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’
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. * gay character in tv series *
“I’m lucky I was born outsi of Nigeria, so I haven’t had the same stggl that my gay brothers and sisters have had wh Nigeria, and the problems that they’re havg: beg arrted all the time, beg harassed when they go out [and] beg thrown out of their fai. THEIR IMPACT: In this age of “Don’t Say Gay” bills and other forms of blatant homophobia, this Netflix seri — and the romance between lead characters Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Locke) — wasn’t jt enarg but val lettg kids know that if they’re non-straight, don’t mean they’re bad or wrong. 1 on the ll sheet — is a Black gay man, ” says seri -creator Cameron Johnson, who also acknowledg the rary of beg able to tell stori about a gay man who isn’t a TV show’s “addnal character.
Characters on televisn are more diverse than ever, and there's been a notable rise the number of gay, lbian, bisexual, and transgenr characters, realy stars, and talk show hosts. Although the show largely follows Otis and Eric is technilly Otis' bt iend, would be wholly accurate to place Eric the "gay bt iend" box; actor Ncuti Gatwa, who is also gay real life, says that's by sign.
It was jt one year after Ellen Man beme the first character to e out on TV — a move that subsequently tanked "Ellen's" rankgs and likely led to the show's "Will & Grace, " a show that largely foced on two gay men, was so popular that was revived 20 years Msg, who plays Grace, told TheWrap that she origally saw their gay lead (Eric McCormack's Will) as the most "revolutnary" aspect of the show. Fox's "Glee" was often praised as an LGBTQ haven, but Kurt — the show's first openly gay character, who famoly kicked a field goal for the football team while performg Beyoncé's "Sgle Ladi" dance — had a particularly strong one of his most memorable moments, Kurt shared a climactic kiss wh Blae that produced ltle to no outrage, a symbolic moment of progrs for onscreen queer reprentatn. But he was also a femme gay man who subverts the "gay bt iend" was granted almost exactly as much screen time as the show's tular character and enjoyed his own plex subplots.