Where are all the gay characters on Asie TV? Is te ‘gay don’t rate’? Four sirs weigh | — 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. 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. “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. “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.

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

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.

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.