LBGTQ TV: A history of gay characters, om Stonewall to 'Batwoman' | CNN

Contents:

• LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’
• 14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS
• 10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY
• GAY TEENS ON TV: A TIMELE
• FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER ANNOUNC ROLE NEW RUPL'S DRAG RACE SERI

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

It may appear quat now, when we have TV seri like Hulu’s Love, Victor (about a Latx teen explorg sexual fluidy) or Netflix’s Bondg (about sex work and alternative sexualy), but the great gay panic set off by Ellen DeGener g out on her s 1997 was a bombshell that didn’t necsarily nvce the works that they’d open the gat to LGBTQ experienc.

Luckily Will & Grace buted 1998 and the groundbreakg NBC seri nvced many that gay people might not be so toxic (and wouldn’t sre off advertisers) — so much so that Vice Print Joe Bin later creded wh changg his md about same-sex marriage. Dpe the fact that lns of Amerins wnsed two men raise a happy and healthy dghter om the fort of their livg room sofas, took a fan mpaign to lobby Disney-owned ABC to fally allow Mchell (gay actor Jse Tyler Fergon) and Cameron (straight actor Eric Stontreet) to kiss ( fally happened 2010). For years, ranged, perverse, and spible homosexuals were on full display — pecially om Ryan Murphy, who remas our most proment culture czar when to queer characters on TV.

14 TV SHOWS THAT BROKE GROUND WH GAY AND TRANSGENR CHARACTERS

From the Roy Cohn-flected Army-McCarthy heargs — which was the first time many people heard the word “homosexual” uttered on TV — through the “don’t ask, don’t tell” Neti, that clud The Goln Girls and Digng Women, to our current glter-and-glam era of RuPl’s Drag Race and almost-anythg-go pansexualy. When her straight male roommate’s twentysomethg girliend, Francis, qutns why Leila is so terrified to tell anyone that she has sex wh both men and women, Leila tells her ’s plited bee ’s “a gay thg.

10 MILTONE MOMENTS GAY TV HISTORY

Adapted om gay director Jt Simien’s breakout film of the same name, about black llege stunts g to terms wh a “post-racial Ameri, ” the seri explor them of race, genr, and sexualy by skewerg jt about everyone for hypocrisy and double standards. In the send season, he manag to evolve beyond simple trop and is given space to explore his queer inty, cludg havg his heart broken by Silv (a self-scribed “Mexin Italian gay vers top otter pup”), fdg a boyiend (of sorts), and even beg rejected by another black man bee of his sk lor — provg that, spe all the talk of “muny, ” ’s never easy to fe lastg bonds. Pl, managed to change many nservative viewpots the black muny — cludg Timbaland, who crafted the seri’ tchy origal tracks — and was a rare moment which a gay character of lor had so much visibily.

Matilda has high-functng tism, and some of the bt scen revolve around her explorg her fluid sexualy, while both girls embrace their gay half-brother’s relatnship failur as send nature. An utter charmer about a gay, reverg addict edian (-creator Mae Mart) and a prevly straight teacher (Charlotte Richie) who fall eply, dangeroly love wh each other. Holm), hers some of origal-recipe Rob’s most memorable obssns and quirks — among other thgs, Simon is the one who giv the speech about patibily pendg on what you like, not what you are like — even as his story is very different, startg wh the fact that he and the new Rob break up bee he’s gay.

And the fale’s most powerful subplot, he says the words “I’m gay” aloud — a first not only for him, but for a teen televisn character (and one played by an out actor Wilson Cz). The entire n of this lightful throwback s has queer-iendly ntent, but particularly s first season (still streamg on Netflix, even though the latt season was ma for Pop), which slowly but refully charted the journey of Elena (Isabella Gomez), a Latx teen g to the realizatn that she’s gay, and gradually disverg how to tell her very Catholic fay about . K., who was technilly still an executive producer at the time — but one of the most important them is Tig tryg to fd a gay muny this part of the world where she feels fortable, and the growg csh she’s velopg on her apparently straight rad producer Kate (played by Notaro’s wife, Stephanie Allynne).

GAY TEENS ON TV: A TIMELE

The show plays to the gay-for-prison fantasy so many straight men seem to still harbor, but also shows how you n enjoy male-male timacy while also beg a harned badass.

FIRST OPENLY GAY FOOTBALLER ANNOUNC ROLE NEW RUPL'S DRAG RACE SERI

Versn (set a much-gayer versn of Ptsburgh) wasted no time showg Brian (Gale Harold) and teenage Jt (Randy Harrison) the first male-on-male sex scene on Amerin televisn. While parts of may not have aged so well, the seri ntaed lots of TV firsts — cludg the first legally wed gay uple, first gay adoptn, and HIV-posive/negative uple — wh -stars Hal Sparks, Peter Paige, and Stt Lowell explorg what meant to have relatnships and stggle for acceptance. The bt of the volv Otis’ gay bt iend Eric (Ncuti Gatwa), which is ls a tradnal g-out story (everyone already seems to know when the show begs) than about Eric beg more fortable how he feels about himself and how he prents himself to the world.

But there are a lot of other smart stori on LGBTQ subjects, om the technil (a gay virg learns the logistics of anal douchg) to the emotnal (former bt iends don’t work as a uple after both e out) — so many, fact, that ’s a b easier to five when one of the seri’ queer storyl (volvg a homophobic bully) don’t really work.