Jags' Maxen is first male Amerin pro sports ach to e out as gay - ESPN

Contents:

• WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY
• HOW WILL & GRACE PAVED THE WAY FOR GAY CHARACTERS ON TV
• 'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR
• JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

WILL AND GRACE STAR CONFIRMS HE’S GAY

Yup, he's gay real life, too.

The rolutely private actor recently gave his first terview to gay newsmagaze The Advote after many nied requts. You're gonna shoot the gay guy down?

The star of the popular, Emmy-wng gay s adds, "I feel like I've ntributed monumentally to the succs of the gay movement Ameri, and if anyone wants to argue that, I’m open to . TV Seri1998–2020TV-PG22mGay lawyer Will and straight terr signer Grace share a New York Cy apartment. Their bt iends are gleeful and proud gay Jack and charismatic, filthy-rich, amoral sociale lawyer Will and straight terr signer Grace share a New York Cy apartment.

HOW WILL & GRACE PAVED THE WAY FOR GAY CHARACTERS ON TV

Their bt iends are gleeful and proud gay Jack and charismatic, filthy-rich, amoral sociale productn, box office & pany Episos246Vios54Funny Women of TelevisnFunny Women of TelevisnWe salute the brilliant women behd all those unfettable lghs on the small the galleryMore like thisReview tly odd upleOnce a perfect uple, will and grace, shared a flat and they had two bt iends, nrotic Jack and filthy rich Karen, but this perfect uple have one problem, Grace is straight and will is gay.

Personally i thk the ma lghs e om my two favoure character, jack, Sean Hay, and Karen, Megan two characters have perfect Hay may play his gay character stereotypilly but that mak him very funny and Megan mull ally has her rich character down to a tee. The seri has a lot of big gut stars cludg Matt Damon who plays a straight man pretendg to be gay so he n jo jacks gay choir.

'I WOULDN'T GET THIS ROLE TODAY': WILL & GRACE'S STRAIGHT 'GAY' STAR

But for others, the characters fall short—Jack, particular, whose hilar high mp persona has been cricized as a sort of gay mstrelsy some circl.

Bee once Will and Jack kicked open TV's closet, there was no lookg NBC ma the cisn to add -creators David Kohan and Max Mutchnick's bawdy ltle edy, the ultimate unrequed love story between terr signer Grace Adler (Debra Msg) and her nrotic gay lawyer BFF Will (Eric McCormack), to s stable of programmg 1998, there were no real gay characters on TV to speak of. Prr to that, there had been a smatterg of gay characters a handful of seri, though they were always a supportg role—and often they befell some great tragedy while any realistic pictn of a love life was avoid at all sts.

JAGS' MAXEN IS FIRST MALE AMERIN PRO SPORTS ACH TO E OUT AS GAY

The characters were GINOs—Gay Name Only—and ually only when me time to die of when Will & Grace h the air, fally there were two gay men who did not pretend to be anythg other. And bee show bs is, above all else, jt that—a bs—work executiv were quickly realizg that puttg gay characters ont and center wasn't ratgs suici. A year after the show premiered, the first "romantic" kiss between two gay characters would take place on Dawson's Creek.

If Will & Grace were beg st for the first time today, Eric McCormack nces, "I probably wouldn't get anywhere near this role"'s bee McCormack is straight, and this era of diversy and thenticy stg would be a bold, perhaps even foolish, cisn to st anyone but a gay actor a seri that puts the character's sexualy ont and he'd be out of a job this hypothetil scenar, the first "gay" man many middle Amerins weled to their hom is OK wh that. "I thk wasn't a terrible thg 1998 that a straight guy played the role, but I'm glad that tim are changg, and I'm glad that nowadays a Will Tman would probably be st wh someone who is gay, " he says.