Best Gay Character, Drama

We've come a long way, baby. When we nominted out favorite gay actors, we had a few playing straight guys, so when we're honoring our favorite dudes onscreen, we need to look at both the actors, and the characters they bring to life.

While we wouldn’t exactly say our cup was overflowing when we got to the nominations for this category, we have to admit that we were pleasantly surprised at the number of choices we had, and how many of them were fan favorites.

BK (No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency)

Yes, he's a hairdresser, but he's a hairdresser in a third-world country. And an out one at that. BK is central to how information flows in this HBO series, and the heroine doesn’t get to be heroic without a little help from her gay friend. The fact that he can also help her with her hairdo is just a bonus.

Calvin (Greek)

He’s just another frat brother. And that may be the most remarkable thing about him. Calvin is an out man of color, living in a fraternity house. And he’s easily the most grounded, sane person on this show filled with alcohol, parties, and sexual exploration. Let’s hope that his new flame makes him just as hormonally driven as everybody else on the show.

Officer John Cooper (Southland)

He was something entirely new on TV. He’s tough, he’s politically incorrect and he’s in charge of training other people. Sure he has a painkiller problem, but if you’d been tackling street toughs on the beat for fifteen years you might too. And he may have inspired Hollywood to start writing an entirely new type of gay character.

Captain Jack Harkness (Torchwood)

A mere six months ago, we all saw Captain Jack much as we saw the actor who played him – a lovable irascible, playful rake. Sort of a post-modern day Erol Flynn.

Then Children of Earth came along and seemed to change the tone of the character: he was hard. He caused the death of his lover and sacrificed his grandson. And many of us weren't sure what to think. Or perhaps we simply forgot this might have been entirely in his character all along.

Ianto Jones (Torchwood)

Impeccable suits. The perfect cup of tea. And a desire to be loved, and wanted, and needed. Those are some of the things we remember about Ianto Jones who went from coffee boy to action hero; from hot fling to the partner of a superhero; and from alive to dead. Ianto was just coming into his own, and coming to understand his feelings, when he died, but you can’t argue that his character didn’t evolve in the time we knew him.

Lafayette Reynolds (True Blood)

Shouldn’t you be dead already? Lafayette certainly would be if the television show was following the books on which it’s based. But that would suck all the fun out of the show.

It's safe to say there’s not another gay character like Lafayette on television. You can call him a tramp and you can call him morally suspect – but you better say it with some respect if you value your teeth. Lafayette somehow manages to incorporate swish, sass, and toughness into one heck of a bootylicious, perfect-pec package.

Kevin Walker (Brothers & Sisters)

We don’t suppose Kevin is any more messed up that anyone else in the Walker family. Sure he’s a gossip, and a bit of a lush, but that’s how he was raised. He’s also a fashionable attorney who somehow manages to keep his family out of the worst of their legal woes, and still finds time for love and passion. Now if he could just remember to tie something to his door knob so his sister will stop interrupting him at inopportune times.

Scotty Wandell (Brothers & Sisters)

He’s a chef, he has the patience of Job, and he’s adorable. He’s also never been at a loss as to how to deal with the fact he was gay. It was the rest of the details of life that troubled him at first, including dealing with his conservative parents. But that's all in the past now that he's settled down with Kevin and pondering what the future might bring.