Lists of television programs with LGBT characters

This is a list of television shows or made-for-television films that significantly include LGBT issues and/or feature prominent LGBT characters or cast members.

Dramatic series and miniseries

see main article: List of dramatic television series with LGBT characters

Films

The following films made for television include central LGBT themes or characters.

Year	Title	Network	Character name	Actor	Notes
2008	Knight Rider	NBC	Carrie Ruvai	Sydney Tamiia Poitier
2006	Trapped!	here!	Samantha Dana	Alexandra Paul Michelle Wolff
2006	Wedding Wars	A&E	Shel Grandy Ted Moore	John Stamos Sean Maher	Shel is a wedding planner and goes on strike for gay rights while planning his straight brother's wedding. Ted is his lover.
2006	Totally Awesome	VH1	Yamagashi	James Hong	Parody of Miyagi from the Karate Kid films, Yamagashi is an elderly gay lecher.
2006	A Girl Like Me: The Gwen Araujo Story	Lifetime	Gwen Araujo	J.D. Pardo
2005	Deadly Skies	here!	Donovan Mark	Antonio Sabato, Jr. Michael Boisvert	Film was released in multiple versions, with and without gay content.
2005	Tides of War	here!	Cmdr. Frank Habley Lt. Cmdr. Tom Palatonio	Adrian Paul Mike Doyle	Film was released in multiple versions, with and without gay content.
2004	Jack	Showtime	Paul	Ron Silver
2004	Prom Queen: The Marc Hall Story	CTV	Marc Hall Jason	Aaron Ashmore Mak Fyfe
2003	Normal	HBO	Roy	Tom Wilkinson
2003	Soldier's Girl	Showtime	Barry Winchell Calpernia Addams/Scottie	Troy Garity Lee Pace
2002	Bobbie's Girl	Showtime	Bailey Lewis Roberta Langham	Bernadette Peters Rachel Ward	Shows committed relationship between two lesbian woman
2002	The Matthew Shepard Story	Showtime	Matthew Shepard	Shane Meier
2002	No Night is Too Long	BBC Two	Tim Cornish Ivo Steadman Thierry Massin	Lee Williams Marc Warren Salvatore Antonio	Tim is bisexual.
2001	What Makes a Family	Lifetime Television	Janine Neilssen Sandy Cataldi	Brooke Shields Cherry Jones	When Sandy dies suddenly, Janine must fight to keep the child Sandy bore through artificial insemination.
2001	A Girl Thing	Showtime, Hallmark	Lauren Travis Casey Montgomery	Elle Macpherson Kate Capshaw	Mini-series, first part deals with lesbian women.
2000	Common Ground	Showtime	Dorothy Nelson, Billy, McPherson, Gil Roberts, Tobias, Amos, Andy	Brittany Murphy, Jason Priestley, Mimi Rogers, Steven Weber, Jonathan Taylor Thomas, James LeGros, Andrew Airlie	Three short stories dealing with acceptance of gays and lesbians over three different decades.
2000	If These Walls Could Talk 2	HBO	Edith Tree Abby Hedley Linda Amy Fran Kal	Vanessa Redgrave Marian Seldes Michelle Williams Chloë Sevigny Sharon Stone Ellen DeGeneres	Three short stories dealing with lesbian women.
2000	The Truth About Jane	Lifetime	Jane Taylor Ms. Lynn Walcott Jimmy	Ellen Muth Alicia Lagano Kelly Rowan RuPaul
1998	Gia	HBO	Gia Carangi	Angelina Jolie	Biopic about the bisexual supermodel.
1997	In the Gloaming	HBO	Danny	Robert Sean Leonard
1997	The Twilight of the Golds	Showtime	David Gold	Brendan Fraser
1995	Serving in Silence: The Margarethe Cammermeyer Story	NBC	Margarethe Cammermeyer Diane	Glenn Close Judy Davis
1994	Family Album	NBC	Lionel Thayer Paul Steel John	Joe Flanigan Paul Satterfield Joel Gretsch	Based on Danielle Steel's novel
1994	Roomates	NBC	Bill Thomas	Eric Stoltz
1992	Doing Time on Maple Drive	FOX	Matt Carter Kyle	William McNamara Bennett Cale	Family Drama
1991	Our Sons	ABC	James, Donald Barnes	Hugh Grant Zeljko Ivanek	Family Drama
1991	The Lost Language of Cranes	BBC, PBS	Owen Benjamin, Philip, Elliot Abrahams, Geoffrey Lane Derek	Brian Cox Angus MacFadyen Corey Parker Rene Auberjonois, John Schlesinger	British production based upon American novel
1987	Two of Us	BBC	Matthew, Phil	Jason Rush Lee Whitlock
1986	Second Serve	CBS	Renée Richards	Vanessa Redgrave	Biopic of transsexual surgeon turned professional tennis player.
1985	An Early Frost	NBC	Michael Pierson Peter Hilton	Aidan Quinn D. W. Moffett	One of the first mainstream treatments of AIDS on American television.
1985	Consenting Adult	ABC	Jeff Lynd	Barry Tubb	TV movie about a family's struggle to accept their son's homosexuality. Based on a novel by Laura Z. Hobson, and also starring Marlo Thomas and Martin Sheen as the parents.
1983	Making of a Male Model	ABC	Chuck Lanyard	Jeff Conaway
1983	An Englishman Abroad	BBC	Guy Burgess	Alan Bates	Story of the chance encounter between gay "Cambridge spy" Burgess and actress Coral Browne.
1977	Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn	ABC			Sequel to the telefilm Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. Alexander becomes a hustler in Los Angeles.
1977	Terraces	NBC	Dr. Roger Cabe Alex Bengston	Lloyd Bochner James Phipps	A married doctor has a sweet, heartfelt affair with a younger man. When the doctor breaks it off for the sake of his wife and family, his young lover cannot cope and takes drastic measures.
1975	The Naked Civil Servant	ITV(Thames)	Quentin Crisp	John Hurt
1972	That Certain Summer	ABC	Doug Salter Gary McClain	Hal Holbrook Martin Sheen	A teenager deals with the knowledge that his divorced father is gay.

