Gay characters the post-Stonewall era go a lot wir and eper than ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘Ellen.’
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LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’
* society gay characters *
The beloved characters om classics like Friends, Will & Grace, and more more recent gems such as Scht’s Creek and Morn Fay, all did somethg to rema an tegral part of their rpective seri, and they haven’t left the llective nscns jt are a lot of characters om a lot of shows to look back on, so let’s qu wastg time and get to the heart of this story…(Image cred: ABC)Ellen Man (Ellen)Over the urse of five seasons and more than 100 episos, the ‘90s s Ellen followed Ellen Man (Ellen Degener) as she navigated var suatns (both funny and not-so-funny) related to life, love, and reer opportuni as a bookstore employee and later owner of said, both the character and actrs, ma a massive impact on pop culture and society as a whole wh the April 1997 two-parter “The Puppy Episo” on which she muttered three words that still live the llective nscns of everyone around at the time: “San, I’m gay. Not only did he keep the rt of the precct le and provi some of the show’s most hilar moments, he also broke new ground for LGBTQ+ characters the proud first Ain Amerin gay police pta the NYPD, Capta Holt ntually subverted trop and offered a different perspective of what meant to be a gay man the police force. As a Vulture say about a groundbreakg “All the Fay” episo noted, “In a moment where crics pot to ss as a medium that helped change public opns about gay rights, we should remember that the procs didn’t beg wh ‘Will & Grace’ or ‘Glee.
Long before that, though, there were signature, cludg the 1971 episo of “All the Fay” which the bigoted, homophobic Archie Bunker was stunned to disver that an old buddy was gay. In 1972, Hal Holbrook played a divorced dad hidg the fact he was gay om his son “That Certa Summer, ” nsired one of the first sympathetic pictns of gay characters on televisn. The 1980s brought AIDS to the nversatn, wh movi such as “An Early Frost, ” an NBC movie about a gay lawyer who mt break the news about his AIDS diagnosis to his parents.