Contents:
- NEARLY TWO S LATER, 'DAWSON'S CREEK' ACTOR REFLECTS ON HISTORIC GAY KISS
- DAWSON'S CREEK: INSI THE GROUNDBREAKG CISN TO HAVE JACK E OUT AS GAY
- TV’S HISTORIC GAY KISS: FROM ‘DAWSON’S CREEK’ TO ‘THE FOSTERS’
NEARLY TWO S LATER, 'DAWSON'S CREEK' ACTOR REFLECTS ON HISTORIC GAY KISS
But bis troducg viewers to an arguably excciatg ma character, the WB show also gave viewers one of the most inic moments televisn history back 2000: primetime TV’s first “passnate” gay 20 years later, Kerr Smh, who played Jack McPhee on the teen drama, reflected on the impact of that kiss an terview wh Too Fab. The storyle ends heartbreak — Ethan has got back together wh his ex-boyiend and don’t reciprote Jack’s feelgs — but history was ma “Dawson’s Creek, ” Will and Jack kissed on NBC’s “Will and Grace” to prott the fact that they had never seen two gay men kiss on televisn, and a few other shows, cludg “LA Law” and “Relativy” featured two women kissg.
In the 1996 “Friends” episo “The One Wh the Lbian Weddg, ” for stance, the seri did not show San and Carol kissg at their own weddg a rult, McPhee said he felt a “huge” rponsibily to play Jack thentilly after Kev Williamson, the creator of “Dawson’s Creek, ” approached him wh the storyl of Jack’s g out and the Jack dated Joey (Katie Holm) earlier episos, Smh said Williamson “always had the tentn of makg one of his characters gay. ”“He was still the closet at that pot too, and every character 'Dawson's Creek' is an extensn of Kev Williamson, " Smh told Too Berlanti, the openly gay wrer, producer and director behd hs, such as “Chillg Adventur of Sabra” and “You, ” mostly wrote Jack’s character arc, acrdg to Smh. “Riverdale” also clus a gay character, Kev (Casey Cott), whom Smh likened to Jack on “Dawson’s Creek.
” Kev, too, ma history as the first openly gay character Archie Comics to LGBTQ televisn reprentatn, however, there’s still room for improvement, acrdg to LGBTQ advot. In 2000, actor Kerr Smh ma history when his Dawson's Creek character, Jack McPhee, was a part of TV's first gay kiss. Lamb (Amanda Donohoe) and Abby Perks (Michelle Greene), but spe gay weddgs on Roseanne and Goln Girls, no gay male characters had been allowed to share a snog."It was an tense experience, and I remember llg everybody I rpected and said, 'Hey should I do this?'" he rells.
DAWSON'S CREEK: INSI THE GROUNDBREAKG CISN TO HAVE JACK E OUT AS GAY
Smh matas he's "glad" thatDawson's Creek "did " and that the moment "was a part of history."Although Jack was briefly paired a love tert for Joey (Katie Holm), Smh also says that Williamson "always had the tentn of makg one of his characters gay" and that the specific storyle was mostly wrten by Greg Berlanti of Riverdale. Both Williamson and Berlanti are gay.While Smh says 's great to see how much the dtry has evolved sce then, he overtimat jt how clive TV is today.
"There's always a gay storyle, a lbian storyle, or whatever."That's not exactly rrect. The numbers are better on ble and streamg platforms, but still LGBTQ+ characters only make up a actn of overall characters on those shows.While some studi show that the percentage of LGBTQ+ Amerins is lower, a 2017 GLAAD survey found that around 12 percent of Amerins intify as LGBTQ+ and others say that the untry is gettg queerer wh each generatn.Smh's big Hollywood romance certaly opened doors and paved the way for LGBTQ+ reprentatn on screen, but the work is far om done yet.RELATED |35 Unfettable Gay TV Kiss Then & Now.
The out producer, creator, director, and wrer -- who is also married to soccer player Robbie Rogers -- spoke about brgg what has been referred to as the first "passnate" gay kiss on a work show Dawson's Creek. Law between characters Amanda Donohoe (a bisexual) and Abby Perks (a straight woman) as well as a 1994 episo of Roseanne, where Roseanne Barr go to a gay bar and is kissed by the character Nancy (played by Mariel Hemgway).
TV’S HISTORIC GAY KISS: FROM ‘DAWSON’S CREEK’ TO ‘THE FOSTERS’
Berlanti also touch on the necsy for more "g out" stori, why he has never helmed a "gay-centric" seri, the character he wrote that most closely mirrors him, and rporatg LGBTQ+ characters on The CW's DC Comics shows (often llaboratn wh gay stg director David Rappaport). One of the most important storyl vered by Dawson’s Creek was the season 2 cisn to have Jack (Kerr Smh) reveal he was gay. Asi om Rickie on 1994’s My So-Called Life, there hadn’t been an out gay teen on a major work seri before.
I had jt, my 20s, gone through the g-out procs and had told my parents I was gay.