. Please stop. Your game has been peeped. Now you’re just embarrassing yourself and spamming.
topsyturvy
Okay I’m about to make the kind of comment I make because this guy is hot AF and clearly in better shape than I will EVER be in but … what is with that left side bulgey thing? Why does is stick out more on the left than the right? Is it the angle or something? Either way I’d let him fcuk me.
John
I don’t understand the outrage. I think it’s great that he wants to portray a gay man who’s not a cartoon character. That’s a great thing. I agree about the separation of you and them when gays are shown as only flamboyant. Kudos to him.
DarkZephyr
You don’t understand the outrage because you see your effeminate gay brothers as “cartoon characters”. Probably with a dose of a serious lack of self awareness too. You are even worse than he is.
Danny595
DarkZephyr – They are cartoon characters. They act in bizarre ways and have bizarre mannerisms. They don’t respect themselves as men. They call themselves “girl” and similar terms. They make themselves into a joke. In some cases, it doesn’t even look like they are mimicking female mannerisms. It looks more like mental illness. And then they try to blame their weirdness on being gay, which is a falsity. There is nothing to respect about these people.
jheryn
I’m not offended by what he said. Yes, it wasn’t the best way to say what he wanted to say, but his intent was clear in my opinion.
I have no idea why we are so quick to jump on LGBT allies when they misspeak or do something questionable. It’s stupid. Thank goodness we don’t have twitter jumping our asses for every stupid thing we do and say.
If you want to go after an awful person, go after an actual homophobe, not allies.
DarkZephyr
Do you even USE twitter? Twitter jumps on EVERYBODY’S asses any time they say something stupid no matter WHO they are.
Stupidly dangerous remarks NEED to be corrected. How else will the ignorant learn?
Xzamilloh
Unbothered still.
Francis_NG
Ain’t nothing offensive here. People just like to get agitated over nothing these days. He was clearly advocating for portrayals of every type of gay person out there and not just the effeminate ones as we frequently see in the media
DarkZephyr
“He was clearly advocating for portrayals of every type of gay person out there”
A) no he wasn’t.
B) Even if he was, he didn’t have to imply that effeminate gay men were abnormal and that their very existence creates “them and us”. I am getting f***king sick of effeminate gay men being called “stereotypes”. They aren’t. They are quite a huge portion of the gay male population. People like you act like they need to step back and let the butch gay men stand in the spotlight as if we should be taking turns instead of working together. The only reason the effeminate gay men have been in the spotlight for so long is because they HAVE to be, they have no choice. Those butch gay men who are not in the spotlight chose to stay out of it of their own free will. And if butch straight men want to advocate for ALL gay men as “effeminate” gay activists constantly have done, then they are quite free to do so. Sans the attacks on their fem gay brothers.
Francis_NG
@DarkZephyr Lol. Please what exactly did you understand from this 1 minute clip if he wasn’t advocating for portrayals of every type of gay person out there.
I’m femme and I don’t feel attacked at all. It helps the movement when the general public come to see that ANYBODY they interact with in their daily lives could be gay…not just the obviously effeminate ones. This is no way taking away from the immense contribution of effeminate gay men to the gay rights movement
Donston
God, this dude just won’t quit spamming. And it’s made even more obvious by the fact that all these people supporting his comments (besides one) completely ignore his belief that playing gay is playing yourself and that he compared being gay to having a physical disability. You’re not even engaging with or contradicting any other poster. At least try not to make it so damn obvious. There’s probably been four people who’ve actually made comments in this thread despite the number of poster names.
People need to understand (and most with common sense do understand aka people outside of this spammer) that effeminate and flamboyant are two different things. There are many men who are effeminate and are low-key, down to Earth people. Just as there are “masculine” men who are complete over the top flames. The outrage is unness. But you have to correct “allies” as well. They’re not above ignorance. The ironic thing is that most of the homo men we see in fiction are “straight acting” and played by non gay actors. So, this reach for greater variety from a feminine/masculine standpoint is actually an overreach. Outside of Modern Family there really aren’t any representation of that kind of gay male in fictional television.
But I’ve learned over the years that there are a lot of different types of crazy LGBT (I would guess that cluster b personalities are three times more likely with us), and the fem-phobic might be the most crazy with their self-consciousness, superiority complexes and desperate desire to be separated “from them” instead of focusing on living their lives.
crowebobby
He wasn’t comparing being gay to having a physical disability and you know it. He was just using a visual example of playing something you’re not.
