GLSEN honors Shonda Rhimes, Sara Ramirez talks Calzona

not sure T. R.Knight would agree

http://www.shewired.com/article.cfm?id=23309 

You know what? I am over it. Period. Nothing will ever get me to invest any emotion into any gay story line anyone on Grey's Anatomy might conjure out of thin air. If they want my respect they will have to earn it and so far they damn well haven't.

They're not committing to the story line, Arizona's being used as an accessory instead of a lover and I'm done with the best-friend-with-offscreen-benefits crap. And let me not even get started on leaves!

No way this was deserved but it's slim pickings out there and even semi-neutral is better than everything else out there. I am, however, not buying it.  

Who you gonna be if you can't be yourself,
you can't get it from t.v., you can't force it on
anybody else.-- Ani Difranco

I love Sara Ramirez, I really, really do...but... 

I don't know what's sadder: that GLSEN would chose to recognize this show after TR Knight's departure and Brookegate...

...or the fact that there were probably few contenders for the award in the first place.

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Justice consists not in being neutral between right and wrong, but in finding out the right and upholding it, wherever found, against the wrong. - Theodore Roosevelt

Upset as I was about the car park of no return...I think Shonda listened to the outcry and knows us gays wont watch if she pulls the same crap twice...Im hopeful

and in todays lack of visibility...ya gotta appreciate the pickings (however slim) on offer.

If you have not found something you are willing to die for, you have not yet lived. - Dr Martin Luther King Jr.

Shonda Rhimes definitely did not deserve that reward.

She's constantly lying in interviews, twisting the truth to her liking depending on the situation.

The disrespectful way she canned Erica Hahn (and the ridiculous sex issues that preceded the fiasco), the forced and lousy execution of a lesbian romance between Callie and Arizona thereafter...

I think some people are just thrilled there are gay characters, period. They don't care how good (or in this case: bad) the writing is. At all.

Shonda getting an award from GLSEN... I thought I had read that wrong... I had to reread it again to believe it...

Either there were very few nominees to give the award to, or they have forgotten about Brookegate (I sure as hell haven't forgotten or forgiven Shonda for that).

I find it a strange choice. So far, we haven't really seen much "lesbianism" on the show. One or two kisses last season, and this season, no kisses at all yet and just some little touching last week...

so I don't really agree with their choice. For me Shonda doesn't deserve this award, I haven't seen anything "couply" yet between Callie and Arizona this season. Maybe she expects us to use or imagination or something. All the other couples kiss and touch, but for Callie and Arizona, it seems to be off-limits.

yeah...she did not deserve this award..

I mean, ok, they do have a lot of other stories and all, but the treatment gay people have been given when they're patients isn't at all the same.

I'm still hoping for calzona to have a relationship different than the ones I have with my friends..cause right now it has no difference, really...but, oh, well..

for now, let's just hope arizona doesn't get at all near that parking lot

here's hoping...

The positive inclusion of LGBT guest characters alone is better than most other shows.

Her show is the ONLY show on television right now to have a lesbian main character.

I realize people read the news/tabloids/blogs and know that the reason they got rid of her was partly because some people were hesitant about the same-sex storyline. But if you are just watching the show, what you see is a couple having a fight and breaking up. That happens all the time.

The easy thing to do after Hahn's departure, especially if they were worried about the gay storyline, would have been for Callie to return to men. She did not. Really, the Hahn blowup was more about female beauty ideals, which I agree needs serious work in Hollywood, but is not really about LGBT-specific issues.

Arizona and Callie didn't make out in last week's episode. That sucks. But I hardly think it counts as "not confirming it." They have used the word "girlfriend" at least twice. And look at the other couples - I don't actually recall ANY making out in last week's episode. The week before, it seemed more unnatural, but the park scene seemed totally natural to me. That's how I'd act with a girlfriend in the park at lunch.

Let's face it, there are tons of crazy storylines on shows that I don't like. Cristina/Owen for one has me scratching my head. We can't hold gay ones to a higher standard. 

I'd be terrified to put a gay storyline on a show if I were a writer/producer.  You make one tiny step the gay viewers don't like, and you get smashed as homophobic or something. Same thing happened with Willow/Tara. Best lesbian couple on TV possibly still, but so many people hate Joss Whedon for the way it ended.

