The History of TV's Gay Teens from "ATWT" to "Queer as Folk"

Justin’s last year of high school was full of harassment by his homophobic classmates, one of whom almost killed him in the bashing that takes place at the end of the first season finale. That part of Justin’s experience, while extreme, wasn’t as alien to Harrison. Asked if he’d experienced bullying in high school, he told the Advocate, “Absolutely, yeah. Mostly when I was younger. The typical kind of thing … I don't like talking about it. By the time I came out, that kind of stopped it. The bullying stopped when I claimed myself and proved that I wasn't afraid. A lot of it was when I was hiding when I was younger.”

Like Jack in Dawson’s Creek, Justin was no longer a teenager when QAF came to the end of its five-year run. After struggling with the physical and emotional aftermath of the bashing, he not only survived, but went on to a promising future as an artist, learning by the series’ finale that painting well is the best revenge.

The original British version of Queer as Folk also featured a gay teenager, Nathan (Charlie Hunnam), but has never been shown on American television.

Degrassi: The Next Generation (2001 Canada /2003 U.S.)

Degrassi: The Next Generation is the latest incarnation of the long running Degrassi franchise that began with 1983’s The Kids of Degrassi Street. Produced for Canadian television, D:TNG tells the stories of some of the offspring of the original characters, including Marco Del Rossi (Adamo Ruggiero) and his boyfriend Dylan Michalchuk (John Bregar).

Even before Kids of Degrassi debuted, series creator Linda Schuyler wanted to work with a storyline involving gay teenagers. She was haunted by the 1979 suicide of a friend’s son, who left a note saying he couldn’t deal with being gay. "It was the first time in my adult life that I had come face-to-face with that," Schuyler told The Advocate in 2004, adding that having a gay teenaged character who was fully developed and had a rewarding life was "on the boards right from the beginning."

It didn’t happen until 2002, when Schuyler and co-producer Stephen Stohn introduced the character of Marco in the second season of D:TNG, but in the years that followed, they crafted a fully-fleshed, complex, believable gay character – and gave him a life. A life that includes love, maybe even of the "made for each other" variety, with high school sweetheart and on-again off-again college boyfriend Dylan.

Like Noah and Luke on As the World Turns, Degrassi’s Marco is struggling with his sexual identity while Dylan has fully accepted who he is. “We wanted Dylan to be comfortable in his own skin,” the show’s executive producer and writer James Hurst told AfterElton.com last year. “We wanted him to be a kind of role model for Marco, for gay kids in general.” Hurst said he knew that coming out in high school can be “brutal” but added, “When you get through that you might come out the other side happier and more confident and fully formed. That's Dylan.”

Dylan and Marco break up during Dylan’s first year of college, and Marco starts dating another boy at Degrassi. He organizes a safe sex education assembly, and comes out to his father. When his father tells him that, while he still loves him, he doesn’t want to know about that part of his son, Marco replies, "Then you don't want to know me."

Marco ends up graduating as valedictorian of his class, and reunites with Dylan over the summer. When Dylan leaves town to take a position on a Swiss hockey team, Marco goes into a tailspin. He doesn’t follow Dawson’s Creek’s Jack into alcoholism, but develops a serious gambling problem.

D:TNG is the most-watched show on the N, Nickelodeon’s teen network. It has received awards for excellence in children’s programming, the New York Times called it the best teen show in the world, and AfterElton.com tagged it television’s best portrayal of gay teens. Past episodes went into nationwide syndication this month, and a new season – the last one – premieres in October, and will presumably reveal how Marco resolves his personal problems and perhaps write a new chapter in the Marco and Dylan relationship. They may or may not have a happy ending as a couple, but just as Schulyler intended, there’s absolutely no question that they, like all Degrassi’s queer kids, will have real lives.