I Didn't Say It ...

President Obama, on if he thinks there will be nationwide marriage equality while still in office:

"The Supreme Court now is going to be taking on a case, my hope is that they go ahead and recognize what I think the majority of people in America now recognize which is that two people who love each other and are treating each other with respect and aren't bothering anybody else, why would the law treat them differently? There's no good reason for it. So as a consequence, I'm hopeful the Supreme Court comes to the right decision, but I will tell you, peoples' hearts have opened up on this issue. People know that treating folks unfairly, even if you disagree with their lifestyle choice, they're not bothering you. Let them live their lives and under the law they should be treated equally and as far as me personally, just to see all the loving gay and lesbian couples that I know who are great parents and great partners, the idea that we wouldn't treat them like the brothers and sisters that they are, that doesn't make any sense."

I’m loving that he’s still talking openly about this issue, though, yes, I wish he hadn’t called it a “lifestyle choice” because it’s neither.

It’s a life.

Ben Carson, Tea Party wingnut, on baker’s who refuse to make cakes for same-sex weddings:

"What I have a problem with is when people try to force people to act against their beliefs because they say 'they're discriminating against me.' So they can go right down the street and buy a cake, but no, let's bring a suit against this person because I want them to make my cake even though they don't believe in it. Which is really not all that smart because they might put poison in that cake."  

No one is asking that you act against your beliefs; we’re simply asking that, if you are a business, you cater to everyone equally.

Oh, and Ben, you f**king loon? I hope that if some wingnut who looks up to you — while most of us look down on you — bakes a poison cake for a same-sex wedding, that you are indicted as a co-conspirator.

PS You’re an idiot and you are crazy, no matter how many times you say you aren’t.

Patrick Stewart, on his support of the LGBT community:

"When I look back to my early career and early experience, my ease and comfort being in the company of and intimately close with gay and lesbian colleagues and friends was always, for me, the most natural, and I might even say at times appealing aspects of the life I was living. I think this is where the theater is such an appealing world, because it embraces everything and always has. So there was never a moment where I made an intellectual choice that I would be a supporter of gay civil rights. It was always a natural and uncomplicated choice."

It really is that simple; if you know a gay person, you’ll find out they aren’t so different from anybody else, and you’ll more than likely stand up for them.

Michael Urie, openly gay actor, responding to Billy Crystal’s statement about having a problem with gay sex scenes — Crystal clarified that he meant all sex scenes:

"I don’t think it’s overexposed. If gay sex on TV is too much for you, change the channel and don’t watch it, it’s not for you. I think there is far too much football on TV. But I’m not going around saying they should take football off the air; I’m changing the channel."

That’s all it takes. Change.The.Channel.

Benedict Cumberbatch, on diversity in films, and sticking his foot in his mouth a bit:

“[In America,] it’s an even playing field. [These actors] paid their dues for years by just doing beautiful performances. I think as far as coloured actors go it gets really difficult in the UK, and a lot of my friends have had more opportunities here [in the US] than in the UK and that’s something that needs to change. Something’s gone wrong, we’re not representative enough in our culture of different races and that really does need to step up a pace.”

Okay, so he said coloured — or colored, this side of the pond — and people went ape-sh*t. But, I wonder if, in the UK, it’s not still an acceptable term and not seen as a pejorative term.

David Oyelowo, who played MLK in Selma, coming to Cumberbatch’s defense:

“I think it’s ridiculous. When you look at what he was actually saying it’s clear that he’s a huge supporter of black performers. To attack him for a term, as opposed to what he was actually saying, I think is very disingenuous and is indicative of the age we live in where people are looking for sound bites as opposed to substance. … In America we use the term ‘people of colour’. Is that a million miles different than saying coloured? I know it’s an outdated term but… he was clearly doing something that I think was pretty beautiful.”

I agree with Oyelowo; people took that one word, a mistake or not, and ran with that instead of actually listening to what Cumberbatch was saying. And, again, I wonder, is ‘people of color’ acceptable but ‘colored people’ is not? Anyone?

Can Gay Actors Play Straight?

