Article: LGBT Characters On Television Now Have More Depth & Complexity.

LGBT characters bring depth and complexity to TV shows

FOX The Hummel men make for great TV.

June marks Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Month, and while members of the community will be taking to the streets to celebrate this weekend, LGBT characters are appearing in increasingly complex and high-profile roles on television.

According to “Where We Are on TV,” GLAAD’s 14th annual diversity study on the 2009-2010 prime-time television season, LGBT characters account for 3 percent of all scripted series’ regular characters on broadcast television. That’s up from 1 percent in 2007. Meanwhile, mainstream cable showed a slight decrease: 25 scripted series regulars, down from 32.

Characters like Rickie Vasquez on My So-Called Life and Ellen DeGeneres on Ellen blazed the trail for central characters on prime time to come out of the closet. Then Will and Jack from Will and Grace, Marc and Justin on Ugly Betty and Dr. Remy “Thirteen” Hadley on House became household favorites.

In addition to providing compelling story lines, these characters serve as role models for LGBT viewers and are expected to act as ambassadors to an audience with vastly differing views on hot-button issues like gay marriage, the military’s “don’t ask don’t tell” policy and gay blood donors.

Here’s a look at the recent crop of LGBT series regulars we just can’t get enough of:

1. Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer),Glee: The fashionable soprano of McKinley High’s New Directions has the privilege of expressing himself throughout his teen years in ways that wouldn’t have been possible a generation ago. Even with his Gen-Y sensibilities, Kurt’s struggle with his sexuality and finding acceptance in his rural high school show that while things may have improved for LGBT youth, it’s still not easy. His scenes with his father (Mike O’Malley) have provided the series its most emotional highs.

2. Lafayette Reynolds (Nelsan Ellis),True Blood: According to GLAAD’s data, Lafayette is one of the few LGBT black male series regulars on television. He’s also one of the most interesting characters on any television program — gay, straight or otherwise. Only in a world of vampires, shape-shifters and werewolves can a gay cook/prostitute/drug dealer still be the most sensible person around. With street smarts and a smart mouth, Lafayette can dispatch slack-jawed homophobes and vampire sheriffs with equal aplomb.

3. Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) and Dr. Callie Torres (Sara Ramirez), Grey’s Anatomy: ABC caught a lot of flack for nixing Dr. Torres’ first female paramour, Dr. Erica Hahn, due to lack of chemistry, but the show really bounced back with this pairing. Dr. Robbins and Dr. Torres laugh, bicker, cry, break up, make up, make out, cry some more and then make out some more. In short, they act like every other coupling on Grey’s Anatomy.

4. Mitchell Pritchet (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet), Modern Family: Mitch and Cam make the most complex and fully fleshed-out LGBT couple in mainstream sitcom history. From Mitch’s neuroses to Cam’s many talents (rock drummer, singer, Fizbo the clown), their sexuality doesn’t need to be the butt of the joke. (Though even when it is, it’s handled with expert care.) It’s rare to see an LGBT couple raise a child on TV, but Modern Family is breaking ground with great heart and even greater humor.

5. Sal Romano (Bryan Bratt), Mad Men: It wouldn’t be interesting if everyone always found love and acceptance. There’s no apparent happy ending for Sal as he suffers through pre-Stonewall America. Closeted and confused, he’s trapped in a sham marriage and lost his job when he refused the advances of a male client – details he couldn’t share with his superiors. Part of what Mad Men does best is mirror today’s issues with what we faced more than 40 years ago. What makes Sal particularly intriguing is you wonder if he would fare any better today.

6. Marshall Gregson (Keir Gilchrist), United States of Tara: Many gay teens have dealt with coming out and finding acceptance from family, friends and peers. What makes Marshall’s story so unique is his struggle to find his place within the LGBT community. As an introvert and a connoisseur of classic film and music, he’s at the modest end of the spectrum – far away from Glee‘s Kurt. Playing against the gay archetype illustrates the diversity in the LGBT community and supplies an icon for the post-gay generation.