Callie is bi. If and when this relationship ends (as it probably will, and that won't make it homophobic any more than the end of her relationship with George made it heterophobic), she might date a man. As far as I'm concerned, as long as she doesn't make any dumb statements like "whew, glad I'm over that silly phase" it's totally reasonable.

"Actually, GLSEN gave her the Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Award for her integration of LGBT characters, storylines and actors on her shows. "

Shonda Rhimes deserved the award-she did just that! Her characters are diverse, complex, and easily relatable. The end. 

I agree with BAS. ^ At least she has portrays LBGT characters, storylines, and actors on her shows. At least there is a lesbian relationship - one that seems likely to develop and floursh- on a major network during primetime. (I didn't really care for Dr. Hahn so I'm glad she disappeared into the parking lot last season.) Name another writer that does that. I think as a community that we are constantly over analyzing entertainment when we should just let it be. It's a tv show. Enjoy it or don't watch it. The nit-picking is starting to get really annoying. 

I don't watch a lot of TV, but the Callie/Arizona stuff this season has seemed fair (so far) considering where their relationship is and in comparison to the other couples on the show at that point in their relationship. Going back to last season, they've been together for what, several weeks?

Whatever went down with Brooke Smith, I'm convinced it was an off-screen issue that the writers were forced to work around quickly and at an unfortunately delicate point in the story line. Maybe it could have been handled better, but it also could have been a whole lot worse.

Grey's also has non-villainous LGBT patient/family characters from time to time, and I thought T.R. wanted to leave because he wasn't happy with what they were/weren't doing with his character. Maybe that was just the PR line...dunno.

If Shonda Rhimes doesn't deserve the "Commitment to Diversity and Inclusion Award," who does?

Sorry, but until the Callie and Arizona are shown in a three dimensional light, I really don't feel that this is honour is deserved.

We have seen all the other relationships experiencing physical intamacy, yet Callie and Arizona barely make eye contact when greeting each other.

All this show does is 'talk the talk', yet there is little to no 'walking the walk'...

wow people forget rather quickly, don't they? how long has it been since Dr. Hahn's character met an as yet undisclosed fate in a by now infamous parking lot?

Everyone was on a rampage when that happened, but by now it seems most people are forgetting that thanks to the introduction of the younger and hotter blonde lesbian Callie is now hooked up with. Exactly what the studio execs wanted in the first place and what we wanted to kill them for. I'm sure the actress that played Dr Hahn is ecstatic seeing this new and lauded Callie-relationship on screen. She lost her job cos she wasn't young, hot and sexy enough according to studio execs.

And for that the show and its creator get awards? Out of principle I couldn't get behind this show or the Calzona relationship anymore and I think gay media needs to remind us just exactly how this show treats ALL of its gay characters. Supposedly treating one relationship right doesn't make up for past mistakes! At least not in my opinion.

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I couldn't stand Erica. She was a completely unlikable bitch and I'm glad they got rid of her. I don't have to like a character just because she is a lesbian. If she is an ass in every other way then what incentive do I have to root for as a character. At least Arizona gets along with her fellow doctors and doesn't treat them like they are unworthy to be in her presence.

Everyone is focusing on their hatred of Calzone over Callica to at least acknowledge that Grey's has featured many gay storylines over the years that don't involve around Callie, Erica or Arizona. They have done really good jobs with their Gay patient stories. And Grey's is really one of the only shows that does do that. That's probably why Shonda got an award in the first place.

TV shows are sort of damned if they do and damned if they don't when it comes to gay representation. Nobody is ever happy. I can see why many of them stay away from gay characters completely. That's probably why we can count on one hand the number of lesbians on tv this season.

I completely agree!  Erica was NOT a likeable character.  Arizona and Callie are adoreable together.  Yes, at this point they do somewhat come off as "friends with off-screen benefits", (as someone else put it), but, this show was about Meredith, Izzie, George, Christine and Karev.  It is about those five, now four, residents.  All other characters are there to support them.  I think Shonda has done a damned fine job of bringing a lesbian character into the supporting cast.  

Lisa

I like Greys always have, still do. I don't care if they have gay characters or not. Its a tv show that I enjoy. Why are people bitching. The L Word got awards they didn't deserve, no one seemed to mind.

Tease - I also agree Erica was just not my cup of tea, I love Jessica in this role hated her on TLW. Guess thats called diversity too..

