Top 10 GLBT

TV Icons
(this list is by no means exhaustive, and is completely personal opinion)

10.) David Fisher (Six Feet Under)—Giving beauty tips is a skill that many gay men (certainly not all) pride themselves in, but when one famous gay makes you over, it's for good! David Fisher (Michael C. Hall) is a co-owner of Fisher & Diaz Family Funeral Home and hits the charts at 10 for having a starring gay role in this ground-breaking show not centered around an LGBT theme -- and he makes no bones about it! Ashes, maybe.

9.) Bev Harris (Roseanne)—Many of TV’s gay icons are young, and fit and popular. None of these describe the nasally, lesbian mother of Roseanne Conner in the first "reality" self-titled TV show. Bev (Estelle Parsons), who comes out while in her 60s with fellow "unorthodox" gay characters (Leon and his partner Scott and the cooky-mystic Nancy) all play an important part of a show about Midwestern America in all its ugly guts and glory -- and that makes it really beautiful. Sara Gilbert, Roseanne’s Darlene, who will be starting her own TV show in the fall, Twins, is also a lesbian mother with life partner Allison Adler, who have been together since 2002.

8.) Andrew Van De Camp (Desperate Housewives)—Written and produced by a gay man himself (Marc Cherry), Desperate Housewives has certainly wed its way into the hearts of the GLBT community with very homophilic-comedic situations. Sitting at my pick for number 8, Andrew Van de Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), son of Desperate-Bree, spiced up the show a bit with an unexpected pool scene and the revelation of his bisexuality. Andrew makes the list because, in the polarized black-and-white TV industry, the gray area of bisexuality is infrequently explored.

7.) Carson Kressley (Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, Fashion)—“ I'm not gay. I'm questioning!” The quick-witted self-proclaimed Ellen Degeneres look-a-like has had a powerful impact on the way homosexuality is viewed in the mass media with his special gay-on-straight reality programming. Kressley, who ushered in the “it’s-in-to-be-out” era, is not afraid to talk about his sex-life or his life as a gay man with participants of the Queer Eye. The show has received criticism for “reverse-discrimination” -- making it seem as though all gay men have a “gene” giving them the know-how to cook, clean, dress, do hair, and be more culturally-correct; however, the show plays an important role in helping society in general realize that gay men are people too. And fabulous ones at that. “Shake-down-flip-it-and-reverse-it!”

6.) Karen Walker (Will & Grace)—An incredible dresser, buckets of money, a hoot and a half, a killer rack, and bixsexual: this is how Karen Walker describes herself on one of the top gay shows of all time, Will & Grace. The word from producers is that the show gets a lot of grief because neither of the gay characters seems to maintain a boyfriend longer than a gay line at a football game, and critics say that some of the characters fall prey to stereotypes. But creators said Will & Grace wasn’t meant to teach a lesson or even to serve as a “...powerful force in the gay agenda” but to entertain. Undoubtedly, the most entertaining of the GLBT characters makes no apologies for herself (or to her maid). Megan Mullally, an open bisexual who came out in a 1999 issue of The Advocate, portrays something of a rarity in TV today. “Hello, starshine!”

5.) Willow Rosenberg (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)—This "runic red-head" flew onto the small screen at a time when many characters in serious teen-oriented TV were straight (or ambiguous) and entered into a semi-physical, often-awkward relationship with a fellow witch Tarah. The normal couple was treated as just that. Even while ultimately Tarah ended up with a fatal bullet wound in her chest Willow’s character as a strong, powerful witch, who just happened to be a lesbian, remained steadfast in the now cult-classic.

4.) Justin Taylor/Randy Harrison (Queer as Folk)—Coming out is a hard thing to do, and for those of us who didn’t have the balls to do it in high school, watching someone who did is the next best thing. Justin Taylor, blonde-boy almost-martyr of one of Showtime’s most famous hits, did come out, and to take our boyish fantasies further, he took his dream-guy to prom. Of course, life isn’t easy for Justin who was disowned by his father, nearly beaten to death by the high school football star (and former sexual partner), and madly in love with a man who could never really live up to his expectations ... outside the bedroom. Randy Harrison, one of the few actors on the show who is gay, was my pick because he never hid who he was, never let others take advantage of him, and always let his sun-shine brightly.

3.) Agnes Moorehead (Bewitched)—One of the great classics that covertly attacks discrimination, Bewitched seemed to advocate the issue of sexuality most. The star, Samantha, a powerful witch, lives a life of a mortal and hides her identity from a society who wouldn’t understand (she was in her broom-closet, so to speak). Agnes Moorehead, who plays Endora, Samantha’s interfering dogmatic mother-in-law (who is curiously single and hates Samantha’s father), believes Sam shouldn’t disguise herself just because she might be rejected by society. Deep, huh? There is a reason the show was a pride-parade of GLBT actors, namely Agnes Moorehead (a Fundamentalist Christian, whose homosexuality was an open secret), Dick Sergeant (Darrin #2), and Paul Lynde (Goofy Uncle Arthur).The show’s main actress, Elizabeth Montgomery was also an avid activist for gay rights, often appearing in protests with fellow cast-mates during the production of Bewitched. Tinka-tinka-tu!

2.) Xena (Xena:Warrior Princess)—Although the star, Lucy Lawless, will tell you that Xena IS gay, many people still choose to believe that this icon is as straight as her sword. Perhaps this denial stems from the emotionally-heavy relationship between a certain "warrior princess" and her "battling bard" that leaves the super-hero ambiguoity in the physical department. The beauty of Xena is that it quietly displays a relationship between two members of the same sex that is about more than sex— homosexuality isn’t just a physical thing, it’s as highly developed and involved as any relationship. In Xena we find someone only as straight as her chakram (her "round-killing-thing.")

1.) Ellen Degeneres (The Ellen Show, Ellen)—Topping the charts as THE most influential Gay Icon in the media today of course, is Ellen Degeneres. Even though Ellen, claims she never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community, beginning with her double-decker coming-out in 1997, it was almost impossible for her not to be. With a new hit-talk-show, several guest appearances, a very successful Disney movie, and hosting the Emmy’s after two national disasters, Ellen has really joked herself into the limelight, and is my pick for the Top GLBT TV Icon! Afterall, us gays gotta laugh!

GLAAD estimates that this Fall’s season will have about 16 regular GLBT characters, of about 710, appearing in 14 of 110 shows—a regression from previous years’ numbers.