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Best Reality Show Overall

Project Runway (Bravo) — Project Runway, through its many unabashedly gay contestants, has always treated sexual orientation as a nonissue. But hey, the show deals with the fashion industry, so that's pretty much to be expected. Who knows if winners from the first three seasons (Jay McCarroll, Chloe Dao, Jeffrey Sebelia) will ultimately make a lasting mark. To us, the lasting mark that really matters is the one already made by the show's Tim Gunn. Wise, benevolent, gracious and self-effacing — he's a wonderful role model for gay men everywhere.

Best Reality Show Contestants

Dave and Mary, The Amazing Race (CBS) — This year, as in many others, The Amazing Race featured gay contestants. Gay viewers who might have tuned in to root for same-sex partners Tom and Terry (they were eliminated early in the competition) quickly found themselves enchanted by an unlikely team: Dave and Mary. No, these folks aren't gay, but they nonetheless managed to break down stereotypes and put an immensely likable face on people from America's heartland. They also served to remind us that far from everyone in the Bible Belt is homophobic. This unaffected and loving Kentucky couple (he's a coal miner, she's a housewife) made it to the top six, and throughout their journeys, they never had a bad word to say about anybody. That included Tom and Terry, with whom they formed an enduring friendship. In one heartwarming Amazing Race interview segment, Mary admitted sheepishly that “they don't have gay people back in Kentucky,” but now that they'd met Tom and Terry, they “really, really liked the gays.” Something about Dave and Mary just makes us feel a bit better about the world.

Worst Reality Show Moment

Survivor contestant Nate calls gay tribemate Brad Virata a “nancy boy” — On the Nov. 9 episode of Survivor, openly gay contestant Brad Virata let down his tribemates and chose not to swim during a reward challenge. His decision to sit out the swim potentially cost their team the victory. You could call him stupid. You could call him cowardly. Fellow tribemate Nate chose to call him a “nancy boy.” Nate later apologized, and said that he wanted it to be understood that he had nothing against Brad and would have called any of his tribemates (gay or straight) a nancy boy. We take Nate at his word here, but the problem is that it's not all right to call anybody a “nancy boy,” a phrase that equates being gay with weakness or cowardice. Maybe there are other, more egregious reality show moments to be found, but we chose this one because it highlights a pervasive problem: the common use of the “gay” epithet to connote something negative.

Best Gay Ensemble Cast

Noah's Arc (Logo) — With Queer as Folk put out to pasture and The L Word concentrating on the lesbian experience, there's a pressing need for more shows with multiple gay characters that can focus almost exclusively on gay issues and story lines. We're grateful then for Noah's Arc, which uses its attractive ensemble cast of black gay male characters to not only address issues of sexual orientation, but also of race. What does it mean to be a black gay man? Noah's Arc, which airs on Logo, AfterElton.com's parent company, seems committed to exploring the question.

Best Bisexual Character on Television

Captain Jack Harkness on Doctor Who (Sci Fi) and Torchwood (BBC Three) — When dashing and openly gay stage actor John Barrowman made his first appearance as the flirtatious and unabashedly bisexual Captain Jack Harkness on a 2005 episode of Doctor Who, he scored legions of fans. The character was so popular that Doctor Who's executive producer and head writer, Russell T. Davies, launched a spinoff for the character. The new series, Torchwood, premiered on BBC Three in the United Kingdom and quickly became that network's most watched series. Gay viewers are watching closely to make sure the captain doesn't forget the “gay” half of bisexual. (There is no word yet on when Torchwood will come to the United States.)

Best Animated Show with a Gay Character

Drawn Together (Comedy Central) — It's ironic to praise a show for its abuse of a gay character, but in the world of Drawn Together (a riff on the Big Brother reality series), it would be discriminatory if the gay Xandir wasn't treated as badly as his fellow housemates. Yes, the jokes are incredibly tasteless and occasionally stray close to homophobic. Far more often, however, it's the homophobes who get skewered mercilessly. Much of the credit should go to the multitalented actor Jack Plotnick (Lovespring International), who voices Xandir with a sweetness that gives the show much of its heart.

Worst Animated Show with a Gay Character

Freak Show (Comedy Central) — What's wrong with this show? Basically, it's just not funny. Besides, with the character Log Cabin Republican's alter ego, the limp-wristed Burley Bear, we get two gay stereotypes for the price of one. It's curious that of the show's other characters — the World's Tallest Nebraskan, the Bearded Clam, Primi the Premature Baby, Tuck and Benny, the Siamese Twins — the only one taken from a real minority group of any significant size (and that is actually legally discriminated against) is the gay one. We're just saying.

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