'American Gods' Resists "Hetwashing"

When showrunner Bryan Fuller took to the Orpheum Theatre stage for Outfest on July 6, he not only accepted the Achievement Award, but also mainstreamed a key LGBT term. Fuller, riding high off the success of Starz's American Gods, detailed the instances in his career when would-be gay characters were "hetwashed," or changed from homo- to heterosexual.

"You can hashtag that," said Fuller, who accepted his award following tributes from Zachary Quinto and Kristin Chenoweth. "I had a brief stint on Heroes where the gay character was 'hetwashed' after the actor's management threatened to pull him from the show if he — the character, not the actor — were gay. The character became straight and the actor came out as gay." (He was referring to Thomas Dekker, who hasn't said he's gay. He confirmed complications surrounding his character's sexuality in a lengthy blog post and later told Out magazine that he was open to relationships with men and women.)

Read the rest of this article at The Hollywood Reporter.

Bryan Fuller has also produced Hannibal and Pushing Daisies.