ABC’s The Bachelorette has been getting mileage out of a bromance between contestants Clint Alris and JJ Lane teasing viewers with the possibility that the bromance has crossed into Brokeback Mountain territory. In one confessional Clint declares more than admiration for JJ saying that they, “have grown very close to each other in the shower.”
The show has taken the bromance and run with it. While Clint seemed less than happy with the promos for the television show and tweeted an apology with an E! promo apologizing to his father over his fake coming out:
That angered one Twitter fan who responded by saying, “@ClintonArlis Homosexuality is not something to apologize for.”
In another Tweet Clint writes:
He goes on to include this one:
Is he saying he’s transgender? Really?
At a time when the country is facing controversy over same-sex marriage and religious freedom laws are being created to discriminate against the LGBT community it seems rather odd that a network would allow a storyline that seemingly mocks coming out and/or transitioning and then jokingly apologizes.
Statistics show that suicide is an alarming reality in the LGBT and even Olympic Decathlon Gold Medal winner, Bruce Jenner, admitted in his now famous interview with Diane Sawyer that he had considered killing himself rather than face the ridicule and lack of understanding over his desire to transition. With so much known about coming out often being a traumatic thing The Bachelorette Brokeback jokes are ignoring the pain that many in the community face, especially when families are not supportive.
Clint had the opportunity to recognize this and to apologize for being insensitive but instead sent out a Tweet in response blindly ignoring the original concern, that being homosexual is not something to apologize for. In an attempt to deflect the criticism, he responded that he was apologizing for “stealing his vest out of his closet w/o asking. Okay?” But it was not ok and when called out on it, Clint still did not apologize but instead continued his claim that he was not apologizing for coming out.
Since it is most likely that Clint doesn’t have his own team of PR people to do some crisis control, it is safe to say that this will not be the last we hear from the Bachelorette contestant.
The Bachelor and Bachelorette franchise seem to have enough success with spin-off shows and contestants all vying to be the next couple that gets engaged and doesn’t make it to the altar. Isn’t that enough drama for show producers and ABC without mocking a community that is fighting for their own right to be treated equally? Shame on ABC and The Bachelorette for dragging out a storyline that mocks all in the LGBT community.
