Last night on ABC’s “World News Now,” anchor Dan Kloeffler was reporting how actor Zachary Quinto came out of the closet in a magazine interview. Kloeffler then nonchalantly said that he would lift his ban against dating actors to consider Quinto, and the way he kind of stumbles through that sentence you can tell that it’s a huge admission for him to make on-air (see video below). Kloeffler later wrote:

I’ve never shared that I’m gay on-air, even though I’ve been out to my family, friends and co-workers for years. In fact, an old boyfriend – now best friend – has always given me a hard time about not doing so. But for the same reason that Zach decided to come out, I too, no longer wanted to hide this part of my life.

I’m all for this, and not just because I enjoy milk bukkake GIFs. I understand that it can be scary to come out because there’s a big chunk of the country that’s still homophobic. But there’s no way to change that bigotry unless people with fame and influence demonstrate that they can be gay and have normal lives and not get AIDS all over everybody. Lookin’ at you, aging Christians in the Midwest. Stop making us look bad.

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Every year, GLAAD does a study to see which of the networks and primary cable channels portray lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender characters. Last year, MTV became the first channel to win GLAAD’s “Excellent” rating; this year, ABC Family became the second, with 55 of its 103 hours of original programming including LGBT imagery.

Among the broadcast networks, The CW is tops with 33 percent LGBT-inclusive programming, followed by Fox (29 percent) and ABC (23 percent). Bringing up the rear is CBS with only 10 percent of LGBT-inclusive programming, receiving an “Adequate” this year, up from its “Failing” score last year.

Among the cable networks, ABC Family is followed by Showtime (37 percent), TNT (33 percent), HBO (31 percent), Lifetime (31 percent), AMC (29 percent), and Syfy (22 percent), which all received “Good” ratings. Like CBS, USA jumped from “Failing” to “Adequate” after upping its LGBT-friendly hours from 4 to 18. Failing cable networks were A&E and TBS. [TV Guide]

Good for GLAAD. I’m all for American TV representing American society. Except for fat and ugly people. Get back in your holes, uggos and fatties!

"I'm out."

I’ve got nothing against Broadway or musical theater, but I’m just not the right audience for the Tony Awards, which aired last night while I was tuned into “Game of Thrones” and the deciding game of the NBA Finals. But my flamboyant internet friends tell me that Neil Patrick Harris once again did an excellent job as host, and I wanted to post a couple of videos from the show to acknowledge his talent and charm. The Tonys may have a niche audience, but other awards shows could take some cues on how to conduct a live show. (Step 1: MORE GAYS!)

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It seems like just this morning that “30 Rock” star Tracy Morgan was being condemned for his “jokes” about how homosexuals choose to be gay and how he’d stab his son to death if he talked like a queer. Probably because it was this morning. But I’m happy to report that Morgan’s PR team sounded general quarters and the damage control team is working to salvage the USS Tracy Jordan.

Tracy Morgan issued a statement to The Huffington Post through his representative: “I want to apologize to my fans and the gay & lesbian community for my choice of words at my recent stand-up act in Nashville. I’m not a hateful person and don’t condone any kind of violence against others. While I am an equal opportunity jokester, and my friends know what is in my heart, even in a comedy club this clearly went too far and was not funny in any context.”

Ah, there we go. All better now. Back to the status quo.

Not to get all long-winded about this, but this reminds me of the discussion that Vince and I had on the FilmDrunk Frotcast a few weeks ago about Lars von Trier’s comments in Cannes about sympathizing with Hitler. Vince’s take is that von Trier’s a crazy Danish director who makes weird and sometimes offensive films, so you can’t really be shocked by the inevitable Nazi sympathy. I can’t say I agree fully, but I understand his point.

The same thing goes with Tracy Morgan. I don’t agree with what he said, but he’s built his career on being an insane person speaking without a filter. He gets laughs and applause and demands that he say more crazy things, and then when the topic come to gays, he says crazy things and people freak out. I don’t excuse anything Morgan said, but I’m not exactly surprised that he said it.

Tracy Morgan has made a career of appearing unhinged and saying crazy crap, but his stance on homosexuality has put him in hot water. Morgan, who’s publicly stated his belief that homosexuality is a choice since at least 2009, apparently colored in some offensive details about his opinions during a June 3rd set in Nashville. Kevin Rogers, a self-described gay fan of Morgan’s since his “SNL” days, described the rant:

He said that there is no way a woman could love and have sexual desire for another woman, that’s just a woman pretending because she hates a f*cking man.  He took time to visit the bullsh*t of this bullying stuff and informed us that the gays needed to quit being pussies and not be whining about something as insignificant as bullying. He mentioned that gay was something kids learn from the media and programming, and that bullied kids should just bust some ass and beat those other little f*ckers that bully them, not whine about it.

He said if his son that was gay he better come home and talk to him like a man and not [he mimicked a gay, high pitched voice] or he would pull out a knife and stab that little N (one word I refuse to use) to death… Tracy then said he didn’t f*cking care if he pissed off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking dick up their ass… they can take a f*cking joke.

I don’t mean to nit-pick, because Morgan’s rant is clearly a reasoned and thoughtful argument, but I think some people may have had gay sex before the media taught children how to be gay. Can somebody fact-check that?

[via HuffPo]