Gay characters on TV. WHAT THE HELL?

[Irish Queer]

Honestly I have no problem relating to straight characters and enjoying shows that don't have any gay characters on them. That being said it's hard to think of real solid good examples of gay characters in current media.

I would say check out Looking. It's not my favorite show by far but Patrick is the closest the media has ever gotten to writing a gay character who is like me.

I agree with you about relating to straight characters. I can relate to male characters who are straight and characters who may not have the same skin colour or ethnicity as me, I can relate to female characters in certain ways too. We forget that we are human and have the same things going on in our lives that others do too. But at the end of the day we need diversity on our screens.

 

[vulgar_newcomer]

I'm thinking Six feet under.

 

[Harke the Boeotarch]

I really loved Captain Jack Harkness when he was introduced in Doctor Who, but I never got into Torchwood.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the character is based on the American soldier from The Naked Civil Servant.

 

[mooki33]

Just a heads up.. there's a new gay storyline on the VH1 show Hit the Floor. Here's a gif:

I am a huge fan of "Hit the Floor" the creator/headwriter is gay. I have hopes this story will be featured prominently. So far, they are only hooking up. It was a very hot scene. The guy on the left is model Adam Senn he plays "Zero" pro basketball player. The guy on the right is Brent Antonello (Jude) he is his sports agent. Here is the scene.

 

[gomer]

There used to be some fantastic ones on doctor who til Steven Moffat took over.

At least there are still some shows, mostly british, that have good gay characters

the BBC series "In the Flesh" has a gay character as the lead. That is a family drama about cured zombies returning to society.

Penny Dreadful had Dorian Gray who is omnisexual. He even made out with the lead character.

 

[gomer]

I agree, that no character on that show really had a private life.. or you didn't get to see much of it. That said, I still think it was a cop out. Here they had an excellent chance to actually depict a gay character in a real way.. with a love life. They didn't. Sure.. he was gay, the rest of the team took it well, they even mentioned he had a boyfriend, and made a few jokes. All of that is good, don't get me wrong.. but I'd STILL like to see more of it. But alas.. it never happened. I don't want to be too harsh though, because honestly.. at least they tried. It's a start. They deserve major credit for that. And considering all the vitrol this character sparked online from homophobic bigots, especially on IMdB, I can see why shows like W13 never get gay characters, only lesbians. Adding gay characters is just too much of a controversy. Truth is the comic book geeks are actually quite homophobic. They don't have anything against lesbians, of course.. because they get turned on. But gay men? MAJOR issues. Sadly.

And btw.. I stand by what I said. There's still more lesbians in CBM shows on tv, like Once Upon a Time, Agents of SHIELD, The Walking Dead, Arrow, Supernatural, Gotham.. and the list goes on and on and on. The ONLY gay character (as in male) we've ever had in such a show is Steve Jinks. I don't count Torchwood, because that wasn't really a mainstream show.

So yeah.. we still have a LONG way to go before full equality. Sad fact is lesbians are more accepted in society, research shows it. Hence why it's easier to depict them on tv. I don't think we'll ever have as many gay characters as lesbians. That said.. what we have now is a new low. I've never seen this few gay characters on tv. And it doesn't help that the only shows adding gay characters are so crappy that they get cancelled right away, sigh

Ridiculous. Most new shows get cancelled. It's not just shows with gay characters. Also, how can you attack a show like Gotham which hasn't even premiered yet?

 

[falconfan]

/And btw.. I stand by what I said. There's still more lesbians in CBM shows on tv, like Once Upon a Time, Agents of SHIELD, The Walking Dead, Arrow, Supernatural, Gotham.. and the list goes on and on and on. The ONLY gay character (as in male) we've ever had in such a show is Steve Jinks. I don't count Torchwood, because that wasn't really a mainstream show.

This I have to take issue with. There is a higher representation of lesbians but to say Jinx is the ONLY gay character we've EVER had these kinds of shows is a gross exaggeration. Sasha Roiz's character on Caprica was gay, Teen Wolf prominently has featured at least three gay characters, I believe there was a gay character on Battlestar (I didn't watch it so don't quote me on that), True Blood has Laffeyette and all his significant others, both Vampire Diaries and The Originals introduced gay characters this year. But mostly YOU CAN'T EXCLUDE JACK HARNKESS FOR BEING 'not mainstream enough.' Whoverse is a HUGE phenomenon. It's far larger than Once Upon a Time, Gotham (which hasn't premiered), and Arrow which are all shows you chose to include. All and all it's certainly not perfect. Do I think there's a poor showing of gay characters in general? Yes. Do I think it's slightly worse in genre fiction? Yes. Do I think it's moving in the right direction? Yes. Do I think there's anything wrong with media featuring lesbians? No. It's not a competition and to be frank I think the frequency with which that is an option has more to do with sexism then homophobia.

