In America, there has been an increasingly noisy call for ABC president Steve McPherson and US prime time television drama Grey’s Anatomy creator and executive producer Shonda Rimes to fire actor Isaiah Washington for an October incident in which he called gay cast member T.R. Knight a “faggot” (which Knight said earlier this week inspired him to come out of the closet), and subsequent denials and lame attempts at jokes at last Monday’s Golden Globe Awards. While I join the numerous calls for Washington to be fired, I am using this situation as my inaugural “gay web watch” post, as I am both encouraged and disappointed by the reaction to this situation.
The greater issue here, of course, is the acceptability of anti-gay slurs like “faggot” in everyday American culture. It is a far more accepted word, causing far less specific and measurable consequences for users of the epithet than the word “nigger” causes. The “other F Word” is used against mostly men, gay and straight alike, to emasculate and invalidate. The word perpetuates misogyny by devaluing femininity, perpetuates negative stereotypes about gay men, and continues to marginalize gay men – especially effeminate gay men – as the absolute lowest thing a young boy or man could be in any social structure. The word has its affect on gay male culture as well, partially causing the backlash against effeminate gay men for “ruining things” for their more masculine counterparts and (in my opinion) creating a social structure that values gay men that can “pass” more than more “sissy” gay men.
The use of the “other F word” is a silent epidemic. The problem is that those of us who have been consistently on the receiving end of such insults tend to be among the few who get the full extent of the word’s use. Ask any gay or effeminate male you may know, and I am sure a vast majority of them will tell you the use of the “other F word” was used frequently towards them as they grew up.
One would think that in these days of a highly organized, highly funded GLBTQ movement, there would have been a massive organizational and word-of-mouth campaign against the “other F word”, making the unacceptability of its use clear to the American public-at-large, and most especially to authority figures like teachers and media producers. The word is clearly and traditionally destructive, and its use is screaming to be marginalized in the same way the word “nigger” is in America. To accomplish this feat, however, takes bold public stands from individuals and organizations alike. I am sad to say that unlike other minorities, GLBTQ’s have not been as successful as other groups in this endeavor, and the organizational reaction to the situation with Isaiah Washington and all those connected to the controversy illustrates these failures.
The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD), is perceived by me and by many other GLBTQ’s as the organization that handles these sorts of situations. When the conflict on the set of Grey’s Anatomy arose in October, GLAAD said nothing. After Isaiah Washington’s antics at the Golden Globes, it took GLAAD two days to issue a tepid statement from GLAAD president Neil G. Guiliano that said, among other things: ‘We want to sit down with him and give him an opportunity to raise public awareness about the destructive impact of these kinds of anti-gay slurs. Over the past four months Washington has become part of a significant problem of anti-gay prejudice in this country. He has an opportunity now to be part of the solution.’.
GLAAD’s lack of immediate response after the alleged incident in October, and its rather weak statement yesterday only substantiate claims I hear from many GLBTQ’s that the organization has lost its focus and is not doing the job it is charged with doing for the GLBTQ population. Whatever efforts GLAAD makes to stop defamation of gays in the media and in everyday American conversation is dwarfed by the efforts and publicity it generates for it numerous star-studded Media Awards events. There are no visible spokespeople or thought leaders from GLAAD that are consistently defending GLBQ’s in the mainstream media as situations arise, and I and many others feel that GLAAD’s small amount of decisive and rapid-responding action and large amount of inaction when it comes to defending GLBTQ’s from vicious insults leaves us believing that cozying up to gay-friendly stars is far more important to the organization than causing real change by engaging with all types of GLBTQ defamation in all types of media.
The good news, however, is that the gay web is leading the charge here. Gay discussion boards, gay blogs covering themes such as news and gossip, and on GLBTQ user-generated media, people are taking the decisive stand that GLAAD is unwilling and/or seemingly afraid to take. Sentiments such as Andy Towle’s are being echoed throughout the gay web: “Unfortunately, the time for hand-holding and apologies has long passed. Washington had his opportunity to make amends over the remarks, and instead he chose to lie. Isaiah Washington needs to be fired from Grey’s Anatomy. It is past time for ABC to take action and show that they will not tolerate the use of hateful language towards gay people now, or at any point in the future.”
I am proud to be part of an web-based gay community that values standing up for itself more than it values its Hollywood connections, protecting itself from upsetting other people and can quickly answer continued and repeated bigotry with a bold stand. This web-based community deserves more attention, sponsorship and credit than it gets, and outdoing an organization with millions in its annual budget and the credibility of a long-standing history more than underlines that.
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