Sitcoms

The following sitcoms include central LGBT themes or characters.

Year	Title	Network	Character name	Actor	Notes
2007 -	Kick	SBS	Layla Jackie	Nicole Chamoun Romi Trower	Layla is a Muslim-Australian who lives with her conservative family and is unenthusiastically engaged to be married to a man named Sharif. But when she falls in love with fellow-fencer Jackie, she has to choose between following her heart or making her family happy.
2007 -	The Sarah Silverman Program	Comedy Central	Brian Steve	Brian Posehn Steve Agee	Sarah's neighbors.
2006 -	The Business	IFC	Terrence von Holtzen Wendell Cooper	Matt Silver Neil Napier	Terrence is an intern who in season 2 is promoted to Associate Co-head of the Animation and Historical Adaptation Department. Wendell is the company's accountant. In a sexually charged second season episode Terrence admits his repressed homosexuality and he and Wendell hook up.
2006 - 2007	Cover Girl	SRC	Mathieu/Veronica Justin/Joujou Newton/Lana Cherry Sundae	René Richard Cyr Vincent Bolduc Frédéric Pierre Gilles Renaud	Series focuses on four drag queens.
2006 - 2007	The Class	CBS	Kyle Lendo Aaron	Sean Maguire Cristian de la Fuente	Kyle was very popular at high school (all the girls wanted to be his date). He took Holly to the senior prom, only to cheat on her with a guy. He's currently in a gay relationship with Aaron. He is a second grade teacher at an elite private school.
2006	Crumbs	ABC	Mitch Crumb	Fred Savage
2005 -	All About George	ITV (UK)	Russel	Rory Jennings
2005	It's Me...Gerald	Showcase	Gerald	Gerald L'Ecuyer
2005 - 2006	Out of Practice	CBS	Regina Barnes	Paula Marshall
2005 - 2006	Twins	The WB	Neil	Christopher Fitzgerald
2005 -	The War At Home	FOX	Kenny	Rami Malek
2004 -	Drawn Together	Comedy Central	Xandir Captain Hero Foxxy Love	Jack Plotnick (voice) Jess Harnell (voice) Cree Summer (voice)	Xandir is gay. Captain Hero is either bisexual or gay and in the closet. Foxxy Love is bisexual.
2004-	Entourage	HBO	Lloyd Shauna Roberts	Rex Lee Debi Mazar
2003 -	Reno 911!	Comedy Central	Lieutenant Dangle Deputy Kimball	Thomas Lennon Mary Birdsong
2003 - 2004	It's All Relative	ABC	Simon Banks Philip Stoddard	Christopher Sieber John Benjamin Hickey
2003 - 2006	Aquí no hay quien viva	Antena 3	Mauri Hidalgo Fernando Navarro Bea Villarejo Diego Álvarez Rosa Izquierdo Ana Abel	Luis Merlo Adrià Collado Eva Isanta Mariano Alameda María Almudéver Vanesa Romero	Stable gay relationship between main characters Mauri and Fernando. During a time they were broken up, Mauri had a relationship with Diego, who left him for another man and later regretted it. But by then Mauri and Fernando were together again. Mauri also has a son by artificial insemination with lesbian best friend Bea, who had a relationship with a lawyer, Rosa, for a while. Afterwards, she had a wild night with Ana, who became lesbian for her and became a stable couple.
2001	The Ellen Show	CBS	Ellen Richmond	Ellen DeGeneres
2001	Some of My Best Friends	CBS	Warren Fairbanks Vern Limoso	Jason Bateman Alec Mapa	Based on the film Kiss Me, Guido
2000	Normal, Ohio	FOX	William "Butch" Gamble	John Goodman
1999 - 2004	Home Movies	UPN, [adult swim]	Walter Perry	Brendon Small (voice) H. Jon Benjamin (voice)	Walter and Perry are two eight year old vaguely Leopold and Loeb type characters who are very strongly implied to be gay. One of their dreams is to one day marry and live in a van.
