TVSquad

As a former male dancer, I understand Nigel's point about the male and female roles in partner dancing. And Mary's confusion in figuring out how to judge Misha Belfer and Mitchel Kibel, two guys who partnered on a samba. The roles of each partner are very clearly defined in that form of dance, and they are traditionally gender specific. What didn't work out as well was Nigel's pithy little jokes. He went the easy route saying things like the boys "might actually like it" about dancing with girls, even though they've done so in the past.

What you have to consider is he followed that up by telling a contestant who performed in a bizarre lion costume with lightsabers that she was clearly from a different planet. So I think it's more a matter of poorly considered attempts at humor than that Nigel Lythgoe is a homophobe, as he's being accused now by GLAAD. He attempts to spice up the show and make it entertaining with his little comments. We all say stupid and insensitive things that we don't mean from time to time. Maybe it needed to be edited out before broadcast.

Now Nigel's not helping matters by Tweeting "I'm not a fan of Brokeback ballroom" as a further clarification of his stance. Yes, he's just talking about the fact that ballroom is a traditional form of dance that is done with a man and a woman in well-defined masculine and feminine roles. It would be like having a man compete in Miss America. It's a feminine role that doesn't work the same way when a man does it. It would have to be a different pageant with men, and two men dancing ballroom has to be a different form of dance than what we see now.

Nigel has been consistent in wanting men to dance in a masculine way and he's been pretty consistent about not caring if someone is gay, as long as they dance in that defined masculine way. It may be a narrow-minded way to look at an ever evolving form of expression like dance, but I don't think it is homophobia, as GLAAD President Neil G. Giuliano is now accusing him of. He's demanding an apology from everyone involved in the show and Fox.

I think it would be hard to be a homophobe and surround yourself in the world of dance. Certainly you have to expect that you're going to encounter gay dancers at a higher rate than say professional football players. After all, you do have to be comfortable in your body and at least in touch with your feminine side to effectively embrace all the varieties of dance. Plus, you have to deal with a great deal of ridicule from the truly homophobic among us. I don't think Nigel is a homophobe, I just think he's a bit insensitive about the issue and a bit of a putz.