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On Commander in Chief, starring Geena Davis, presidential aide Vince (Anthony Azizi) outed himself and revealed he was HIV positive—but not because he wanted to. He was being pressured by homophobic Washington bigwigs.

According to an article in The Advocate, Azizi used his role to change public perception of the virus: “…When a scene came up in which President Allen asked Vince to bring her young daughter up to bed from the Oval Office, Azizi says he requested that Vince affectionately lift the girl over his shoulder and carry her out. ‘It was a very small moment,' he explains, ‘but I did that because I want[ed] to give this character humanity, to show [viewers] that even though Vince has HIV, it doesn't mean that he can't work with kids. People shouldn't fear it.' ”

Another interesting fact about Vince is that he is Palestinian. I don't believe there's ever been another Palestinian gay character on TV, so Vince's inclusion on the show is a big step, as far as multicultural gay visibility is concerned. And because homosexuality is generally frowned upon in the Palestinian culture, Vince may also be helping Palestinian gays come to terms with their own sexuality.

Commander went on hiatus on March 7 and is supposed to be back on April 18. Ratings had been slipping before the 7th, so it will be interesting to see how the show fares upon its return.

My Name is Earl also gave us a funny, but thoughtful episode in which Earl (Jason Lee) attempted to make things right with Kenny (Gregg Binkley), the gay man he bullied when they were younger. At first, Earl tried to get Kenny a hooker, but he eventually realized Kenny wasn't into girls. Despite his own homophobia, Earl accompanied Kenny to a gay bar in hopes of finding Kenny a boyfriend to make him happy. As Greg Archer wrote on Gay.com, “… Earl successfully show[ed] that even the most average of average Joes can embrace diversity.” Kenny has even returned in subsequent episodes.

LOGO, the new LGBT network that launched in June, premiered a drama in October called Noah's Arc, about the romantic entanglements of a group of gay African-American men in Los Angeles —sort of like The L Word, but for gay men. Noah's Arc has done well enough to earn itself a second season.

On Will & Grace, Will (Eric McCormack) got a legitimately serious boyfriend, James (Taye Diggs). Their kiss was alright, but not nearly as passionate as it could have been. (Damn you, network TV!) James was in danger of being deported, but Grace saved the day by proposing to him so he could stay. Which begs the question: Will Taye and Will end up together by the series finale (coming in May), or will Will finally put in that long- overdue application to become a monk? Only time will tell.

In addition to the bi male character on The L Word, there were bi men on cable shows like Footballers Wive$ and Nip/Tuck. Too bad the Bruno Campos character on Nip/Tuck turned out to be The Carver, yet another bisexual serial killer.

Gay youth were “out” in full force on Degrassi: The Next Generation, As the World Turns, and General Hospital .

Other shows that included gay characters this season were Kitchen Confidential, The War at Home, Twins, Grey's Anatomy, and Half & Half.

Reality shows just seem to be getting more popular with each passing season, and this year queers were well represented on Celebrity Fit Club (which featured Bruce Vilanch and Chastity Bono); The Amazing Race; The Real World; Project Runway; and Survivor.

It's an unfortunate fact that gay characters still make up such a small number of scripted characters overall. To hear the far right rant about it, you would think television was awash in Will Truman's and Mitch Crumbs cavorting together. Nonetheless, this season did bring us an interesting array of gay portrayals, even if all weren't what we might have hoped.

Ultimately, you can look at the 2005-2006 TV season in one of two ways. You can be depressed that so many gay-friendly shows were permanently taken off the air (or put on “hiatus”), or you can be thankful that they were at least on for a little while. Me? I'm gonna go with that second option. Well, at least I'm gonna try, at any rate.

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