1999 - 2000	Strangers with Candy	Comedy Central	Jerri Blank Geoffrey Jellineck Chuck Noblet	Amy Sedaris Paul Dinello Stephen Colbert	Jerri is bisexual. Jellineck and Noblet carried on a clandestine affair.
1998 - 2006	Will & Grace	NBC	Will Truman Jack McFarland Karen Walker	Eric McCormack Sean Hayes Megan Mullally	Will & Jack are gay. Karen's bisexuality is implied.
1997 -	South Park	Comedy Central	Big Gay Al, Mr. Stotch, Mr./Ms. Garrison, Mr. Slave	Trey Parker (voice)	Big Gay Al and Mr. Slave are gay and married. Mr. Stotch, (Butters's father) is technically bisexual. Mr. Garrison was a gay man in seasons 1-8, until season 9 when he had a sex change and became Ms. Garrison, becoming a lesbian in season 11, confusing his identity further.
1996	Party Girl	FOX	Derrick	John Cameron Mitchell	Short-lived sitcom based on the 1995 theatrical film
1996 - 2002	Spin City	ABC	Carter Sebastian Heywood	Michael Boatman
1995	Agony Again	BBC	Michael	Sasha Grunpeter	Short-lived sequel to 1979 sitcom "Agony". Jane Lucas's son, Michael, is gay.
1994 - 2004	Friends	NBC	Carol Willick Susan Bunch	Jane Sibbett Jessica Hecht	Carol is Ross's ex-wife, who realized that she was a lesbian. In 1996, Carol marries Susan, her partner, in network TV's first lesbian wedding
1994 - 1998	Ellen	ABC	Ellen Morgan	Ellen DeGeneres	In an ironic twist of fate, a show in which her character comes out ends the show and changed other parts of her real life, but she still continues successfully with comedy, acting and other activities.
1994 - 1999	The Vicar of Dibley	BBC	Frank Pickle	John Bluthal
1992 - 1998	The Larry Sanders Show	HBO	Brian	Scott Thompson
1992 - 1997	Martin	FOX	Shanaynay, Martin's mom	Martin Lawrence
1991 - 1997	The Brittas Empire	BBC	Gavin Featherly Tim Whistler	Tim Marriott Russell Porter	Tim and Gavin are a couple working at the leisure centre, who, though out, choose not to tell some people due to fear of being fired. Their homophobic boss is innocently oblivious to their relationship for seven years.
1989 - present	The Simpsons	FOX	Waylon Smithers Patty Bouvier	Harry Shearer (voice) Julie Kavner (voice)	Waylon Smithers is heavily implied to be in love with his boss, Mr. Burns. Patty Bouvier was in the closet from seasons 1-17.
1989-1991	Doctor Doctor	CBS	Richard Stratford	Tony Carreiro	Openly gay brother of lead character Mike Stratford (Matt Frewer)
1988 - 1997	Roseanne	ABC	Bev Harris Leon Carp Scott Nancy Bartlett	Estelle Parsons Martin Mull Fred Willard Sandra Bernhard	In the final episode, Rosanne Conner revealed that the last season was a story she'd written. Her mother wasn't really gay but her sister was.
1984 - 1989	Brothers	Showtime	Cliff Waters Donald Maulpey	Paul Regina Philip Charles MacKenzie	Two heterosexual brothers cope when third brother (Cliff) comes out as gay. Donald is Cliff's gay neighbor.
1984	Dream Stuffing	Channel 4	Richard	Ray Burdis	British sitcom about two unemployed girls who share a London flat. Their neighbour Richard was gay.
1979 - 1981	Agony	ITV	Michael Rob	Peter Denyer Jeremy Bulloch	First British sitcom to feature a gay couple in a non-camp fashion.
1977 - 1981	Soap	ABC	Jodie Dallas	Billy Crystal	By the end of the series, Jodie was romantically involved with a woman.
1975	Hot L Baltimore	ABC	George Gordon	Lee Bergere Henry Calvert	The first gay couple on American network television.
1972 - 1973	The Corner Bar	ABC	Peter Panama	Vincent Schiavelli	Reportedly the first continuing portrayal of a gay person on American television.

