Back 1977, actor and edian Billy Crystal stunned dienc when he portrayed the first openly ga ma character a TV seri, "Soap." and opened the way for gay ins like Ellen DeGener
Contents:
- LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’
- TV'S GAY CHARACTERS, BEFORE AND AFTER ELLEN
- BILLY CRYSTAL PORTRAYED FIRST OPENLY GAY MA CHARACTER ON TV — SI THE 'SOAP' STORY
LBGTQ TV: A HISTORY OF GAY CHARACTERS, OM STONEWALL TO ‘BATWOMAN’
Gay characters the post-Stonewall era go a lot wir and eper than ‘Will & Grace’ and ‘Ellen.’ * first gay man on tv *
The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Rts is a tone for the gay-rights movement, one beg memorated wh everythg om paras to documentari. 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.
Six years later, Billy Crystal beme one of the first openly gay regular characters a seri “Soap, ” the broad ABC satire. Addnal breakthroughs followed seri like “Roseanne” and “Friends, ” eventually leadg to the gay uple “Morn Fay” a ago.
TV'S GAY CHARACTERS, BEFORE AND AFTER ELLEN
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. PBS also broke ground realy TV wh “An Amerin Fay, ” the 1973 seri that featured Lance Loud, whose g out ma him a gay in.
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. The same thg happened when ABC’s “thirtysomethg” beme the first seri to pict two gay men bed together 30 years ago, a dynamic that ed work officials to thk twice about approvg such storyl. Neverthels, work dramas ntued to ph boundari, cludg a gay teen ABC’s 1990s seri “My So-Called Life.
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.
BILLY CRYSTAL PORTRAYED FIRST OPENLY GAY MA CHARACTER ON TV — SI THE 'SOAP' STORY
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.
(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.
(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.