 

[sokker]

Ridiculous. Most new shows get cancelled. It's not just shows with gay characters. Also, how can you attack a show like Gotham which hasn't even premiered yet?

THAT is what you got from my post?!

I didn't attack Gotham at all. I just think it's ridiculous that all sci-fi shows on tv end up including a lesbian, and never a gay (as in male) character. I'm speaking in general here. I'm not attacking one single show. I know some of the straight male comic book geek audience is homophobic, so I the decision. Again, it's great that lesbians have that visibility. It just sucks for gay men.

 

[SFLMAN]

OK.. I just started watching Tyrant and it's actually REALLY good. Also, the son is gay. So that's a bonus

Yes, I started watching the new TV series on FX, "Tyrant" and it's really good. The son is gay. This show is definitely worth checking out.

 

[SFLMAN]

I am a huge fan of "Hit the Floor" the creator/headwriter is gay. I have hopes this story will be featured prominently. So far, they are only hooking up. It was a very hot scene. The guy on the left is model Adam Senn he plays "Zero" pro basketball player. The guy on the right is Brent Antonello (Jude) he is his sports agent. Here is the scene.

This show seems pretty hot. I will have to check it out.

 

[sokker]

There's a gay storyline on Dominion too. Though of course, as usual, we don't see much of the character's love life.

 

[SFLMAN]

I am a huge fan of "Hit the Floor" the creator/headwriter is gay. I have hopes this story will be featured prominently. So far, they are only hooking up. It was a very hot scene. The guy on the left is model Adam Senn he plays "Zero" pro basketball player. The guy on the right is Brent Antonello (Jude) he is his sports agent. Here is the scene.

I just started watching this show, "Hit the Floor" and the gay characters seem to be a minor part in the show. From what I have seen and watched so far they haven't shown much.

 

[sokker]

There's also a gay storyline on Degrassi (it's a Canadian show though).

 

[RRUGER]

There's a gay storyline on Dominion too. Though of course, as usual, we don't see much of the character's love life.

whats the gay storyline on dominion?

 

[Irish Queer]

I'm throwing Hollyoaks into the mix with the Danny Lomax character who was a bi man married had kids. Turns out if your Bi and married you still go chasing guys. Very insulting to Bi people especially since the show has handled LGBT characters well in recent years.

 

[sokker]

whats the gay storyline on dominion?

It was literally just one line in one episode. Nothing else so far, though I do hope for more next season, if there is one!

Here's the gifs:

http://idareyoutodobetter.tumblr.com/post/90815378823

 

[hotatlboi]

I've tuned out from Game of Thrones, its becoming very clear that there is nothing here for me as a gay viewer. There are no strong gay male characters here or will likely ever be.

I had to stop reading your post when I got to this. The fact that you cannot watch a show as a gay viewer without their being a strong gay male character says more about you then it does about the show.

 

[mooki33]

I just started watching this show, "Hit the Floor" and the gay characters seem to be a minor part in the show. From what I have seen and watched so far they haven't shown much.

Because the story just started. There is a huge murder mystery that they have to wrap up. The creator/head writer is gay. He did an interview where he talks about the story and the feedback. I imagine we will get more of their story in S3 because the show was picked up. Here is the interview http://www.thebacklot.com/hit-the-floor-interview-brent-antonello-james-larosa/08/2014/

 

[Ninja108]

I'm throwing Hollyoaks into the mix with the Danny Lomax character who was a bi man married had kids. Turns out if your Bi and married you still go chasing guys. Very insulting to Bi people especially since the show has handled LGBT characters well in recent years.

Indeed, the idea of bisexuals as unfaithful is still a stigma they face.

 

[spooky]

I had to stop reading your post when I got to this. The fact that you cannot watch a show as a gay viewer without their being a strong gay male character says more about you then it does about the show.

Really... how observant. Anyway, enjoy the series and by all means, continue to read into whatever you want with my posts.