A Brief Timele of Disney's 17 'First Gay Characters'

Contents:

• 14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS
• TV'S GAY CHARACTERS, BEFORE AND AFTER ELLEN
• 10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY
• LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’
• DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)

14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS

16, 2017Last year was a remarkable time when me to the reprentatn of gay, lbian, bisexual, transgenr or queer regular characters on televisn, acrdg to the latt Glaad report monorg diversy on the small screen.

People, or beg able to help people unrstand who we are, pecially those tim when so many people lived hidn and visible, ” said Sarah Kate Ellis, the print and chief executive of Glaad (formerly known as the Gay & Lbian Alliance Agast Defamatn). 1972 — ‘THAT CERTAIN SUMMER’ A divorced father (Hal Holbrook) his his lover (Mart Sheen) om his teenage son Lamont Johnson’s movie for ABC, nsired the first sympathetic pictn of gay people on televisn. Lear had troduced one of the first gay upl on work televisn the short-lived ABC seri “Hot l Baltimore.

TV'S GAY CHARACTERS, BEFORE AND AFTER ELLEN

”)1977 — ‘SOAP’ In this ABC s, Billy Crystal plays Jodie Dallas — a gay man havg an affair wh a famo quarterback and ntemplatg genr-reassignment surgery — who be one of the first gay dads on televisn. ]1985 — ‘AN EARLY FROST’ A Chigo lawyer (Aidan Qun) returns home to reveal to his parents that he’s gay and has AIDS this NBC movie by John Erman, settg the stage for feature films like Jonathan Demme’s “Philalphia. 1994 — ‘MY SO-CALLED LIFE’ In the episo “Life of Brian, ” this ABC drama about high school angst als wh young gay love when Rickie (Wilson Cz) velops a csh on his new classmate, Corey (Adam Bik).

1998 — ‘WILL & GRACE’ Two gay men pl two straight women equals 83 Emmy nomatns and 16 ws for the show that Vice Print Joseph R. ”2000 — ‘QUEER AS FOLK’ Showtime breaks new ground wh the first hourlong drama the Uned Stat about gay men and women, cludg a character who is H.

10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY

2009 — ‘MODERN FAMILY’ This ABC s — featurg a gay uple, Mchell (Jse Tyler Fergon) and Cameron (Eric Stontreet), and their adopted dghter, Lily (Aubrey Anrson-Emmons), as part of a larger fay — “is geni the way tegrat edy and cln, and is able to te and open people’s hearts and mds, ” Ms.

A versn of this article appears prt on, Sectn AR, Page 19 of the New York edn wh the headle: Gay and Transgenr Characters Onscreen.

Ellen Man wasn't the first gay character on TV, but her g out on the ABC s Ellen, followg star Ellen DeGener' own claratn — "Yep, I'm gay" — on the ver of Time magaze, opened the door to portrayg them more openly and more often. A list of some of TV's more important gay characters, before and after Ellen: Bewched: Pl Lyn plays Uncle Arthur, who wasn't gay then — but probably would be now.

LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’

(1965)All In the Fay: Archie’s iend Steve (Philip Carey) shocks him by tellg him he's gay. (1971)The Corner Bar: Vcent Schiavelli plays flamboyant set signer Peter Panama, who is nsired TV's first recurrg gay character. (1972)Soap: Jodie Dallas (Billy Crystal) be TV's first openly gay ma character.

DISNEY'S 8 'FIRST OPENLY GAY' CHARACTERS, RANKED (BY HOW EMBARRASSED DISNEY SHOULD FEEL)

(1977)Love, Sidney: Tony Randall as a nfirmed bachelor who was gay the TV movie Sidney Shorr: A Girl's Bt Friend, but whose sexualy beme ambiguo the follow-up TV seri. (1989)20-year flashback: Ellen DeGener me out, and paved the way for more gay TV rolMelrose Place: Matt Fieldg (Doug Savant), who's gay, is the only person on this sexy soap opera who never seemed to have sex. ” (1996)Will & Grace: Eric McCormack and Sean Hay are gay iends this landmark s — the first big h wh a gay tle character.