Soap operas

The following soap operas or serial dramas include central LGBT themes or characters.

Year	Title	Network	Character name	Actor	Notes
2006 - 2007	Watch Over Me	MyNetworkTV	Ryan Andre	Omar Avila Casper Van Dien	In this American telenovela, Ryan is the gay brother of the female lead. He has a relationship with cold and closeted assassin Andre.
2005 -	Dante's Cove	here!	Almost every character, with the exception of Grace Neville	See cast list	Horror/supernatural-themed soap opera in which almost the entire cast of characters is gay or lesbian and many of whom are played by openly LGBT actors.
2002	Spyder Games	MTV	Ivan Carlisle Jeff Northcutt	Byron Field Zay Harding	Short-lived serial drama lasted 65 episodes.
2001 - 2006	Footballers' Wives	ITV1	Hazel Bailey Conrad Gates Noah Alexander	Alison Newman Ben Price Marcel McCalla	Hazel was a lesbian sports agent. Conrad was bisexual. Noah was gay and sought out reparative therapy.
2001 -	Paradise Falls	Showcase	Nick Braga	Cameron Graham	The grandson of the mayor, Nick, was engaged to a woman despite being a closet homosexual. The mayor, who dislikes gays, opposes the opening of a Bed and Breakfast designed for gay clients. The show often features sex and nudity for both straight and gay characters.
2000 - Present	Verbotene Liebe	Das Erste	Oliver Sabel	Jo Weil	Oliver has been out for awhile, recently he had a sexual encounter with Christian Mann and Christian will decide if he is gay, bi or straight.
1999 - 2007	Passions	NBC	Chad Harris Simone Russell	Charles Divins Cathy Doe	Chad began the show seemingly straight but was revealed as bisexual or possibly just gay in 2007, an aspect of himself he hates. Simone came out as a lesbian in 2005 and is open with it.
1998 - 2003	Dawson's Creek	WB	Jack McPhee Doug Witter Ethan Brody Tobey David	Kerr Smith Dylan Neal Adam Kauffman David Monahan Greg Rikaart	Doug Witter's character constantly denied he was gay through most of the show but he finally came to terms with his relationship with Jack in the final episode of the series.
1995 -	Hollyoaks	Channel 4	John Paul McQueen Spike Craig Dean Kieron Hobbs	James Sutton Guy Burnet Jake Hendriks	John Paul and Spike are gay. Craig has a sexual and emotional relationship with John Paul. Kieron is the latest love interest for John Paul.
1992 -	Shortland Street	TVNZ	Jonathan McKenna (1993-) Maia Jeffries (2004-) ]] Jay Copeland (2004-2007)	Kieran Hutchison Anna Jullienne Jaime Passier-Armstrong
1992 - 1999	Melrose Place	FOX	Matt Fielding	Doug Savant	Matt was the only regular character never to have a love scene. The one time he was set to kiss another man on-screen, FOX edited it out.
1988 -	Home and Away	Seven Network	Eve Jacobsen	Emily Perry	Eve fell in love with Sarah Lewis and died in 2006 trying to get revenge for Sarah's death.
1985 -	Neighbours	Ten	Lana Crawford	Bridget Neval	Lana kissed Sky Mangel (Stephanie Macintosh) several times before revealing that she was a lesbian and had feelings for Sky.
1985 -	EastEnders	BBC1	John Fisher (1986) Ruth Lyons (1985 - 1986) Colin Russell (1986 - 1989) Barry Clark (1986 - 1989) Guido Smith (1988 - 1989) Queenie Price (1988 - 1989) Joe Wallace (1991 - 1993) Della Alexander (1994 - 1995) Binnie Roberts (1994 - 1995) Tony Hills (1995 - 1999) Simon Raymond (1996 - 1999) Fred Fonseca (1999 - 2000) Derek Harkinson (2001 - 2005) Sonia Fowler (1993 - 2007) Naomi Julien (2005 - 2007) Marco Bianco (2007) Charity Kase (2007) Christian Clarke (2008 - present)	Dave Dale Judy Liebert Michael Cashman Gary Hailes Nicholas Donovan Jon Labonowski Jason Rush Michelle Joseph Sophie Langham Mark Homer Andrew Lynford Jimi Mistry Ian Lavender Natalie Cassidy Petra Letang Bart Ruspoli Morgan Crowley John Partridge	EastEnders has used various homosexual characters to highlight gay issues since the 1980s, including homophobia, bisexuality, age of sexual consent, and HIV/AIDS among others. EastEnders was the first UK soap to screen a gay kiss in 1987, prompting outrage from viewers and the media who branded the programme "filth" and dubbed it "EastBenders". There were even questions in parliament about whether it was appropriate to have gay men in a family show when AIDS was sweeping the country. Despite initial negativity, the characters had a powerful impact on public attitudes, and the show's handling of Colin and Barry's relationship was deemed by many gay activists as something of a breakthrough. Actor turned politician, Michael Cashman (Colin), believes the storyline started "the social change" in opinion towards homosexuals, which "happened alongside the legal reform" in the 1980s. EastEnders has been at the centre of much controversy regarding their gay characters kissing on-screen. Aside from Colin giving Barry a chaste peck on the forehead in 1987, EastEnders screened the first mouth-to-mouth gay soap kiss in in the UK in 1989 (Colin and Guido), leading some MP's to call for the programme to be banned. EastEnders' first regular Lesbian characters provided the soap with its first lesbian kiss in 1994, provoking more complaints than any other UK television programme that year. This was followed by a "censored" kiss between Tony and Simon in 1996, which infuriated gay activists after the BBC cut the kiss from its original two seconds to a half-second, so they would not "startle" viewers. In 2007, a lesbian kiss between bisexual Sonia and lesbian Naomi prompted 211 complaints to the BBC.
1982 - 2003	Brookside	Channel 4	Gordon Collins (1982-1987) Beth Jordache (1993-1995) Shelly Bower (1999-2001)	Mark Burgess Anna Friel Alexandra Wescourt	Always groundbreaking, particularly in the 1980s, Brookside was the first British soap to have an out and proud gay character in Gordon Collins. Middle class and well spoken, his sexuality was not the only thing that set him apart from his fellow residents on Brookside Close. Beth featured in the most famous Brookside storyline of all when she helped bury her father's body after her mother had killed him, however this character will be equally remembered for British television's first pre-watershed lesbian kiss. Viewers complained in droves, however it proved a turning point in the way gay relationships were handled on mainstream British television. Shelly arrived in 1999 and soon had a relationship with Lindsay Corkhill, who had always considered herself straight until she met Shelly. Shelly would leave in 2001 after admitting she had feelings for Lindsay's mother Jackie.