DarkZephyr
@crowebobby “He wasn’t comparing being gay to having a physical disability and you know it. He was just using a visual example of playing something you’re not.”
That’s exactly what he was doing… When he chose to use that as a “visual example” that’s exactly what he was doing.
I am pretty sure, even though I can’t speak for him, is that Donston’s point is that straight people play straight people ALL the time and nobody ever accuses them of “not acting” when they do that. There are several other aspects to any character that goes far beyond their sexuality. Donston is absolutely correct on this.
crowebobby
DarkZephyr: If you feel a need to believe this actor thinks gay people are crippled or sick then have at it. I don’t get that from anything he says.
Jonathonz
So in other words if “flamboyant” gay characters are put in a tv show it makes “us vs them” worse? So gay people should have to fall into line and act just like normal, straight people so we can all get along? Ok…that’s an interesting line of thought.
John
That’s not what he said at all.
DarkZephyr
@John “That’s not what he said at all.”
Taking what he said at face value and following it to its logical conclusion, that is exactly what he said. Stop enabling this shit.
nephilim71
He doesn’t have much going on upstairs or downstairs if you know what I mean…
Xzamilloh
Maybe he’s a grower, or the water is cold. Don’t hate 🙂
Darkness
What about Ian & Mickey from the US version of Shameless? To me, they ring true and resonate deeply.
Hussain-TheCanadian
Am I the only one who thinks the first picture looks a lot like to Taylor Kinney???
mhoffman953
I don’t see what’s so offensive about his comments.
By “normal”, he means a normal gay guy and not some over-the-top flamboyant stereotype that’s just used to make people laugh
Hollywood does this a lot with gay characters. They make them sassy, emotional, and very feminine for the most part. Hollywood also does this with black characters by making them loud and obnoxious to get laughs (i.e. any character which Leslie Jones plays)
cabe
When you put it like this: “By “normal”, he means a normal gay guy and not some over-the-top flamboyant stereotype that’s just used to make people laugh”
—- it makes sense.
I took it more like “We need to play gay actors as more normal” — meaning make the gay character seem like a “normal” regular straight dude and not some abnormal fem gay guy or any type of gay guy for that matter b/c that would be abnormal
michaelmt1009
I truly do not see why so many are in an uproar over his comments. Go back and read them again slowly. He wasn’t offending anyone He merely stated that it is healthy to show a character who happens to be gay in a light where he is no different from any other character in the show. Perhaps he may have had a few mis chosen words but I think his intent is pretty clear. Everyone is so quick to jump on peoples words and miss the intent and I believe in his case the intent. We now live in a country where the not my president of the US has nothing better to do at 3 am than tweet about a news anchor and whether she has had plastic surgery or not and people defend him for standing up for himself. In the big picture what this man said is nothing harmful or hurtful.
mhoffman953
@michaelmt1009
Agree about the words and intent part but then you cite an example where you merely looked at some words and not the intent.
If you carefully read that tweet from President Trump, the focus of the tweet was not that Mika had a facelift. The intent of the tweet was that her and her lover Joe mock the President on a daily basis from calling him someone with dementia to being mentally ill, but off-camera they are begging to stay at Mar-a-Lago and hang out with the President. The intent of the tweet was to point out the two faced characteristics of those two smarmy people
Heywood Jablowme
@mhoffman953: Only that’s not what happened at all. Trump told several LIES in those tweets. Or at best, perhaps they weren’t intentional lies (i.e., yep, dementia!).
mhoffman953
@HeywoodJablowme
What part of the tweet is a lie? The part that Mika and Joe badmouth Trump all the time? The part that Mika and Joe stayed at Mar-a-Lago after consistently badmouthing Trump? The part that Mika had cosmetic work done? I’m pretty sure that all of those things happened
Rex Huskey
i just hate abnormal-acting, camping and tiptoeing-around queers. i love gay-for-pay! Yummy.
Richard 55
You go, Matt. Call out Hollywood’s stereotypes that seek to create a special class of mouth-wobbling tip-toe artists called “gay men”.
Hollywood is homophobic. It pretends to be homosexual- inclusive but the roles are inevitably camp-tragic as in Modern Family.
