When it comes to gay visibility on TV, are straight (and a few gay) men clueless?

Which isn’t to say straight men have done nothing when it comes to gay visibility. Ironically, they seem to have done their best gay work on animated shows aimed at young men including The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad.

Scripted characters on shows created primarliy by straight men include Lloyd from Entourage, Oscar on The Office, Chaz Pratt on ER, Gay Kenny on My Name is Earl, and Julien Lowe on The Shield. (However, our heterosexual brethren lose one point because Davie Bartis and Doug Liman have apparently de-gayed a female character on Knight Rider while simultaneoulsy suggesting that KITT, the talking car, might be that show’s “gay” character.)

But given the fact that even in 2008, straight (and, yes, some closeted) white men still dominate Hollywood, it seems clear that the lion’s share of the blame for the lack of gay visibility falls on their shoulders.

Why the lack of gay content from these men producing content for our televisions? It’s a writing truism that writers write what they know and what interests them. However, the issue goes deeper than that. During this summer’s Television Critics Association tour in Los Angeles, the topic of gay visibility was raised numerous times by this and other journalists during panels and in one-on-one interviews.

Here are some of the responses given:

As I say, we don't really look to do anything in particular. We look for what the material demands. There have been characters on Disney Channel who I think people have thought were gay. That's for the audience to interpret. What we're about is telling a great story, a relevant story, a story that addresses the needs, concerns, dreams, and aspirations and hopes of much of our audience. That's my goal. However we get at that, that's my goal.

̬— Gary Marsh, President, Entertainment, Disney Channels Worldwide, when asked if the Disney Channel was considering having a show with a gay family.

I don’t think it’s a problem at all. I mean I think there are, when you look at the total television landscape, you know, sci-fi/fantasy is a part of it so it’s not that anyone has had any agenda in terms of not doing that. I think it’s just a question of if it fits with the storyline, the theme of the show. There was a gay character on Lost. That’s a sci-fi show.

̬— Dave Howe, President Sci Fi Channel, when asked if the lack of gay characters in science fiction programming was a problem.

Gary Marsh, Dave Howe, Sam Egan, Damian Kindler, Ronald D. Moore
Photos courtesy of Getty Images

Sure. I would say we're definitely open to it.

̬— Sam Egan, showrunner for Sanctuary, when asked if Sanctuary would include a gay character.

But truthfully I don't mean to pander to it, but this show is about prejudice to a large extent, that there are creatures who are misunderstood and hunted and persecuted and Magnus' initial mission, to a large extent, is to protect those that need protecting, and there's -- I don't think you need to be so, you know, kind of on the nose and, say, "Here's a gay character." You can actually explore a lot of those themes front and center. That's what sci-fi allows you to do, explore very relevant social issues without saying, "And here comes this socially relevant issue."

̬— Damian Kindler, Executive Producer, Sanctuary, when asked if Sanctuary would include a gay character

Yeah, sure. I don't see any reason why we wouldn't do that. I don't think there's anybody who's identified as such in the pilot, but I see no reason why we wouldn't.

̬— Ronald D. Moore, Executive Producer Caprica, when asked if Caprica would have a gay character.

Characters you can "interpret" as gay. Characters which are “misunderstood”, “hunted”, and “persecuted” as metaphors for homosexuality. And writers and executives who are “open” to gay characters, but don’t currently include any on their shows. (To be fair to Ron Moore, his new pilot Virtuality does include a gay couple that, should the show actually be picked up, will quite possibly be groundbreaking.)

One network president and one showrunner also stated they couldn’t include gay content as their network and programs “didn’t include sex”. Because being gay is all about sex, after all.

Is it any wonder we here at AfterElton.com sometimes get a little perturbed when discussing gay representation on television? And it’s not just television, of course. When Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, executive producers on the new Star Trek movie, were asked if their film would finally add a gay character to the Star Trek universe said, “It was discussed” and “… hopefully the franchise will last more than one movie and that can be addressed.”

In other words, don’t hold your breath.