7. Dr. Eleanor O’Hara (Eve Best), Nurse Jackie: Though many LGBT characters come to be defined by their sexuality, sometimes it just is, like being a brunette or left-handed. This Showtime series introduced Dr. O’Hara’s lesbian lover with relatively little fanfare. She’s still the gal-about-town with a penchant for practicing medicine in designer high heels, and she’s still Jackie’s primary confidante. O’Hara’s sexuality was as an aside, but Jackie’s dealing with her two-timing girlfriend shined a hypocritical light on Jackie’s own philandering.

8. Barca (Antonio Te Maioha), Spartacus: Blood and Sand: It’s unclear if the massive gay following of this hyper-violent show on Starz is due to all the sweaty, shirtless hunks or the surprising love story between this “Beast of Carthage” and his male lover, Pietros. Either way, it was a bold move to include such a touching man-on-man romance in the incredibly masculine proceedings. The tenderness of their relationship added considerable emotional weight to Barca’s murder and heartache to Pietro’s life in the ludus that followed.

Cool Video Clips: HBO’s True Blood Dramatic Scene Lafayette, Jesus, & Tara!

Article From Global Comment: Tiger Woods & White Women Is The Interracial Sex Controversy A Cautionary Tale For Black Male Athletes?

By Renee Martin |

At the age of twenty-one, Tiger Woods won the Masters Tournament, and never had the African American community been so excited about golf. Nike built its advertising campaign around this exuberance by producing the “I am Tiger Woods” commercials. Yet not since Mohammed Ali, have African Americans been so ultimately polarized by a sports hero. For a time, Tiger was the shining prince who allowed Blacks to celebrate his achievement, thus reminding the community of other Black figures whose struggles radically changed the perception of what it is to be African American. That time has come and gone.

When he was asked on the Oprah show if it bothered him to be called African American, Tiger answered in the affirmative: “Growing up, I came up with this name: I’m a ‘Cablinasian” (Caucasian-Black-Indian-Asian).

There are those that would argue that as a bi-racial person, it is his right to identify as he chooses. Yet to the Black community, these words symbolized a rejection. Colin Powell responded to Woods commentary by stating, “In America, which I love from the depths of my heart and soul, when you look like me, you’re black.” The perception of Tiger as an outsider solidified when he chose as his wife a White Swedish woman, following in the steps of many male African American celebrities who marry outside of their race.

It was announced last weekend that Tiger got into a car accident. Like most incidents involving celebrities, this quickly became headline news. The paparazzi circled like vultures, sure that there was more to the story than a simple traffic incident. One by one, women stepped forward to allege having extra-marital affairs with Woods. Embarrassing text messages came to light, revealing the extent of Tiger’s lechery. Suddenly, the man that led such a private life found that no amount of begging for privacy would erase his name from the headlines, or from Black blogs.

For many, it was easy to ridicule Tiger. He did, after all, refuse to identify solely as Black. Beyond his message of hope, declaring for the entire world that he is African American bound Blacks to Barack Obama. The kind of relationship that the Black community has with Black leaders and celebrities was something that Tiger failed to understand when he made his fateful statement.

Mr. Cablinasian became an instant punchline as many refused to embrace him in the manner that they had supported stars like R. Kelly and Kobe Bryant. Recently, Tiger jokes became huge on the nationally syndicated Tom Joyner show for the past week. In one parody it was stated, “The question everyone in America wants to ask you is, how many white women does one brother want?”

Not only did Tiger marry outside of his race, but the women he allegedly chose to be unfaithful with were also not exactly Black. Just as Michelle Obama adds to Barack’s identity as a Black man in the eyes of the community, Elin, Tiger’s wife, detracts from it. Tired of being passed over, Black women reacted with glee to Tiger’s marital woes.

A commenter on the blog Black Voices wrote:

“As far as I’m concerned, Tiger Woods is just one of the many OREO (cookie) out there, who had to lose himself to gain acceptance in the world that he’s working so hard to exist in. People do have choices in whom they choose but from the beginning of time…and based on his own comments during interviews…Tiger doesn’t know who he truly is. Hence, his ‘all white’ choices.”

