Reality Program, Competition

You know how they work – the performing monkeys dance (or cook or sing or sew, etc), and then you or some judges vote, and someone generally wins some money, or a fabulous new future. It’s the American Dream compressed into 10 weeks.

Sometimes these programs generate a lot of stress, and you get to see the contestants' ugly side, but just as often, you see the stress turn into solidarity between competitors, and a triumph of spirit over greed.

The Amazing Race

TAR is easily one of the most gay inclusive shows on television, and the one that usually scores CBS any points at all with GLAAD. And this past season of the show was about as queer as it gets. Mike and Mel White were team gay, and represented well, even if you never knew they were the most famous queers the show’s ever had. Plus, we got a bonus gay with Luke, who was also deaf – another first on network TV – plus a lesbian contestant as well!

Dancing With The Stars

Last fall, the ballroom extravaganza had their first gay contestant, Lance Bass. Despite rampant speculation they'd give him a male partner, the show opted for tradition. In all reality, while it would have been great to see a positive representation of same-sex ballroom, it understandably would have changed the scoring dynamic on the show. Lance did us proud, making it all the way to the final three.

RuPaul’s Drag Race

What’s gay about this show? We're going to pretend you didn’t ask. Either that or take away your toaster oven. Shot on a shoestring budget for Logo, this drag queen reality was an instant hit.

Whether in a suit or a dress, host RuPaul was a force of nature and while she definitely had to carry the judges table, the contestants truly had a lot of heart. When Ongina won the MAC Viva Glam Award and came out as HIV-positive, we all cried at her bravery.

Project Runway

Oi! What a mess. After closing down shop last October, the ratings juggernaut that launched 1000 variations on Bravo, finally vacated the court system and debuted on Lifetime. The verdict? Still out after only three episodes, but Heidi is there, as is the only most important member of the cast, Tim "make it work" Gunn.

Top Chef

Last season's Top Chef: New York gave us two out gay contestants, Richard and Patrick, while the current Top Chef: Las Vegas has served us up Ash Fulk, and lesbians Preeti Mistry and Ashley Merriman. We developed a girl crush on Ashley when they had the wedding challenge and she pointed out the irony that three of the contestants couldn't get married themselves. You go, girl!

Dance Your Ass Off

Oxygen created an odd hybrid that makes a lot of sense with this show. If there’s one consistent thing that DWTS contestants say, it’s that they lose weight. Joey “Fat One” Fatone made a huge deal out of it. So why not combine The Biggest Loser with a dance show?

Oxygen did, and got Dance Your Ass Off. You've gotta love the freedom of cable for giving a show that name. Then they delivered two gay contestants, and one of them, Reuben, won the grand prize.

American Idol

What can we say, except you guys really got into the show this year? We had Adam Lambert standing in the remains of the closet he shattered years ago ago, unable to confirm he was out because contestants can’t talk to the media during the show.

Sure we all knew the truth, but it was hysterical watching the mainstream press stumble around trying to figure out what to say. Plus the guy that actually won was pretty adorable, too. And it gave us the best reality bromance since Bronnie.