According to the NBC publicity department and actor Thomas Dekker's management (Dekker plays Zach), the character of Zach is absolutely, positively straight.

For those that have followed the show closely and taken even a cursory look at NBC's marketing efforts around the show (which have repeatedly insinuated, implied and led most viewers to believe that the character is gay), this is interesting?and troubling?news.

What does it mean when a network's website portrays a character as gay, and yet the publicity department suddenly claims that he isn't? Or when the series creator and writer are quoted in an interview conducted before the show premieres that the character is, indeed, supposed to be gay? That's not even factoring in all the loaded dialogue and the character's gay-friendly Myspace page (how many straight teens love Priscilla: Queen of the Desert, Velvet Goldmine, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch?). Is it possible for a character's very sexuality to be mis-marketed? Or is there a different, more disturbing situation occurring?

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As for NBC, the network wasn't able to explain exactly how Zach got ?gayed? in the promotional materials, but they suggest that it's all some kind of miscommunication. However, in the entertainment industry, where shows, careers, and breakout phenomena are based on a myriad of interlocking, carefully-thought out parts, ?miscommunication? can mean anything from a genuine ?mistake? to ?change of mind.?

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A few things are clear, and can be backed up by evidence from interviews with the show's creators and in the show's official publicity materials: Zach was conceived as a gay character, he was developed as a gay character, and as of the November 20th ?Homecoming? episode, he was a gay character. And yet a decision was made by someone ? be it studio execs, talent management, or otherwise ? to ?straighten him out?. To get a better idea of how the character of Zach ? or perhaps more importantly, public perception of Zach ? has changed over the last few months, let's pull a Hiro Nakamura and jump back in time?

...Whatever the reason?NBC's anxiety over portraying an out gay teen or fear about the impact of the role on Dekker's future?the manner in which the sexuality of Zach character has been handled both on the show and in the publicity materials is insensitive at best, exploitative at worst. Viewers are used to losing beloved characters to the villains on these shows ? it's part of their drama.

But it's a shame that helping a gay teen character hold on to his sexuality was apparently one feat that these Heroes couldn't manage.