Gay Characters...Worth The Wait

[East]

I am 57...been gay forever and never was in the closet...and I have watched a lot of things change and unfold....

The gay characters in popular culture and the people who have come out are so important..every one of them...famous or not...fictional or real... because they give us visibility and a chance for people who are homophobic to talk about it and even change their hearts and minds,.....and each one has made it easier for the ones that come behind them......

Well...tonight I almost cried. I think Jamal Lyons on EMPIRE is one of the best gay characters to ever hit the small screen....

...and it is on the #1 scripted show on the Networks...

...and then on The Walking Dead this week.... which is the #1 scripted show in the US .....we got a gay couple...and a passionate kiss.....

I am SO GLAD I lived long enough to see both of these characters...this is huge....

Jamal coming out tonight...one of the best things I have ever seen on TV in my life. I would rank it in the top ten of my favorite TV moments......and right up there with Angels in America and Tales of the City and Six Feet Under as my favorite gay characters of all time...

If you haven't seen it...his father is a famous musician and owner of a musical empire..also very homophobic. It addresses homophobia in the black community which is rare...and he was going to keep it to himself but decided to be brave about it and let the chips fall where they may....

Of course...if you watch the story unfold it is a lot more complicated but I think it was maybe the best coming out scene..ever...and the way he challenged his father and the dynamics is the best....

This is something so many gay men have to deal with....




The coming out thing isn't on youtube yet...it just aired..

The Walking Dead gay kiss has started some GREAT CONVERSATION .....I like these two responses...







THE KISS




Why this is important? Well...so far on mainstream TV it is "OK" to be gay...but don't show too much male/male kissing...I love how they pushed the envelope with their audience....about time....

Days of our Lives has been doing it now for a couple years....they broke the unwritten rule and their gay characters are shown in bed and also kissing...and they are fan favorites....

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So...what gay characters have you loved (or hated) on TV ? Who do you think are the best ones?

[Albie]

I LOVE Empire!

Tonight's episode was just....wow!

His coming out was so perfect, because of the rest of the drama. I knew it was coming when he said he changed it for himself. I still had to pause it afterwards because of how just spectacular it was.

[East]

I LOVE Empire!

Tonight's episode was just....wow!

His coming out was so perfect, because of the rest of the drama. I knew it was coming when he said he changed it for himself. I still had to pause it afterwards because of how just spectacular it was.

Me too...my BF and I actually got up and cheered... and I teared up a little because I was so happy for him....

Truly one of the finest moments on TV for a gay character.....and everything leading up to it...it was a PERFECT moment.

Ahhh...someone just posted it on YouTube

[Jerry]

I don´t watch the show, but my fav. has always been Brideshead Revisited, Dynasty and Melrose Place in that same sense they all shared a gay character. And Melrose Place was first one to really show the reality as it is and the actors were very good. I used to sit in front of a telly with a vcr remote control in my hand to record every scene between Doug Savant & Jason Beghe and watch them all over again and again and again and again and again. Brideshead+Dynasty were in the 80´s and MP in the 90´s.... Oh, those times.

[East]

We used to have Dynasty night at the nightclub I worked at...standing room only...it was a big event at the time.

My other favorites before this were Michael and Keith




Tales of the City: Gay Michael Tolliver and Transsexual Anna Madrigal...LOVE THEM




Angels in America...Prior and Belize....

[East]

Then there was Keller and Beecher on OZ




Dr George Huang on L&O SVU is a great gay character




On Nurse Jackie...I loved Mo Mo...he is Muslim...and he is gay...GREAT CHARACTER!

[Jerry]

And of course Sex and The City in 1998 with that bald guy, but I´ve forgotten his name. I didn´t quite like him though, I don´t know why.....alright, I know....I saw something familiar in him, like me.
Hhmmm...

[Cinestry]

There's this Dutch soap that has been on tv since 1990, there had been some lesbian couples before, but last year they broadcast the first gay marriage, which I thought was pretty cool (:
(Too bad they divorced about 3 months later, but that's what a soap is about, right?)

[Wolfpack]

I watched the latest episode of the Originals the other night , and that show now also has a couple of gay characters.

In the UK we have the recent broadcast of Bannana and Cucumber , both shows tell the story's of LGBT characters. Now the show is a bit hit and miss in regards to quality , but still it does throw further light onto the lives and problems of the LGBT community.

On a side note , Marvel comics the other year featured their first gay wedding.

All this is good stuff to further show the LGBT community is a more positive light.

[LONDONER]

I watched the latest episode of the Originals the other night , and that show now also has a couple of gay characters.

In the UK we have the recent broadcast of Bannana and Cucumber , both shows tell the story's of LGBT characters. Now the show is a bit hit and miss in regards to quality , but still it does throw further light onto the lives and problems of the LGBT community.

On a side note , Marvel comics the other year featured their first gay wedding.

All this is good stuff to further show the LGBT community is a more positive light.

I gave upon both "Cucumber" and "Banana", They're both so badly written.