Gay characters on Atralian TV: why are there so few? | — Atralia’s leadg news se

Contents:

• WHERE ARE ALL THE GAY CHARACTERS ON ASIE TV? IS TE ‘GAY DON’T RATE’? FOUR SIRS WEIGH
• THE TV SHOW THAT'S MAYBE 'TOO GAY' FOR ATRALIA—BUT PERFECT FOR AMERI

WHERE ARE ALL THE GAY CHARACTERS ON ASIE TV? IS TE ‘GAY DON’T RATE’? FOUR SIRS WEIGH

AUSTRALIAN televisn broke remarkable new ground 1972 by layg claim to the world’s first homosexual character a drama Sale was rponsible for creatg the boundary phg Number 96, about a un block filled wh an array of lourful rints, cludg the openly gay Don Flayson. “And at a time when homosexualy was illegal, ” Sale sce then, there’s been only a handful of meangful exampl of gays and lbians on the small screen.

Four gay and lbian creativ Atralian TV share their personal and profsnal WALKER - WRITERWHEN veteran TV wrer and script producer Sarah Walker was told that no one wanted to see gay people on the small screen prime time, she was jt as a lbian, but as a voted storyteller who believ the power of characters who reflect Atralia’s diverse was workg on a mastream drama when she wrote a same-sex relatnship to the script. When aired, a storm of ntroversy epted and “everyone at the work eaked out” the aftermath, the wrers were told that there was never to be another gay storyle the show.

THE TV SHOW THAT'S MAYBE 'TOO GAY' FOR ATRALIA—BUT PERFECT FOR AMERI

”Although she pots out the long-nng soap Neighbours has had several gay characters recent are some tricky logistics havg gay characters, she explas. If you take two of your prec st and make them gay, you’ve got two girls or two guys on the other si who now don’t have anyone to partner up wh. “Take Wentworth, where there are so many different, plex and multi-layered characters — gay, straight, transgenr, dark antihero, challengg villas, a b of light and sha, ” Wilkson says.

“The only time I n remember seeg a homosexual man on TV was terrible Brish ss, and they were ridiculoly over-the-top effemate or somethg. “It hasn’t sred viewers away, ” Lus challenge now is to enurage even more clive storytellg that don’t feel staged or then, gay wrers like Lus will ntue lendg their own experienc to straight characters’ romantic antics. Programs like The Block, which featured a gay uple s but seri, and Atralian Idol, which ma drag queen Courtney Act a hoehold name, set the benchmark for bold, brave stg more than a ago.

”Ayr, a shownner, director and producer rponsible for shows like The Slap, Glch and Devil’s Playground, has never shied away om cludg gay characters his work when there’s spe.

”He ma a film about his childhood and his mother — The Home Song Stori, which was released 2007 to cril the fal years of school, Ayr wound up livg wh his history teacher, sleepg on the uch the fay’s was to this savur that he first admted he was gay, at 15. Origal tle: Queer Eye for the Straight GuyTV Seri2003–2007TV-141hFive gay men try to improve the liv and nfince of straight men by givg them makeovers and gay men try to improve the liv and nfince of straight men by givg them makeovers and gay men try to improve the liv and nfince of straight men by givg them makeovers and productn, box office & pany Episos106More like thisReview One great show wh humor, and tons of help on how to live goodThis is a show that our whole fay watch and lov as shows how to better on life and has tips, Humor and so much more. Now, one of the first openly gay men on Atralian TV is rearchg that history for a new documentary seri, Outrageo: The Queer History of Atralian TV.

In the 1990s and 2000s, broadster, journalist, and pop-culture mentator Andrew Merdo was one of the most visible gay men on Atralian televisn. Dpe outrageo storyl volvg a knicker snipper and a pantyhose strangler, the “straight-actg” gay lawyer was posively “normal”, helpg out everyone and anyone who need him. Closeted gay men, livg suburbs and regnal towns all across Atralia, were thankg the actor for givg them hope and showg they weren’t alone; Don was a gay man who was rpected by his muny and adored by his iends.

Instead, the magaze went to great lengths to never mentn their relatnship or homosexualy, promotg each actor dividually, while always mentng their real-life heterosexualy.

Amerin producer Bill Harmon, a straight man now aware of the impact their posive gay role mol was havg, told them that Don would never be turned straight. Fay magaze TV Tim was so fascated wh this “showbiz phenomenon”, they voted three pag to a report about , wh a ont ver headle that said: “The Gay Guys Are Great”.

So, to rep, even though homosexualy was illegal, Atralian dienc were learng all about by followg the liv of multiple gay characters for several years, as Number 96 and The Box sat together at the top of the ratgs chart. But former High Court judge Michael Kirby believ that, along wh the great work done by certa policians and health profsnals, the societal memory of Number 96, and how normalised gay people, helped Atralians al wh the AIDS crisis.

It meant there was no need to beat myself up about my secret sexualy, bee my md, one day I uld leave my Catholic boys school and homophobic town, and fd my gay fay somewhere else. Therefore, I was shocked to read Cght In The Act, the tobgraphy of ternatnal drag superstar Courtney Act, and learn that Shane Jenek grew up never knowg what homosexualy was. That was nearly twenty years ago now, but when someone today tells me how thrillg was to see me, a gay man on TV when they were growg up, my heart almost bursts wh joy.