1981 - 1989	Dynasty	ABC	Steven Carrington (1981-88, 1991)	Al Corley (1981-82, 1991) Jack Coleman (1983-88)	This show was groundbreaking in that it was the first American nighttime drama to have a core character as a bisexual. During the show's run, however, Steven's sexual identity became very muddled, as he became involved mostly with women; a few times, he would have relationships with men. By the 1991 reunion movie, however, Steven firmly declared himself as gay and was having a relationship with politician's son Bart Fallmont.
1974 - 1977	The Box	Network Ten	Lee Whiteman (1974-1976) Vicki Stafford	Paul Karo Judy Nunn	Lee was a high-camp television producer who was generally well liked and resepcted by the show's other characters, and was a popular character with the show's viewers. Vicky was a bitchy journalist who became popular cult figure among the show's fans. In the first episode of the series she engaged in a lesbian kiss.
1972 - 1977	Number 96	Network Ten	Don Finlayson (1972-1977) Dudley Butterfield (1973-1977)	Joe Hasham Chard Hayward	Don was a dependable lawyer widely popular with the show's other characters. He enjoyed several gay relationships over the course of the series, the most enduring with Dudley Butterfield, who was a camp and flighty caterer and fan of old films. In later storylines Dudley straightened-out somewhat, was revealed as bisexual, and later embarked on relationships with women.
1972 -	Emmerdale (Emmerdale Farm until 1989)	YTV/ITV	Zoe Tate (1989-2005)	Leah Bracknell	Openly lesbian character in this long running British soap.
1970 -	All My Children	ABC	Dr. Lynn Carson (1982-1983) Michael Delaney (1995-1997) Bianca Montgomery (2000-2005) Mary Francis "Frankie" Stone (2001) Mary Margaret "Maggie" Stone ( 2002-2005, 2007) Lena Kundera (2003-2004) Freddy Luper/Zarf/Zoe (2006-2007)	Donna Pescow Chris Bruno Eden Riegel Elizabeth Hendrickson Olga Sosnovska Jeffrey Carlson	Lynn Carson, the first gay character on daytime serials was introduced in 1982, although she never had a love interest. Lynn was written out after only one year. High school teacher Michael was the second gay character when he came out to his his students. Michael was also written out after two years. The character of Bianca, played by Eden Riegel,came out in late 2000, and after a very long time, her mother, Erica Kane, started to accept it. In 2003, ratings rose nearly half a percentage point when news was leaked out that Riegel (Bianca) and Olga Sosnovska (Lena) were to share daytime's first lesbian kiss. Maggie Stone came to Pine Valley in 2002 following the murder of her twin sister Frankie, who also was a love interest for Bianca. Maggie and Bianca developed a close friendship with undercurrents of much deeper feelings. They left Pine Valley together in 2005 for Paris, where they became lovers, both admitting on the show that they were in love with each other. Zarf is a male to female transgender character who fell in love with Bianca. Zarf, who was born Freddy Luper, has taken the female name Zoe. Bianca and Zoe left Pine Valley in April, 2007. Zoe returned to her home in London to record an album as a female rock star and complete her transition, Bianca, with her daughter Miranda, returned to Paris and their life there.
1968 -	One Life to Live	ABC	Billy Douglas (1992-1993) Daniel Colson Matt Cavanaugh (2004-2005)	Ryan Phillippe Mark Dobies Mark Solomon	Months of story came to a climax in episodes in which Andrew Carpenter (Wortham Krimmer), who had been accused of having a sexual relationship with Billy Douglas, brought the AIDS Quilt to rest on the lawn of the Llanview Church. Billy was soon written out after only one year. Lawyer Daniel married Nora Hanen (Hillary B. Smith), but he was also a murderer who killed Paul Cramer (David Tom) and Jennifer Rappaport (Jessica Morris) to keep his affair with a college student a secret. He was caught and sent to prison.
1963 -	General Hospital	ABC	John Hanley (1994-1995) Ted Murty (1997-1998) Lucas Jones (2004-2006)	Lee Mathis Patrick Fabian Ryan Carnes/Ben Hogestyn
1960 -	Coronation Street	ITV	Todd Grimshaw (2001-2004) Sean Tully (2004-present)	Bruno Langley Antony Cotton	First gay story in the show's 40+ year history. Previously paired with Candice Stowe (Nikki Sanderson) and Sarah Louise Platt (Tina O'Brien), Todd became very confused with his sexuality and kissed Sarah Lou's brother Nick; naysayers argue that the storyline was ill-formed and rewrites the character of Todd completely. Sean first appeared in the series as a friend of Todd. After Todd's departure, Sean moved in with Todd's family. Popular among fans of the show, his part will become bigger this summer when his own family appear for the first time.
1956 -	As the World Turns	CBS	Hank Eliot (1988-1989) Luke Snyder (2005-present) Noah Mayer (2007-present)	Brian Starcher Van Hansis Jake Silbermann	The first gay male character on American daytime soaps was seen on, arguably, the most conservative serial. The storyline in question was supposed to involve Hank going through the process of AIDS diagnosis, but the storyline was switched to his lover, Charles, who was not seen for most of the time Hank was on the show. Hank was then written out after only a year. Head writer Douglas Marland was praised for the story and the soap won the 1990 GLAAD Media Award. Luke is the son of popular couple Holden and Lily and came out to his parents in May 2006. He had had a crush on his best friend, Kevin Davis, for a while, but Kevin initially rejected Luke once his sexuality came out. After Luke saved his life, however, Kevin decided to accept him, though their relationship remained strained. In 2007, Luke met another intern at WOAK named Noah.

