Just Justin.With disappointment and a bit of disgust I read your article about the Justin Suarez Justin Suarez is a fictional character on the American comedy-drama series Ugly Betty. He is portrayed by actor Mark Indelicato. Background Justin lives with his mother Hilda, Aunt Betty, and his grandfather. character on Ugly Betty Ugly Betty is an Emmy-winning[1] American television comedy-drama series starring America Ferrera, Eric Mabius, Rebecca Romijn and Vanessa Williams. The series premiered on September 28, 2006, on ABC in the United States and on Citytv in Canada. ["Betty's Family Secret?" November 21]. As your magazine has become somewhat fixated fix·ate v. fix·at·ed, fix·at·ing, fix·ates v.tr. 1. To make fixed, stable, or stationary. 2. To focus one's eyes or attention on: fixate a faint object. on "straight-acting" gay men, it's bizarre that you think it necessary to force the classification of a flamboyant 12-year-old as gay. In retrospect I knew that I was gay from the first moment I had any sexual identity; however, at 121 couldn't have identified it and would have been mortified mor·ti·fy v. mor·ti·fied, mor·ti·fy·ing, mor·ti·fies v.tr. 1. To cause to experience shame, humiliation, or wounded pride; humiliate. 2. if someone had tried to get me to define it. That is not a comment on society's acceptance as much as it is on the fact that children are just learning who they are at that age. One of the more interesting aspects of the show is that no one is quite what they appear to be. People (and certainly fictional characters) become much less interesting when they are rigidly defined. The show obviously has no issue with homosexuality, so back off and embrace this refreshing character for whatever he turns out to be. JIMMY MURPHY Mur·phy , William Parry 1892-1987. American physician. He shared a 1934 Nobel Prize for discovering that a diet of liver relieves anemia. New Orleans, La. While I was happy to read about ABC's wonderful Ugly Betty in your magazine, focusing on the "is he or isn't he" nature of Betty's younger nephew, Justin, does a disservice to fans of the series and Michael Indelicato, the talented actor who plays him. Rather than giving us any useful information about the character or the amazing Indelicato, we get a ridiculous rant from no-name Web head Michael Jensen. Was Perez Hilton not available to provide inane commentary? According to Jensen, ABC ABC in full American Broadcasting Co. Major U.S. television network. It began when the expanding national radio network NBC split into the separate Red and Blue networks in 1928. is somehow doing a bad thing by refusing to put a label on Justin's sexual identity. Huh? We are talking about a character who is 12 years old! Though I firmly believe sexual orientation sexual orientation n. The direction of one's sexual interest toward members of the same, opposite, or both sexes, especially a direction seen to be dictated by physiologic rather than sociologic forces. is genetic, when I was Justin's age I had no idea what my first sexual feelings sexual feelings A constellation of psychological sentiments that constitute desire for sexual satisfaction or release of sexual tension meant. Sure, looking back it all adds up to "gay," but that comes with the perspective gained from actually having lived through puberty and adolescence. The Advocate would be wise to provide at least some critical context when deciding to give loons like Jensen a platform to vent. To insist that the mannerisms of a 12-year-old be explicitly identified as gay or straight is ridiculous. It's also wrong to claim ABC is "playing games with viewers" or communicating that being gay is "wrong or shameful," as Jensen asserts. I think it's high time we move away from a quota mentality and step obsessing about the quantity of gay characters in prime time. Instead, why not praise the networks for the unprecedented quality of the 2006 season? RON HEBSHIE Los Angeles, Calif. |
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