Desperate Housewives star retracts claim that gay stereotypes are like blackface
Desperate Housewives star Tuc Watkins has retracted his claims that stereotypical gay characters are like blackface.
Mr Watkins – who previously played gay character Bob Hunter on Desperate Housewives – laid into Modern Family’s gay dads Mitch and Cam on Facebook last month.
He controversially claimed: “I have a hard time laughing at the gay guys. In fact, I kinda cringe. It feels a little bit like the gay equivalent of ‘blackface’.”
After actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson hit back at the controversial comments, Watkins has walked back his claim.
He said in a new post: “On December 19 I cried, ‘Blackface!’ I did it in a fit of exasperation over a stereotype that shook me when I was a kid that I saw alive and well today.
“Stereotypes create judgements. When those judgements lead to bullying…or worse…we’ve got a problem. I don’t hear a lot of bullying around the ‘cranky old man’, ‘neurotic wife’, or ‘bumbling husband’ demographic.
“What’s happening over at Modern Family is not blackface. Blackface is hateful. However, I do believe a stereotype is being perpetuated that can be harmful.
“This was my private Facebook page. I don’t know how many friends I had prior to December 19. Probably a couple/few hundred. I used Fb to try to be funny & show pictures of my kids to friends and family.
“I ain’t a hero. Nor am I a villan. I’m a guy with an opinion that comes from my gut and I want to change the world.
“Through the gay characters that I have played I have attempted to confuse the stereotype instead of perpetuate it.”