Reality-based series

The following reality TV programs include central LGBT themes or cast members.

Year	Title	Network	Cast member	Notes
2008	Transamerican Love Story	Logo	Calpernia Addams Alec Mapa Andrea James Jim	Dating show in which the transgendered Addams must select from among eight suitors, including Jim, who is himself transgendered. James is Addams' confidant and Mapa is the host.
2008	Make Me a Supermodel	Bravo	Ronnie Kroell	Modeling competition show, where America votes who stays and who goes. Ronnie, from Chicago, Illinois, is the only openly gay model on Season One of the show.
2007	A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila	MTV	Tila Tequila	Dating show in which groups of straight men and lesbian women vie for the affections of the bisexual Tequila.
2006 -	Work Out	Bravo	Jackie Warner	Reality series following the life of a personal trainer. Warner is a lesbian.
2006	Chris & John to the Rescue!	OUTtv	Chris Carter John Simpson	Best friends and self-proclaimed "culture aficionados" are out to save the world, one gay at a time.
2006	Jacob and Joshua: Nemesis Rising	Logo	Jacob Miller Joshua Miller	Jacob and Joshua are the openly gay pop duo Nemesis.
2006 -	The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency	Oxygen Network	J. P. Calderon John Stallings Gabrial Geismar Duke Snyder Rodrigo de Carli Shaun McCarron Paul Anderson	Stallings joined the agency in season 1. Calderon joined in season 2. Geismar and Snyder are confidants of series star Janice Dickinson. McCarron and Anderson are models who joined in season 3 and are boyfriends. de Carli joined in season 3.
2005	Open Bar	Logo	Tyler Robuck	Followed Robuck as he planned, built and opened a gay bar in West Hollywood, California.
2005	Real Gay	Logo		"Reunion show" featuring LGBT participants from many different reality shows.
2005 -	My Fabulous Gay Wedding	Global (s. 1) Logo	Scott Thompson (season 1) Elvira Kurt	Reality show profiling the wedding celebrations of gay couples. Logo aired repeats of season 1, retitled First Comes Love, then picked up the show with new episodes hosted by Kurt.
2005	Queer Eye for the Straight Girl	Bravo	Robbie Laughlin Danny Teeson Damon Pease Honey Labrador	Spin-off of Queer Eye that made over women instead of men.
2005	Showdog Moms & Dads	Bravo	Ryan Pacchiano Brandon Kindle	Behind-the-scenes eye on the competitive, quirky world of show dogs.
2003	Boy Meets Boy	Bravo	James Getzlaff Brian Austin Wes Culwell	Relationship contest.
2003	Gay Weddings	Bravo		Two gay and two lesbian couples are followed as they prepare for their upcoming marriage ceremonies.
2003 - 2007	Queer Eye	Bravo	Kyan Douglas Ted Allen Jai Rodriguez Thom Filicia Carson Kressley	Original name Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Wardrobe and home makeover show.
2001 -	The Amazing Race	CBS	Joe and Bill (season 1, 11) Oswald and Danny (season 2, 11) Gerard (season 3) Andrew (season 3) Reichen and Chip (season 4) Lynn and Alex (season 7) Patrick (season 7) John and Scott (season 9) Lauren (season 10) Tom and Terry (season 10) Kate & Pat (season 12)	Reichen Lehmkuhl and Chip Arndt were the winners of season 4. Season 11 (All-Stars) brought back previous cast members.
2001-	Big Brother Australia	Network Ten	John Cass Andy Silva Gordon Sloan Nathan Morris Sahra Kearney Claire Bellis Jaime Cedra Jamie O'Brien Geneva Loader Rachael Burns David Graham Rob Rigley Lauren Clayton	John Cass, Nathan Morris, Jamie O'Brien, Claire Bellis, David Graham, and Rob Rigley are gay. Andy Silva, Gordon Sloan, Sahra Kearney, Jaime Cedra, Geneva Loader, Rachael Burns, and Lauren Clayton are bisexual.
2000 -	Survivor	CBS	Richard Hatch (Season 1, All-Stars) Sonja Christopher (Season 1) Brandon Quinton (Season 3) John Carroll (Season 4) Scout Cloud Lee (Season 9) Ami Cusack (Season 9, Season 16) Coby Archa(Season 10) Rafe Judkins (Season 11) J.P. Calderon (Season 13) Brad Virata (Season 13) Todd Herzog (Season 15) Chet Welch (Season 16)	Hatch was the Season 1 winner. Calderon went on to become a model with The Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency. Todd Herzog is a flight attendant and a Mormon and Season 15 winner. Ami Cusack tried out for The Amazing Race with her girlfriend and producers recommended her to audition for Survivor. She then makes a second appearance as a "Favorites" in Survivor 16: Micronesia.
2000 -	Big Brother (UK)	Channel 4	Nadia Almada Brian Dowling Marco Sabba Daniel Bryan Kitten Pinder Derek Laud Kemal Shahin Craig Coates Anna Nolan Richard Newman Michael Cheshire Ian 'H' Watkins Jackiey Budden	Portuguese transsexual Nadia Almada won Big Brother 5 UK in 2004. Brian Dowling, an openly gay man, won the second series. Marco Sabba (series 5), Daniel Bryan (series 5, won third place), Derek Laud (series 6), Craig Coates (series 6, won fifth place), Kemal Shahin (series 6, also a crossdresser), Richard Newman (series 7, won fourth place), and Michael Cheshire (series 7) are gay. Anna Nolan was the first lesbian seen on Big Brother (second place, series 1). Ian Watkins (Celebrity Big Brother 2007, won fourth place) is gay; Jackiey Budden (Celebrity BB 2007, first evictee) is a lesbian.
2000 -	Big Brother (USA)	CBS	Bill "Bunky" Miller (Big Brother 2) Marcellas Reynolds (Big Brother 3) Will Wikle (Season 5) Ivette Corredero (Season 6) Dustin Erikstrup (Season 8) Joe Barber (Season 8) Joshuah Welch (Season 9) Neil Garcia (Season 9)	Bunky's husband at the time sent Bunky a letter during the show during Big Brother 2. Ivette's live-in girlfriend was interviewed on the show during Big Brother 6. Dustin and Joe were cast as hated ex-boyfriends on Big Brother 8. Joshua and Neil were originally "soulmates" on the show but Neil had to leave the House voluntarily due to urgent personal matters and Joshua selected formerly-evicted Sharon as his new mate.
1996 - 1998	All Rise for Julian Clary		Julian Clary	"Judge" Julian Clary hears "cases" of disputes between friends and neighbors.
1992 -	The Real World	MTV	Norman Korpi (New York) Beth Anthony (Los Angeles) Pedro Zamora (San Francisco) Dan Renzi (Miami) Genesis Moss (Boston) Ruthie Alcaide (Hawaii) Justin Deabler (Hawaii) Danny Roberts (New Orleans) Chris Beckman (Chicago) Aneesa Ferrera (Chicago) Coral Smith (Back to New York) Simon (Paris) Karamo Brown (Philadelphia) Willie Hernández (Philadelphia) Tyler Duckworth (Key West) Davis Mallory (Denver)	20-somethings living together, some LGB roommates. While most gay, lesbian and bisexual cast members' sexuality were discussed or shown on the program, Coral didn't come out of the closet until years after her show had ended. Norman dated Charles Perez on-camera, which had the effect of outing Perez. Pedro Zamora dated Sean Sasser on the show and the two exchanged vows in an on-air commitment ceremony.
1973	An American Family	PBS	Lance Loud