I love HBO shows. I'm starting to watch Six Feet Under because they're running it from the beginning, and I positively love what they do with David. He's such an interesting character, and it's great to see someone at such a different stage of life than myself go through all the same coming-out steps as I am.

As for Grey's, they rock. There've been terrible (TERRIBLE) times, but the Calzona thing is going to be great!

P.S. Kudos to HBO for having Sandra Oh guest star as a porn star in one of their season 1 episodes ;)

i know that the erica hahn situation was really awful..but i actually quite like callie and arizona together.

 i know they haven't had a major sex scene, but i think that's a good thing - it means that they are normalising the relationship without defining it as something that has to be purely sexual. i mean, in the last few episodes i've seen no mark/lexie sex scenes, no alex/izzie sex scenes & extremely brief meredith sex scenes, so why should they have to focus specifically on the lesbians?? i suppose i feel that if they make too big a deal out of calzona's physical relationship, then it would just seem as though they're pulling a ratings stunt. whereas this way it feels more natural.

so in answer to the question - i'm not sure that she deserved an AWARD, but i do think that she's done a good job so far of portraying a healthy, supportive & natural lesbian relationship on television which has actually lasted for quite a while, and sounds as though it's going to go the distance :)

don't actually know if any of that made sense - bit of a stream of consciousness going on

Well...I'm undecided. First thing that pops up into my head is the fact that even though the Erica storyline was obviously handled wrong in the end, for it to even begin in the first place Shonda either had to come up with it, or sign off on it. The reasons behind the sudden cut was probably a complete result of pressure on her from abc...who is pretty much in charge of everything she can or cannot do, so I don't blame her for the cut--either she does what they say, or she pays a price, and probably a hefty one. Actually...she doesn't really have a choice haha...hmm. It's true though that there has been many LGBT storylines, so technically she should get the award, because that is true, and the representation has not been negative. I guess, I'm not undecided...I think she deserved it, and though I do wish Callie and Arizona had more screen time, I cannot base all of her LGBT work on Callie's relationships alone. As for the T. R. Knight article...well, being the creator of a television show comes with a lot of pressure, and sadly having an openly gay actor/actress on the show is sometimes a risk--just the way it is. Hopefully, she'll continue to do what she does...and she'll do it even better (crossing my fingers)

The sky should always be this blue...

Okay, I liked Hahn. Sorry, but I did. I felt like there was a lot more to her character than what they gave us. She was a lot more than met the eye in my opinion, and there's a reason why she was the way she was. Wasted storyline potential there, but I digress. 

Do I think Shonda deserves the award? Based on the criterion, which was an integration of LGBT characters, storylines, and actors on her shows, yeah, I guess so. I mean, there was a transgender story line, there was the gay military couple, a lesbian couple, Joe the bartender, the whole Callie/Erica/Arizona fiasco. That's a lot of gayness. 

Now that doesn't mean I support other things that Shonda has done, ie Brookegate and the parking lot of no return and the way she handled TR's situation. But at least she's representing us. That's a lot more than compared to other shows and networks.  

Gay patient stories are fine but they allow the show to feature homos as backdrop without really taking a lot of risk.

I find the storyline here really poorly written and not believable. This is sad to me. If only the ladies on Mad Men would hook up...

Okay, here's the deal.  We all remember the Erica Hahn disaster, and all agree it was bullshit.  I even boycotted the show for the rest of that season.

Only to discover when I started showing interest again, that I was actually missing out on a really great lesbian character.

No, we haven't seen much physical affection between Callie and Arizona, but to be fair, we haven't been seeing all THAT much heterosexual affection, either.  Yes, Derek and Meredith have been having sex constantly, but we haven't had to see it, and I remember only once recently when there was gratuitous making out between Cristina and Owen, and that was actually part of a storyline (as annoying as it may be).

The fact is, these two are still getting to know each other.  Every week, I feel as though I find out something new and wonderful about Arizona, and I'm glad they're taking the time to make her her own person, rather than just bringing in a new character for the sole purpose of being a lesbian and having a relationship.  There's more to her than that, and I have to commend Grey's for what appears to be a character on her way to fullness.

So they've made a few mistakes.  This is hardly the only one.  Izzie was having ghost-sex with Denny for how long?  They actually tried to make George and Izzie a real couple?  Cristina and Owen... (need I say more)?  Yet, heterosexual viewers forgive them for those bullshit storylines.  I think Shonda deserves the benefit of the doubt here.

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