On the popular Black blog Bossip, the women that he is alleged to have had affairs with were routinely described as “ho’s” and “bitches.” One commenter stated:

“I GUESS WHITE AINT ALWAYS RIGHT IS IT TIGER. WOW THIS IS GREAT. I HAVE NOT LIKED TIGER WOODS EVER SINCE HE DENIED HE WAS BLACK SO I DON’T CARE WHAT HAPPENS TO HIS SELL OUT *****. I HOPE THERE ARE MORE WHITE HOES THAT COME OUT ON HIM”.

Whom Tiger chooses to engage in sex with should be a personal matter, but his celebrity and his racial identity have caused this to be about more than infidelity. The Black community is not interested in the actual infidelity as much as it is interested in Woods’ complex personal identification. Blackness is very much a disciplined identity with a complex set of behaviours that are necessary for inclusion. When Tiger Woods identified as something else, he broke one of the most sacred rules: Black solidarity at all costs.

He would have been forgiven for the White wife — many Black celebrities have been in interracial marriages — but not fully owning a Black identity is unforgivable for many who must still struggle with racism. Even though he is clearly bi-racial the “one drop rule” still applies in the case of men like Woods, whose Black genes are undeniable. Tiger’s marriage may or may not withstand his dalliances, but what is certain is that his reputation in the Black community has suffered yet another blow.

It is Official, Novak Djokovic & Andy Murray Are Clowns They Are Not Not Grand Slam Contenders!

Men’s tennis is so boring these days everything is so predictable. The media have the nerve to complain about women’s tennis but at least on the WTA Tour there is  a lot of depth.

For example, Francesca Schiavone won the French Open women’s title last month yet for most of her career she was just a journeywoman. The only excitement  I get is watching physically fit, hot,  sweaty,  men running around the tennis court in tight shorts.

I like looking at the muscular legs, cute faces, and the firm butts of the male tennis players.  On the tennis court, the ATP Tour is the Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal show.

For the past few years, the western media have hyped the young European players Andy Murray and Novak Djokovic

are mentally weak they just don’t have the aggressive games necessary to beat Federer and Nadal.

The truth is, Murray and Djokovic just don’t have the firepower or the mental toughness to beat Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in the grand slams. Murray and Djokovic are highly ranked, and they are consistent at the  regular ATP tennis events. However, Murray and Djokovic continue to capitulate in the grand slams. Murray and Djokovic are clowns they are pretenders and not grand slam contenders!

Today, Tomas Berdych of the Czech Republic blasted Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3 7-6 6-4 in straight sets in the Wimbledon semifinals. The second set tiebreaker was close and Djokovic had two set points but he failed to convert and the match was over.

In the second Wimbledon semifinal, Rafael Nadal of Spain easily defeated Andy Murray of Great Britain 6-4 7-6 6-4. I am tired of the excuses people make for Murray and Djokovic they don’t  have the huge serves, the belief, or the  big weapons, to challenge Federer and Nadal consistently in the majors.

There are only a few players I believe can challenge Federer and Nadal at the majors and they the big tall men.

I have noticed a pattern that Federer and Nadal hate playing the big men because they have the power to blast them off the court.

Robin Soderling is six foot four and he has a huge serve and monster groundstrokes.  I believe Soderling will win a grand slam,  he reached the French Open finals twice and he has beaten Federer and Nadal at the French Open .

Juan Martin Del Porto of Argentina is the only man on the ATP Tour to beat Federer and Nadal back to back to win a grand slam. Del Potro overpowered Federer and Nadal to win the 2009 US OPEN. It is unfortunate that Del Porto is off the tour due to a serious wrist injury. Del Potro beat Nadal three times in a row and Federer consecutively last year.

Andy Roddick is finished, the only way Roddick will ever win another grand slam is if Federer and Nadal lose early he will never beat them in a grand slam. Lleyton Hewitt is old and slow his time a contender is over.