Specials, news, information and variety programs

The following televisions programs include central LGBT themes, characters or cast members.

Year	Title	Network	Character name and/or Actor	Notes
2007-	The Big Gay Sketch Show	Logo		Gay-themed comedy sketch show produced by Rosie O'Donnell.
2006-2007	The Megan Mullally Show	MyNetworkTV	Megan Mullally	Talk show. Mullally acknowledged her bisexuality while appearing on Will & Grace.
2006	I've Got a Secret	GSN	Billy Bean Frank DeCaro Jermaine Taylor Suzanne Westenhoefer	Revival of the classic game show with, coincidentally or not, an all-gay panel.
2006	Inside TV Land: Tickled Pink	TV Land		Hour-long special on the history of homosexuality in classic TV programs.
2005 -	Iron Chef America	Food Network	Cat Cora	Cat Cora is one of the show's Iron Chefs. She is also a lesbian.
2005-	The House of Venus Show	OUTtv Pink TV	Mark Kenneth Woods, Michael Venus, Dickey Doo and drag queen Cotton	All gay-themed sketch comedy show.
2005	Real Gay	Logo		"Reunion" show featured dozens of LGBT reality participants. Hosted by Kim Coles.
2005-	CBS News on Logo	Logo	Jason Bellini	News programming produced in partnership with CBS
2005-	Wisecrack	Logo		Stand-up comedy series featuring LGBT comics.
2004-	The Brini Maxwell Show	Style	Ben Sander as Brini Maxwell	Drag queen with home and hobby tips
2004	How Gay are You?	Sky One		'Lighthearted' look at whether it is possible to be 'too gay'?
2003-	The Ellen DeGeneres Show	syndicated	Ellen DeGeneres	Talk show hosted by DeGeneres.
2003	Totally Gay	VH1	Trev Broudy (Narrator), Ellen DeGeneres, Melissa Etheridge, Rupert Everett, Barney Frank, John Cameron Mitchell	Documentary about the mainstreaming of LGBT culture in the U.S.
2002 -	The Suze Orman Show	CNBC	Suze Orman	Orman is a financial adviser and television personality who has written a number of books. She came out publicly in 2007.
1998	In Through the Out Door	Showtime	Jaffe Cohen Elvira Kurt Lea Delaria Bob Smith Suzanne Westenhoefer	Sketch comedy special.
1997-	The View	syndicated	Rosie O'Donnell	O'Donnell joined the cast in 2006 and left in 2007.
1996-2002	The Rosie O'Donnell Show	syndicated	Rosie O'Donnell	O'Donnell came out shortly before leaving the show.
1996 - 1998	The RuPaul Show	VH1	RuPaul	Talk show hosted by drag queen.
1995 - 2001	10% QTV	Rogers Television		LGBT newsmagazine; first continuing LGBT-themed series in Canadian television history
1994-1995	The Charles Perez Show	syndicated	Charles Perez
1992-	In The Life	PBS		monthly LGBT news magazine.
1987	CBS Schoolbreak Special: What If I'm Gay?	CBS	Todd Bowers (Richard Joseph Paul)
1986	The Truth About Alex	HBO (US)	Alex Prager (Peter Spence)	After school special-style drama.
1967	CBS Reports: The Homosexuals	CBS		Hosted by Mike Wallace. Five gay men were interviewed for the program, which concealed the mens' identities by seating them behind potted palm trees.

Live Action series with occasional LGBT themes or characters

Some television programs would have a single episode with LGBT themes (a.k.a. the gay episode) or a LGBT character who made an occasional appearance in the series. See also List of television episodes with LGBT themes.

