Do You Have to be Fabulous to be a Break-Out Gay Character on TV?

Greek's Calvin, Southland's John Cooper, Desperate Housewives' Bob, and Trauma's Tyler Briggs

In a recent episode of Desperate Housewives, Bob of Wisteria Lane’s resident gay couple Bob and Lee came out as a different kind of gay guy: he prefers sports to show tunes, beer to Cosmos, and he wouldn’t be caught dead shopping. He’s actually most comfortable working with his hands, not skewering someone with his wit.

Basically, he’s a guy’s guy, a manly man, a traditionally masculine former frat boy who just happens to be gay.

He’s not the only such character on American TV, of course. Frat boy Calvin on the Family Channel’s Greek, Officer John Cooper on TNT’s Southland, Sam Adama on Caprica and paramedic Tyler Briggs on last year’s now-canceled Trauma are some other examples. In fact, almost all of the gay characters on TV’s recently canceled daytime dramas were “manly” gay men.

And the last year gave us one of the most conventionally masculine gay characters of all time: the gladiator Barca on the Starz show Spartacus: Blood and Sand.

The gladiator Barca

But these days, a lot of the pop culture “energy” seems to surround those gay characters who are decidedly more flamboyant: Kurt Hummel on Glee; the drag queens on RuPaul’s Drag Race; most of the gay characters on True Blood; Lionel on United States of Tara; virtually all the gay characters on the now-canceled Ugly Betty; Cam and Mitchell on Modern Family; and plenty of supporting characters on lesser-known shows.

And last year, the mascara-wearing, Queen-loving Adam Lambert took the whole country by storm.

Adam Lambert

For the record, this isn’t necessarily about mannerisms: traditionally masculine versus effeminate. Even plenty of gay characters who fall on the more masculine end of the masculinity spectrum – Kevin and Scotty on Brothers & Sisters; Ted on The United States of Tara; Owen, Alicia’s gay brother on The Good Wife – conform to most of the stereotypes about gay guys when it comes to their interests and sensibilities: wine-sipping, label-reading, sports-hating, showtune-loving Cher or Lady Gaga aficionados.

And let’s be very clear about one thing: the celebration of the flamboyant gay man on TV over the last few years has mostly been a really good thing.