Josh447
Agreed. Can’t stomach that show. The over-done fag stereotyping is full on nauseating. Done.
dpt0715
I dont know….I don’t think it’s such a huge deal. I almost understand what the guy was going for but he just failed miserably with both his choice of words and his delivery. He could have said something like “I’m trying to show an LGBT character in a different light to demonstrate that not all gay people fit into one stereotyped box.” Instead he chose to passively bash those individuals who are more “feminine” in nature or as he put it “flamboyant and constantly tiptoeing”. He definitely could have approached this in a different way because at the end of the day I think his attempt was to demonstrate that gay people come in all different types just like heterosexual people. Feminine or Masculine traits or mannerisms are something entirely separate from sexuality in my opinion. I dont care if you walk down the street sashaying on your tip toes for days or if you walk down the street as machismo as you possibly can, just be yourself. Gay people come in all different types and while the mainstream media is doing a great job of including LGBT characters more often, they need to show them in all the different “varieties” they come in.
Slash
This guy is an ally and if we treat him like this it’s no wonder the PC police get such a bad wrap. He may not word things like he’s strapped to a torture chair and has to hit every correct LGBTQAZJYV buzz word in order to survive a 60 sec sound bite. But who the hell cares. He’s not trying to insult or shame anybody. If we can’t help and embrace our allies, we won’t have any.
BriBri
I’d let him fk me then kick his ass out.
batesmotel
Except he’d never touch you.
jjose712
Can straight actors play gay roles? of course. It’s good for a show to cast a dumb straight actor for a gay character? well, no.
I thought this would be the classical it’s so hard to kiss a dude, or the mention of a girlfriend every two sentences.
An actor has the same choices playing a gay character than playing an straight character. There are million of different types of gay people so his choice portraying the gay character are perfectly correct.
But he shows an extreme ignorance if he thinks than “acting normal” change a thing. He is as wrong as the people who thinks that black people will not face racism if the are correctly dressed.
Maybe effeminate guys receive more amount of homophobia because they are more visible, but that doesn’t make homophobes not hate the gays that don’t fit that steretype.
Of course it would be more productive explain the guy why he is wrong than asking for his head, but in twitter there’s a big outrage every hour so a reasonable response is no expected
Herman75
First off, he didn’t need to defend the show or himself for that choice.
But since he did he ended up using words that sounded hurtful to some. So let me explain it in different terms.
In that other blog on Queerty that showed the gay pride photos including the guy that was channeling Miley Cyrus, with the lace fairie dress and his orange suede girl boots, and a tiara (did he have a tiara? I think he did , or he should have). A lot of people watching TV in Australia would consider that kind of sassy, fierce gay construct as not a normal way for a man to express himself. But yeah, it’s normal for lace fairie guy, so maybe we can all find a better word. But in the meantime, the show needs to find an audience.
Kangol
And this creep’s comments, young people, is textbook homophobia. People, straight, gay, bi, whatever, who support and defend them are engaging in…textbook homophobia!
Heywood Jablowme
Well, since he’s straight and wants to act like a “normal” gay guy… as long as his character makes out with a guy on screen and makes it believable, okay!
More likely, his character will be just some straight-acting dude whose ostensible gayness is occasionally referred to, but who for some unexplained reason never has a gay sex life referred to, never has a date, and certainly never kisses a guy. That type of show is actually much more common than the “Modern Family” type. (Not that I’m defending “Modern Family”: those two are married and they never kiss either!)
Larry
Ok he used the wrong word because there is no such thing as NORMAL in any world, straight or gay. Unfortunately however, the less enlightened see us all as eminent drag queens. That is fact. They, of course, are ignorant. His point is that appearing like his character, who just happens to be gay, is Ok. I am a gay male and those of you, gay or straight, that are all upset about this, need to pull your pants out of your ass crack and move on to something more important, like why you STILL cant get married there.
He BGB
Normal = Boring
rockland2u
straight is not “normal” its just common. 🙂
gay is not normal its just “fabulous” hahaha
rockland2u
much ado about nothing, we have bigger fish to fry, while his choice of words were awkward, i easily get what he was saying, the writers chose to make the character more mainstream and show how his sexuality did not define him, and he portrays his character as accepted and equal to his colleagues because thats how life should be represented. the days of all the “gays” being the baboon, clown and delicate effeminate sissy, should end, and while there is nothing wrong with being unique, and expressing yourself in an effeminate and flamboyant way, it should not define an entire community. i am glad to see a show, that shows gays as real people, not defined only by their sexuality
rockland2u
congrats though on all this free advertising, for your show, i am sure it will help ratings.
yaletownman
I don’t think the guy meant any harm. I think he’s only guilty of poorly chosen words to make his point. Instead of using terms like “normal”, etc he should have used words like “stereotype-stereotypical”. I don’t think it was his intention to convey a message of effeminate men as being abnormal.