Ramin Setoodeh wrote an article for Newsweek [HERE] on straight actors playing gay roles, and how they can do it, but gay actors, openly gay, playing straight roles doesn't work. He basically says that gay actors are bad actors because they can't convince an audience that they're straight.

And while--and I'm gonna say it--Setoodeh does have a point. But it isn't the actors, or the roles, or Broadway or the movies; it's the audience that has a hard time believing a gay actor as a straight character.

I think where Setoodeh went wrong was in basically making his point by using the performance of recently out-actor Sean Hayes, in Promises, Promises, on Broadway. Setoodeh says that he doesn't "believe" Hayes is a straight man on-stage, that he isn't believable as the love interest to Kristen Chenoweth, citing a New York Times review that called Hayes performance "wooden" and "insincere" as proof that gay can't play straight.

Maybe that review is right, but maybe it's because the part wasn't right for Hayes, not because he's a gay man. Gay men have been playing straight on Broadway for years, openly; and gay men have been playing straight in movies for years, closeted: think Rock Hudson. Handsome. Virile. Manly. As gay as a picnic basket. But not open about it.

There has been all kinds of hubbub about Setoodeh's piece, er, article, from everyone from Kristin Chenoweth, who wrote a response [HERE] in which she called Setoodeh homophobic; for the record, Setoodeh is an openly gay man, who has been attacked for being everything from a homophobe to a self-loathing gay man to an Arab who should only write about terrorism. That last part is true, and, again for the record, Setoodeh is American, born in Texas, of Iranian descent. Let's talk about what he wrote, but refrain from personal attacks; it's the discussion that matters.

Cheyenne Jackson, an openly gay actor who plays straight, and hot, on Broadway all the time, said of Seteoodeh and his article:

It was infuriating on so many levels. Not only does [Setoodeh] say that a gay man can't play straight, he got personal, picking on Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, [pointing out] certain scenes where he thinks [Sean] is stiff and uncomfortable. And then he picks on Jonathan Groff, who just came out. He's a young teen heartthrob [in Glee]. He's so talented and so delicious and needs our love and support. Instead, [Setoodeh] says he's not believable at all. It was very veiled self-loathing. Really upsetting. Everytime we go forward, some asshole like this takes us back a bit. I was really glad that Kristin Chenoweth wrote what she did. She sent it to me before it went out and about. I was very proud of her. For me to stand up and say, 'F*ck you,' that's what you'd expect. But for someone like Kristin, she stands up for what she believes in and is very committed.

Michael Urie, also openly gay, and appearing on Broadway now, says:

Look, I'm not from f*cking Vienna [he's playing Viennese designer Rudi Gernreich in The Tempermentals]. We're all actors, and the audiences get it. When I saw Sean Hayes in Promises, Promises, it was a full house and everyone was completely in love with him. And I saw it at a Wednesday matinee full of tourists. They've all seen Sean in Will & Grace, and they loved him and believed in his relationship with Kristin. It worked. And to attack, to quote Ugly Betty, someone [like Groff] recently 'hatched from the gay egg' is unconscionable and he should strung be [up]. [Groff] made everyone want him in Spring Awakening. And Cheyenne was f*cking Elvis in All Shook Up. He was sexy and hot. He's always playing straight. And people buy tickets to see him. No straight critics accuse Sean Penn of not being able to play Harvey Milk or [criticize] Tom Hanks in Philadelphia.

See, it isn't about the actor, it's about the audience. Setoodeh points out Sean Hayes as his example to prove his theory, but Hayes spent years playing a gay man on television, and then recently came out in The Advocate. I think the audience can't separate Sean Hayes' homosexuality from Sean Hayes' performance in Promises, Promises. And until we have an audience that understands that its acting, we'll çontinue have this discussion.

But to denounce Setoodeh, I think is a bit ridiculous. Sure, he got off the mark by making the article about Hayes--and also dragging in recently out actor Jonathan Groff, who's now appearing as a straight boy on Glee. That's the wrong approach. Discuss why audiences may, or may not accept a gay man playing straight, don't make a blanket judgement against all gay actors being unable to play straight.