Well, fuck.

So the top executives at ABC went over the heads of Shonda Rimes and the other lead writers on Grey’s Anatomy and fired Brooke Smith because her character was a lesbian. More specifically they fired her because of the “explicit direction in which her character’s lesbian relationship was heading.” Anyone who watches Grey’s Anatomy knows that quick kisses are not anywhere near explicit on this show. Grey’s Anatomy is a show about sex. Sure, it takes place in a hospital and there are those pesky medical cases that the doctors deal with in each episode, but Grey’s Anatomy is about sex. It’s about which character is going to screw what other character this week. Or what other characters for that matter. Grey’s has shown some of the most racy sex scenes with its straight characters that I have seen in a nine o’clock time slot on regular TV. So clearly this “explicit” line that the execs at ABC are feeding public is complete bullshit. Grey’s has had a few gay (and even one transgender) characters on the show before. But with the exception of Joe the bartender, their story arcs have stretched only one episode a piece. I believe that ABC fired Brooke Smith because of the longevity her character had on the show. Her character, Erica Hahn’s, relationship would have reinforced on a weekly basis that gay women (and men) can be brilliant, kind, successful individuals. And it was for that, for reinforcing a positive notion that could help to move our society forward, that Brooke Smith was fired. The executives at ABC who made this decision should be ashamed of themselves. It is my opinion that they should feel personally responsible every time any gay man or woman is degraded, every time any gay man or woman is made to think that they are worth less, and especially every time that any gay man or woman is silenced. Grey’s is one of the most watched shows on primetime TV. It has been our theory in the gay community that straight individuals cannot understand what they do not see and that they cannot accept what they do not understand. The writers at Grey’s Anatomy decided to put a lesbian relationship at the heart of the 5th season of their show. For this they should be commended. They reached homes across America and depicted a lesbian relationship in a positive light. As a result, the show is now deprived of one of its most talented actresses. Brooke Smith was punished for choosing to go where few actresses have before. In the future, actresses and actors may think about the very possible negative effects that playing a gay character may have on their career. Brooke Smith and the writers at Grey’s were silence. I will not be. Not in the shows I choose to support or in the way I live my life. I just wrote two emails, one to the executives at ABC, berating them for their poor decision. The second email I sent to the writers at Grey’s thanking them for their inclusion of the storyline, despite the unfortunate end it will soon abruptly meet.

“When I was a kid, I would get these headaches and I went to the doctor and they said that I needed glasses. I didn't understand that. It didn't make sense to me because I could see fine and then I get the glasses and I put them on and I'm in the car on the way home and suddenly… I yelled. Because the big green blobs that I'd been staring at my whole life… they weren't big green blobs… they were leaves! On trees! I could see the leaves! And I didn't even know I was missing the leaves, I didn't even know that the leaves existed and then… leaves! You, Callie, you are glasses.” –Dr. Erica Hahn