| GLAAD CONDEMNS NIURKA MARCOS' IGNORANT ANTI-GAY COMMENTS Los Angeles, CA, Tuesday, July 10, 2007 – The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) today condemned novela actress Niurka Marcos' use of defamatory anti-gay comments during interviews aired last week on Univision, Televisa, Telefutura, Telemundo and Azteca América.
Marcos' ex-husband, Bobby Larios, is starring in "Descarados" (Shameless), a play in which Larios will portray "Lejo," a gay man who struggles with his sexual orientation before finally coming out to his friends. In interviews, Marcos called Larios’ sexuality into question simply because he’s playing a gay character. "I believe the times I lived with him he wasn't gay," Marcos said of Larios on Televisa's "La Oreja," a celebrity gossip show, on July 4. "I don't know what he did with his body, his soul, his feelings. At that time when I left him, he was normal."
Marcos also denigrated Larios during a paparazzi-like press moment that was broadcast July 5 on Univision’s “El Gordo y la Flaca,” Telefutura’s “Escándalo TV,” Azteca América's "Ventaneando" and Telemundo’s “Cotorreando.” She said that Larios would have to "clean up his image" in the wake of publicity photos for "Descarados" featuring Larios and former music group MDO member Clover.
“I would never put my sexual orientation into question just to promote a play,” Marcos said. "He’s going to have to clean up his image at least for three months.”
"When Niurka Marcos makes these kinds of offensive comments in the media, it creates a permissive environment for other actors and performers, not to mention millions of viewers, to demean lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people," said Mónica Taher, GLAAD's People of Color Media Strategy Director. Straight actors playing gay roles is something we see every day. The idea of questioning an actor's sexual orientation because he's portraying a gay character is simply ridiculous."
GLAAD is contacting Marcos’ representative today to discuss this issue. "We want Marcos to stop making such uninformed, offensive comments," Taher said. "Additionally, media must accept its responsibility to stop rewarding such ignorance with uncritical coverage."
Marcos played “Paula María Conde” on Univision/Televisa's hit novela "La Fea Más Bella," which also featured a sensationalistic gay character, played by actor Sergio Mayer.
To read Marcos's defamatory comments, visit:
People en Español
http://www.peopleenespanol.com/pespanol/articles/0,22490,1640242,00.html
La Oreja
http://www.esmas.com/laoreja/noticias/642135.html
About GLAAD
The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) is dedicated to promoting and ensuring fair, accurate and inclusive representation of people and events in the media as a means of eliminating homophobia and discrimination based on gender identity and sexual orientation. For more information, please visit www.glaad.org. ### |
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