See Also: Marc Cherry (Creator) People Guide

While attending the gay and lesbian film festival Outfest 2005 recently, Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry received both good and bad feedback about the characters of the show.

Ed Vitagliano, speaking for the American Family Association, condemned the show's "pervasive" and "misguided" sexuality, reported Yahoo! News. "The problem we have with programs that exploit sexuality of any variety—bisexual, heterosexual, homosexual, is simply that they are substituting sex for legitimate relationships," he told the AP. "We would have a problem with homosexuality as well as adultery. These are all signs of human brokenness." However Cherry hit back, saying that his show has a moral code.

Cherry pointed out that after Gabrielle Solis had an affair, and Susan Mayer found out, "It wasn't 'I understand' it was 'What the hell are you doing cheating on your husband?'" Cherry said. He also said he believes that many shows don't have those morals. "There's a lot of soap operas that never have someone take the high moral ground, go, 'This is wrong, this is adultery.'"

The show's portrayal of gay people also drew some fire. "Almost all of the portrayals of gay people are on the negative side," said gay novelist Josh Aterovis. One example he cited was Andrew, who as well as exploring homosexuality killed a woman and showed no remorse. But Cherry said there was no intention to carry a message about gay people. "My obligation, first and foremost, is to entertain," Cherry said. "If the stories I do have some kind of emotional resonance for the viewers or perhaps some social significance, that's great. But I don't start with that. I don't start with an agenda."

Cherry also revealed that the show would likely gain a lesbian character in the future.

The full article can be found over at Yahoo! News.

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