Rant Ahead!!!

This article about Logo, the new "gay channel," makes me soooooo pissed!

"So much connects us beyond sexuality," the network president, Brian Grazer, says. Excuse me, but WHAT? I mean, on one level, he's totally correct. Gay men and women and transgenders are no more purely sexual beasts than heterosexuals (though a lot more honest about the role of sexuality in their lives). On another level, however, sexuality (and the life experiences that come as a direct result of that sexuality) is the only thing that connects a lot of gay people! We're defined by our sexuality; that's why they call us homosexuals!!!

Usually, I defend shows and actors who are "non-threatening" and "stereotypical" gay and lesbian figures (i.e. the Fab Five, Ellen, etc.) from those deranged and out-of-touch-with-reality queer radicals who want only Goldilocks (not too sexy, not too unsexy, not too white, not too colored, and on and on) depictions of homosexuals. Those "non-threatening" figures are, by their nature, just small and limited snapshots of the gay community, in the same way Queer as Folk, an almost-panto production of rampant white gay male sexuality and melodrama, is. Neither depiction is complete or perfect; the human race and its works are neither complete nor perfect, so limited depictions are all we have. No one show or actor or book or whatever has an intrinsic duty to, or quite frankly the possibility of, be[ing] all things to all people. Yes, one can argue that too sexualized a depiction can just reinforce homophobic stereotypes or that neutered gay characters are modern Al Jolsons donning "blackface" for the amusement of Middle America, but homophobes will believe what they believe regardless and laughter can go a long way towards acceptance.

HOWEVER, if you call yourself a "gay channel," explicitly trying to be all things to all people and represent the whole of the gay experience (despite the fact that you can't and can't be blamed for being unable to), then simply getting rid of any hint of gay sexuality is downright sinful, especially since, protestations to the contrary, it is under pressure from conservative economic and cultural forces. While you can't, and don't have to, have non-stop porn, to simply dismiss sexual content is the worst form of caving in the face of opposition. Sexuality is a huge part of human life. Homosexuals are every bit as human as heterosexuals (and does any channel shy away from hetersexuality???). What Logo is doing, then, is nothing less than denying our humanity.

For shame, Logo, for shame!!!