(For the record: My own opinions on gay marriage are fairly liberal, in part because of my own personal experiences with committed homosexual couples, and also because I see homosexuals who want to marry as potential allies in the fight against the divorce rate in this nation. As long as we don’t let homosexual couples sue to force conservative priests/reverends/pastors marry them, I’ve got no serious issue with it.)

I keep hearing criticisms of Studio 60 that claim that Aaron Sorkin uses it as a way to attack people he thinks have wronged him in some way. Sarah Paulson’s character, Harriet Hayes, for example, is supposed to be a stand-in for Kristen Chenowith, an ex-girlfriend of Sorkin’s.

Harriet recently gave an interview to some magazine where she said the Bible is opposed to homosexuality, but it also says “judge not, lest ye be judged”, so she said that smarter minds than hers would have to take up the issue of gay marriage. The quote was cut off, making it sound like Harriet was opposed to gay marriage, so she’s suddenly found herself with a lot of angry fans who’re decrying her as intolerant. The network president is, understandably, concerned, not only for ratings, but for Harriet’s career, and has asked her not to appear in public with Women United Through Faith, a group that is, among other things, opposed to gay marriage.

All of those reactions are likely in real life. Here’s the thing, though. What Harriet did is not, in and of itself, a bad thing. It’s not gay bashing to voice an opinion that you think that allowing homosexuals to marry may not be the best thing for society — and that’s not even what Harriet said. So, when the people on the other side of the issue (presumably, the side of the issue that Sorkin himself is on) act like idiots (and between the “gay street toughs” practically attacking her on the street, and Matt’s utter refusal to accept that she was acting as anything but a homophobe, they were acting like idiots), I find it hard to believe that he’s using this show as a mouthpiece, because he’s really making a good case for the other side.