We need to give people a break sometimes. Not everyone is hyper-careful about how they communicate. Things like this are a teaching moment where a gentle correction is all that is needed. When we are rigid and accusatory about everything such as this we become off-putting and that doesn’t help anyone. There are enough haters out there to affirm anyone’s need to prove it to themselves. We don’t need to create it where it is not.
tomron
First, let’s get something straight (please excuse the use of the word – not meant as a pun.) We Gays are all members of the same rainbow – the rainbow which has many many hues and colors. Having said that, the second point I’d like to make is: we Gays insist on destroying allies who slip up with a wrong word or phrase. What he meant is obviously that it is not necessary to portray gay as a specified caricature. Again, having said that: Kudos to anyone who successfully played Albain in all the versions of La Cage Aux Folles! Likewise, kudos to all who have successfully played the football hero who is having a coming out crisis. It’s not different strokes for different folks, it’s different abilities to fit the part as the playwright or screenwriter wrote it.
There are enough honest to god enemies who would destroy us given half the chance. Why not save our energy to attack and defend ourselves against them, rather than attack an actor being interviewed, who has to think on his feet to answer an question not previously studied on a script?
tomron
Oops! What I meant was “it’s not necessary to portray gay as a SPECIFIC caricature.
Jeremy Phillips
Well said!
ivanw222
I’m gay, and a military veteran, when I was in guys who found out about me would either say “You? I never would have guessed” or “Yeah, I had that figured out” my point is that ee are all “normal” but I don’t take offense to what he said, I understand his point in reference to Modern Family. I also recall Soap where a character says of Billy Crystal’s gay character Jodie, “He’s the only normal one in the family”
ShowMeGuy
*He’s the only normal one in the family*…….may have been the BEST line from the entire Soap series. It was epic, and it deserves more play.
amigay
Give the guy a break. He’s young, HOT, and straight. Three characteristics not usually associated with being introspective and bright.
Jeremy Phillips
Maybe he could have chosen better words, but his point I think is that not every gay character needs to be a stereotype. When I was growing up, the only visible gay men were Paul Lynde, Richard Simmons, and Liberace and the few gay characters were just as stereotypical. Maybe more people would have an easier time coming out if they see gay characters they can relate to.
And, as far as his word choice, if you read everything he said, he’s clearly an ally. We should spend less time beating up well-meaning people and focus our energy on the truly horrible people out there.
Captain Obvious
Queerty has become so chock full of trolls trolling each other that I can’t tell if there are any real commenters here anymore. Half the time it seems like one or two people with multiple accounts.
scotshot
Interesting that 30 years( well, and actually today) male actors were immediately suspect as being gay, especially the pretty ones with a great body, and if they wore that swimsuit? Who ever got on a stage that was a real man?
Today also people like Pitt and Beckham are on top 10 fashion lists, go to fashion shows – as well as rappers, et al. write, paint wouldn’t have been accepted then.
A little bit of irony here.
jcoberkrom
Matt Wilson was right on the sentiment wrong on the words. I myself are tired of the stereotype gays on tv. I’ve been wanting characters who just happen to be gay and if they weren’t kissing another guy etc. you’d never know they were gay.
One thing the uber good looking gay is also a stereotype. Can’t wait for the “average Joe” character who is gay. Maybe in my life time.
batesmotel
Amen! Love this Matt Wilson guy. He was right on point. I already have an opinion on the overtly sensitives upset with his words as they’re the flamboyant dramatic ones. Hollywood has a tendency to stereotype gays as being those overly flamboyant dramatic feminine types, while ignoring the rest of the gays who have different mannerisms that aren’t as out there. Finally this actor sets it “straight”.
smuk94
he hot but a little bit dumb
he needs a bubblebutt to change his oppinion 😉
LOL
kent25
LMFAO!!!! you mean bisexual for pay, No amount of money in the world could get a straight man to have sex with another man, LOL Gay for pay my aunt fanny