We're Here! We're Queer! Pander to us!

Darlings, The New York Observer has a little article out examining the Lifetime move and what it means when the network that proclaims itself "Television for Women" takes over a show with a huge gay audience. Because they are wise, they turned to a loudmouthed expert:

"But nearly everyone else, it seemed, was not thrilled. The network better known for showing Golden Girls reruns and made-for-TV movies that usually involved some combination of a woman being stalked, a serial killer and/or a cheating/abusive husband was, not to put too fine a point on it, simply too Middle America for Project Runway fans.

“The thing that concerns us is that they talk about the show in terms of it being a women’s show,” said Tom Fitzgerald, 41, one-half of the blogging team behind the popular Project Rungay blog, which obsessively chronicles every episode as well as any and all behind-the-scenes gossip. “And we’re living proof that that’s not entirely the case. It has a very large gay viewership. It has a very large straight viewership that likes the fact that it’s an urban, intelligent, creative reality show. Our hope is that they don’t forget that.”

And we still hope that. Writer Doree Shafrir (shoutout, girl!) does a good job of laying out the case that Lifetime is in the middle of a rebranding strategy and that they already HAVE gay programming in the form of Carson Kressley's How to Look Good Naked. Respectfully, we have to disagree on the latter. How to Look Good Naked is COMPLETELY a woman's show. That it has a flamboyant gay host doesn't really negate that. We love a good makeover show as much as the next gays, but Kressley's show is built entirely around making woman with body issues feel better about themselves. There's nothing wrong with that but it's not about to make us give up our Stacey and Clinton, who, while only 50% homosexual, nonetheless make for a VERY gay viewing experience.

And then there's this:

“We would love for them to watch [Project Runway ] on Lifetime, too!” said Meredith Wagner, Lifetime’s executive vice president of public affairs and corporate communications. “Our door is open. As I said, we’re inclusive. And we want them. We hope they’ll come! The show’s not going to change.” That being said, it’s hard not to feel like gay men are being treated like fag hags—they’re an accessory in the new Lifetime, around for camp value and being able to tell you if your butt looks big, but with no programming revolving around them.

“We really love women,” said Ms. Wagner. “And we care about women. We put them first.”

Hey, we love women too. It's just that we're getting a distinct "Oh, you gays can sit over here and watch" vibe from that last quote. We hope we're wrong on that.