The AfterElton.com 2007 Visibility Awards

Top Chef, Bravo

When a reality show judged by a gay man (Ted Allen) is won by a bisexual man (Hung Hyunh) who defeated a gay man (Dale Levitsky) in a down to the wire finale, it’s hard not to acknowledge it as a great moment for gay and bisexual visibility. And while Top Chef winner Hung wasn’t terribly forthcoming about his bisexuality, that certainly wasn’t true of runner-up Dale, who at one point during the season said “I’m a big gay chef and I’m gonna outcook your ass!” How can you not love that?

Honorable Mention:

The Amazing Race

The current cycle of Bravo’s Project Runway might have started off with seven gay men, but given that it’s a show about designing fashion wear, the news wasn’t exactly groundbreaking. But CBS’ The Amazing Race has been groundbreaking when it comes to featuring gay contestants, including Reichen Lehmkuhl and Chip Arndt who finished first in the show’s fourth season. This year The Amazing Race: All Stars featured a new first: two gay couples — best friends Danny and Oswald and The Guidos, Joe and Bill.

Since teams are made of couples, oftentimes romantic ones, The Amazing Race is one of the few programs where America has the chance to actually see gay couples. And unlike past seasons, All Stars didn’t shy away from showing physical affection between partners Joe and Bill or the campier aspects of Danny and Oswald. And the show has continued its gay friendliness with the season currently underway, which initially included another gay man and the show’s first lesbian couple.

Best Animated Show

Rick & Steve: The Happiest Gay Couple in All the World (Logo)

Unapologetically gay, intended for gay audiences, produced by a gay network, and as bawdy as anything on cable, Rick & Steve gave gay viewers the rare chance to see a show written and produced by folks like themselves. Made using Lego-like children’s blocks, the show hilariously takes advantage of the juxtaposition of characters built from plastic that say and behave outrageously. Rick & Steve proves that laughing at gay people need not be politically incorrect, especially when we’re the ones doing the laughing. (Note: Logo is AfterElton.com’s parent company.)

Best Networks

Broadcast: ABC

As we said in our year-end review of television programming, when it comes to gay visibility on network television, ABC is in first and there really isn’t anyone else in second or even third. With Brothers & Sisters, Ugly Betty, Desperate Housewives and Dirty Sexy Money featuring gay, bisexual and/or transgender characters, not to mention gay-friendly episodes of Private Practice, Boston Legal, The Knights of Prosperity, and The George Lopez Show as well as Barbara Walter’s well-done 20/20 special about transgender children, ABC truly stands heads and shoulders above their competitors.

Cable: Bravo

With seven gay contestants on Project Runway (not to mention Tim Gunn and Michael Kors) and gay contestants, judges and hosts on Top Chef, Top Design, Shear Genius, Queer Eye, and Work Out as well as the very gay-friendly Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List, Bravo is as dominant when it comes to gay representation on cable as ABC is on broadcast.

And where some networks have taken the trashy, low-road when it comes to reality programming (VH1 ring any bells?), Bravo’s programs are almost always smart and give gay men the chance to shine in a variety of professions (if somewhat stereotypical). And with Queer Eye having just aired its final original show, we’ll acknowledge once more that the show was truly something new in the annals of television.

Dishonorable Mention: BET

In our article examing the year in television we discussed the lack of gay men of color on television. When it comes to gay visibility on the premiere network for African Americans — BET — the situation is quite possibly even worse. Gay viewers are far more likely to find themselves represented on the lesser known and lesser watched BETJ where at least author and activist Keith Boykin co-hosts My Two Cents than on BET itself.