Queerly Beloved

Friends: "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" (1996)

It wasn't the first same-sex wedding on television, but it's arguably the best-known. Series regular Ross' (David Schwimmer) ex-wife, Carol (Jane Sibbett) marries partner Susan (Jessica Hecht) in a ceremony presided over by a minister played by Candace Gingrich, the out lesbian sister of then-Congressman Newt Gingrich, the very poster child for anti-gay Republicanism.

Interestingly, in this same year, one of television's only out gay regular characters, Spin City's Carter Heywood (Michael Boatman), protests New York City Mayor Randall Winston's (Barry Bostwick) opposition to same-sex marriage by staging a sham wedding at City Hall with a female friend. Whether in spite of or due to the intense politics that year, there was a gap of five years before the networks tackled a same-sex wedding again.

Will and Grace: "Coffee and Commitment" (2001)

Will and Grace barely showed same sex couples holding hands in its first several seasons, but they did devote an entire episode to the commitment ceremony of minor recurring characters Joe (Jerry Levine) and Larry (Tim Bagley).

Grace: Can you believe it? They're getting married in four days. I love weddings.
Will: Well, it's not strictly a wedding; it's a same-sex civil union, which affords many of the same rights as a marriage.
Grace: Right. Where are they going on their honeymoon?
Will: Well, it's not strictly a honeymoon; it's a same-sex vacation with a lot of the same events as a honeymoon.

The two guys ask Will (Eric McCormack) and Grace (Debra Messing) to read at the ceremony, where the gay/straight BFFs start bickering like an old married couple themselves.

Whoopi: “Don’t Hide Love” (2004)

Whoopi came and went on the television scene in just a few months, probably because 2004 wasn't ready for its bombastic anti-Bush, anti-Iraq war comedy. It starred comedian Whoopi Goldberg as a has-been singer now running an unsuccessful hotel in New York City. Shortly before the show aired its final episode, Whoopi let her lesbian cousin get married at the hotel. Viewers seem to be experiencing some buyer's remorse at the show's failure, and rumors surface from time to time about a DVD release, but for now, the episode is not available anywhere.

The Simpsons: There's Something About Marrying" (2005)

This episode of FOX's animated series The Simpsons would have made the list even if all it contained was Homer's sister Patty coming out as a lesbian and announcing her plans to marry her girlfriend – even if she did call it off when she found out her bride was a man in disguise.

But that wasn't all. In typical over-the-top Simpsons style, the town of Springfield fights against having been tagged the "least desirable" place to live in America by turning to the burgeoning gay wedding market and trying to capture some gay tourist dollars for themselves. Homer converts the family garage into a same-sex wedding chapel, and starts each ceremony with the phrase, "Queerly beloved…"

Desperate Housewives, TBA

It's hard to predict what will come of it, but there are rumors that an upcoming episode of steamy nighttime soap Desperate Housewives will feature a same-sex commitment ceremony. The series has tackled a few gay-firsts, including its portrayal of teenaged gay bad-boy Andrew Van De Kamp (Shawn Pyfrom), so it will be interesting to see what develops.