Survival of the Fab-est: How Gay TV Characters Evolve

Genus: Homo Erect Erectus

Lay Terminology: “The Gay Straight Man”

Another evolutionary emergence, one to arise slightly later from the primordial muck, is the Gay Straight Man.

The earliest known gay TV man, or pre-gay TV man if you will, carried the burden of shame assumed inevitable from a life crammed in a closet, and walked with a distinctive stoop, or “swish”. Evidence of this type, nearly impossible to detect unless examining early television with a careful attention to innuendo and leisure suits, was found in various “uncle,” “neighbor,” and “floral/hair/event planning services” roles on shows such as Bewitched, Mister Peepers, and The Ghost & Mrs. Muir.

But sometimes evolution, she is a cruel mistress. In an effort to straighten out the swish, TV shows of the more progressive 1990s featured a gay character type walking in such an erect manner he seemed, in scientific terms, to be maneuvering as if some stick-like implement had been inserted upward through the anus.

Exhibit A): Melrose Place’s Matt Fielding (Doug Savant), circa 1992. Rather than being established as the problem son in a big family, Matt was introduced among a group of fellow twenty-somethings to fulfill two functions that, while well intentioned, quickly proved contradictory.

On the one hand, the inclusion of a gay man alongside an African-American woman helped establish the show’s politically correct credentials, emphasizing the hip, young urban environment in which they lived. At the same time, early episodes took great pains to emphasize that Matt was no different than the other characters. In the pilot, he even made a speech about how he desires the same things in life as the others.

To render him the same as the straight characters meant stripping him of any attributes that might be perceived as gay. While efforts to avoid perpetuating stereotypes in a gay character might be commended, the show went the extra distance and removed any traces of anything gay at all, including gay friends, boyfriends, and any kind of appreciation for gay culture and humor.

Instead, Matt became a bland, largely forgettable character, whose primary function was being a hospital administrator ensnared in the machinations of far more interesting characters he worked with, such as the infamous Kimberly Shaw (Marcia Cross).

Exhibit B): Will and Grace’s Will Truman (Eric McCormack) circa 1998. Cut from the same cloth as Matt, but also an evolutionary leap forward, Will, in looks and demeanor, could easily pass for straight, and functioned as the straight man among a more colorful, more interesting cast of characters surrounding him.

In one of the show’s first season episodes, “Will Works Out,” Will expressed his own discomfort at best friend Jack’s more flamboyant behavior, thereby reinforcing how “straight” Will was in comparison — and, presumably, rendering him more relatable to the majority of the mainstream viewing audience the show was trying to win over.

Ironically, though, Will’s interactions with Jack were also what enabled him to be more comfortably and demonstrably gay than Matt ever was, whether it be ogling guys in magazines together or referencing favorite gay icons. And most significantly, unlike Matt who only went on the occasional date, Will did have a love life, one that occupied more of the show in later seasons, culminating in a long-term relationship.

Exhibit C): Brothers & Sisters’ Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys), introduced in 2006 and still walking proudly erect today on weekly TV. Bares more than a passing resemblance to fellow uptight yuppie lawyer Will, but is a further evolutionary leap forward.

Early episodes found Kevin (much like Will with Jack) expressing discomfort with prospective-boyfriend Scotty (Luke MacFarlane) and his more effusive behavior and PDAs. But Kevin quickly moved beyond that, and unlike Will, has been allowed to have not only an active dating life, but an active sex life as well. This is certainly a vast improvement on Matt, showing that no matter how much gay men might look and act like straight men, there are fundamental differences under the covers that shouldn’t be kept under wraps.