TV shows wh lbian & gay characters ed to be rare, but today, Batwoman, Grey's Anatomy, and Pose prove that LGBTQ visibily is on the rise; here, a Queer Studi expert explas why reprentatn matters — on-screen and off — to LGBT
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Longtime TV cric Dan Avery charts the history of gay, queer, and transgenr reprentatn popular Amerin seri om 1971 to today, om Ellen to Pose. * queer characters tv *
Gay marriage is now legal the UK, same-sex upl n adopt children and the Brish ernment plans to abolish gay nversn therapy.But are queer people now treated equally? 47 Elena Alvarez, One Day at a Time (Isabella Gomez)Mike Yarish/NetflixAlistair RyrFrom Ellen g out the '90s to recent seri like Morn Fay explorg the ia of gay parenthood, ss are arguably the most groundbreakg genre when to on-screen pictns of morn LGBTQ+ life.The first season of One Day at a Time, the now-ncelled reboot of the '70s s phenomenon, may tread faiar ground when to Elena Alvarez' (Isabella Gomez) g out story, but explor the trma of the closet wh an unexpected pth.From the cultural nservatism of olr Lato fay members to straed relatnships wh the homophobic men of the fay, One Day at a Time don't sugar-at s trma, even as handl s exploratns wh a lightns of touch. Hell no.Callie beg so outspoken about her bisexualy and fendg wh iends, fay and lovers anticipated what I'd al wh my mid- and late-20s whenever I'd discs my inty wh both straight and gay people.
39 Jt Suarez, Ugly Betty (Mark Inlito)Andrew Eccl//ABCLra Jane Turner In the early 2000s, Betty Suarez's nephew Jt was the gay reprentatn that many young people craved and whose g out storyle spired a generatn. But those aren't the only reasons Phil Mchell's progeny will go down history.Ben's inty as a gay man, om bullied schoolboy to revenge-seekg hardman to fiancé, has always been tied to his plot l and his populary. First there was his teenage love Pl Coker, who was tragilly murred bee of his sexualy as part of a storyle that shed a grim light on vlent homophobia.
Ben's volvement the #Ballum saga also gave the EastEnrs wrers a new angle to explore sexualy and g out – which triumphantly clus Phil Mchell punchg an angry homophobe square the face. 36 Ryan Hay, Special (Ryan O'Connell) BETH DUBBER/NETFLIXAli GriffhsRyan O'Connell's portrayal as a fictnalised versn of himself Netflix's Special is unique, not jt bee of the show's foc on a gay man wh cerebral palsy, but bee of the sheer amount of self-pretn that ntas.