Sara Ramirez is taking aim at ABC after allowing a joke about bisexuals into a recent episode of “The Real O’Neals.”
A Jan. 17 episode of the show featured Noah Galvin’s character Kenny, who’s openly gay, comparing bisexuality to having “webbed toes” or “money problems.”
“Dear @ABCNetwork @TheRealONeals: own it, address it, clarify it, empower our #Queer #Bisexual youth & community w/accurate positive reflections,” the “Grey’s Anatomy” alum tweeted Thursday afternoon.
“As someone who worked 4 them 4 10 years+, am truly disheartened & disappointed quite frankly. I will invest my brand where I’m respected.”
Ramirez, who came out as bisexual in October, also linked to a Change.org petition calling for the end of “biphobia and bi-erasure on ‘The Real O’Neals.’ ”
“The show already pretended we didn’t exist and fed into other negative stereotypes such as The Slutty Bisexual, when Gloria, who in the episode before was revealed as bisexual, slept with someone after getting tired of waiting for a date with Kenny’s dad,” Ewen Cameron wrote in the petition.
“I was willing to overlook the other things, but this “joke” has crossed the line saying bisexual teens like me are worse than genetic abnormalities and financial problems! “Jokes” like this increase the ridiculous amount of biphobia we experience in our lives and I am calling on the American Broadcasting Company to step in and change this!”
The Jan. 17 episode featured Kenny (Galvin) announcing to his family that he has a boyfriend (“Spring Awakening” star Sean Grandillo).
PFLAG, an LGBTQ advocacy group, partnered with “The Real O’Neals” on the episode and released a statement after the controversial remarks.
“We were so focused on the family acceptance portion of the episode that we completely missed the joke. We were really proud on partnering on the episode. It blew by as a teen looking for acceptance from his family,” Liz Owen, the director of communications, said.
“In hindsight, we should have caught it and we blew it. We should have done better and we will definitely do better next time. As allies we have a responsibility to own it when we mess up.”
Galvin addressed the jokes after the episode aired, saying he “respects and loves the bi community.”
“I’m sorry if we offended anyone,” he tweeted. “I hope you know our show fights for visibility and inclusivity and we will do better in the future. BUT, we also have to remember, it’s a comedy.”
The 22-year-old actor had previously made controversial comments after calling Eric Stonestreet’s “Modern Family” character a “caricature of a caricature” and Colton Haynes’ coming out “f—ing p—y bulls–t.”
ABC did not return a request for comment.