• Are You Being Served? Implicit bisexuality of senior sales staff member Wilberforce Claybourne Humphries, usually just called "Mr. Humphries", played by John Inman.
• Babylon 5 - Throughout seasons 1 and 2 a lesbian relationship is strongly implied between Talia Winters and Cmdr. Susan Ivanova. This relationship was confirmed during the third season.
• Boston Public - Drama revolving around high school teachers and students. Gay, bisexual and transgender students made occasional appearances.
• Firefly - The Companion Inara accepted male and female clients. An unaired episode that took place at a brothel had both male and female prostitutes.
• Law & Order - (Serena Southerlyn played by Elisabeth Röhm) The character was on the show from 2001-2005, and hints were dropped about her sexuality, but she only came out at the end of her last episode, Ain't No Love. Numerous cases have included gay victims, gay suspects and gay issues.
• Once and Again was nominated for the GLAAD Media Awards.
• Sex and the City - Carrie's friend Stanford Blatch is gay, as is Charlotte's friend Anthony. Samantha had a bisexual experience.

Animated series with LGBT themes or characters

Animated series, i.e. Saturday morning cartoons, mostly aimed at young children often shy away from homosexuality or transsexuality and when a character has any sort of romantic attachments it is always shown as being heterosexual. However, occasionally LGBT themes or characters do sneak into certain episodes in hidden or coded ways. Animated series aimed at a more mature audience often have more explicit LGBT characters.

• .hack//SIGN - The lead character, Tsukasa, is female outside of the game "The World", but plays a male character and is obviously male-identified.
• American Dad! - Stan's neighbors and local news anchors Greg Corbin and Terry Bates are a couple.
• Azumanga Daioh - The recurring minor character Kaorin is a lesbian and has an unrequinted love for one of the show's main characters.
• Code Monkeys - Clarence is a flamboyantly gay African American man who composes music for video games.
• Family Guy - Brian's cousin Jasper is gay and married his Filipino boyfriend. Stewie has both gay and straight fantasies although his character should not be old enough to be aware of sexual identity.
• Futurama - Enos Fry, believed to be Fry's Grandfather, had strong homosexual tendencies, at one point wondering why boys are supposed to like girls. Bender and Fry had unidentified gay neighbors when they moved into a new apartment. Fry was harassed by a gay professional beach bully.
• Gargoyles - According to the show's creator, the character "Lexington" is gay.
• InuYasha - The character Jakotsu is a member of antagonists known as the Band of Seven. He is openly gay and frequently flirts with his male opponents, especially InuYasha and Sesshomaru.
• King of the Hill - Dale Gribble's father is gay. One of Bill Dauterive's relatives at the Château d’Haute Rive is a gay man. Peggy Hill becomes friends with a drag queen named Carolyn; however, Carolyn believes that Peggy is a drag queen as well and Peggy is under the impression that Carolyn is a biological woman.
• Lilo and Stitch - The male alien character Pleakley constantly wears female clothing (and makeup) and acknowledges this.
• One Piece - The character named "Mr. 2 Bon Clay" is gay based on his flamboyant dress. In the original Japanese manga, his clothing refers to him as such with slang.
• Proud Family - A flamboyant magican appears in a handful of episodes.
• Pokemon - The main villains of the show, Team Rocket, are often seen in cross dressing disguises. In a banned episode in North America, Team Rocket enters a bathing suit contest. James, the male member of Team Rocket, sports a bikini with inflatible fake breasts. He has also worn several other outfits, such as a ballerina tutu, Southern bell-style dress, and a kogal outfit with make-up.
• Queer Duck - Short-lived animated series, originating as a Flash cartoon and moved to Showtime. Inspired a direct-to-DVD film.
• Sailor Moon- Zoicite, one of Queen Beryl's henchmen, was a gay man, but was changed into a woman in the English version. The same was done with two other villains, Fish-Eye (also a gay man and a transvestie) and Zirconia (originally a woman, but a man in the English dub), who appeared later in the series. Sailor Uranus and Sailor Neptune are a lesbian couple (they are referred to as "cousins" in English). The Sailor Starlights are male in human form, but become female after transforming.
• Superman: The Animated Series - In the animated series that aired in the late 1990s, Maggie Sawyer appeared in a few episodes and was seen with another woman who fans of the comic books would understand as being her girlfriend.
• Space Goofs- the character Candy is openly gay. He finds guys attractive, likes jewellery and dresses up as a girl and loves it.
• Teen Titans - Brotherhood of Evil villains the Brain and Monsieur Mallah are lovers in their modern DC Comics appearances; the animated series, however, gives no indication of such a relationship.
• Trollz - "Simon" the villain in the series often dressed up in women's clothing.
• X-Men - In the 1992 - 1997 animated series, bisexual Mystique and homosexual Northstar both appear in the series although no mention or suggestion is made of their sexual orientation.
• X-Men: Evolution - the bisexual Mystique appears as a recurring villain but the only hint at her orientation is when Destiny, who was her female lover in several comics, is described as her "best friend."

See also

• List of dramatic television series with LGBT characters
• List of television episodes with LGBT themes
• List of lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender-related films
• List of gay, lesbian, or bisexual figures in fiction and myth
• Transgender in film and television
• Queer culture

External links

• About Gay Movies: Compendium of LGBT-themed movies and television series. With reviews, pictures, wallpapers, forum, glbt filmfestivals, gay movie history, sweepstakes and more
• Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual Television Characters: Compendium of English-language LGBT-related television; current as of 2001.
• Queer TV Database an online listing of lesbian, gay and bisexual characters in TV shows broadcast in the UK and Éire
• TV Gayed, GLAAD's weekly guide to what's leasbian, gay, bisexual or transgender on television
• Where We Are on TV, GLAAD's overview of diversity on television