Gay Activist Wants Isaiah Hired Back, Points Out "Disturbing Trend at ABC"
Isaiah Washington by Karen Neal/ABC
Jasmyne Cannick, a gay and lesbian activist who worked with
Isaiah Washington on the Pan African Arts Festival, has authored a petition to get the actor hired back onto
Grey's Anatomy, saying that his axing has an air of racism. The decision to drop Washington "further adds to a disturbing new trend at ABC wherein minority actors have been dismissed at an alarming rate over the past two years," says the petition, citing
Star Jones (formerly of
The View),
Harold Perrineau (
Lost) and
Housewives' trifecta of
Alfre Woodard/
Mehcad Brooks/
Page Kennedy as examples. "One must ask themselves, 'What is going on?'"
What's more, Cannick argues to the
New York Post, "Isaiah has done more for the gay and lesbian community than
T.R. Knight did in or out of the closet. He did what they asked him to do [apologize and star in a PSA], and now they want to make sure he will never work again. At what point is enough enough?"
POLL: Should ABC reconsider firing Isaiah?
Vote here (bottom right).
