incredibly sensitive, and it was an important character. >> i mean you hate me because i'm gay, right? >> well -- >> i guess if you need a reason, that's a good one. >> burt, it's a terrible reason. i mean look at me. i'm a person. >> i do think that people watching that character thought for the first time about the possibility of gay men being real people. >> you don't look gay. >> i'm still me. >> that said, that show kind of didn't know what it was doing. >> now when i'm finally used to you being a -- >> homosexual. >> -- you're going to get a sex change operation and be a girl? >> i think that the use of stereotypical characters like jody in "soap" is a double-edged sword. it creates a sense of what is funny about me is that i am diluted and that i should, you know, sort of glom back onto society.