Best. Gay. Week. Ever. (May 9, 2008)

GOING TO THE CHAPEL AND WE'RE GOING TO GET MARRIED...
In celebration of Sunday's nights nuptials between Kevin and Scotty on Brothers & Sisters, I thought I'd post some pics of real and fictional same-sex "wedding" ceremonies. And I put the word weddings in parentheses because even in the United Kingdom there is a distinction between weddings and the civil partnerships to which gay folks have access. To get full-fledged marriage, you have to get hitched in Canada, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain or South Africa. The rest of us are in the back of the bus — if we're on the bus at all, that is.

The very first same-sex wedding on television came from a rather unexpected quarter, namely Charles S. Dutton's Roc which had none other than "Shaft" himself, Richard Roundtree, playing Roc's gay brother who makes it official with his partner way back in 1991. (Note: it isn't clear if the episode actually showed the wedding or if it happened off screen.)

Richard Roundtree, Roc

Moving forward three years, Northern Exposure had bed-and-breakfast owners Rick (Don R. McManus) and Erick (Doug Ballard) get hitched up in Alaska.

Don R. McManus, Doug Ballard

The following year, Roseanne featured a wedding between Leon (Martin Mull) and his partner Scott (Fred Willard) that, as the picture below demonstrates, was very much in character with the show's sitcom sensibility.

Jump forward a dozen years (and over assorted cable weddings and whatnot) and A&E did a little flick called Wedding Wars starring John Stamos that highlighted the fact that in the U.S., most gay folks can't get married (and even those who can in Massachusetts can't have their marriages recognized by the federal government).

Sean Maher, John Stamos

And, of course, there was R2D2 and C3PO's secret "wedding" held in the desert just outside of Las Vegas. In a move that shocked his fellow religious leaders, Reverend Lovejoy officiated and Padme Amidala served as their witness. The happy couple then honeymooned on Kashyyyk, Chewbacca's home world.

As for real life examples, the highest high profile gay wedding, that is easily Elton John and his spouse David Furnish who got hitched in a lavish ceremony in 2005.

David Furnish, Elton John

And then almost exactly a year later, Torchwood star John Barrowman and Scott Gill did the same in Scotland. Except in kilts. And not nearly as lavishly.

John Barrowman, Scott Gill

GLAAD put together a nice little timeline on the history of gay (and lesbian) weddings on television which you can check out here. And check back on Monday for one of our patented AfterElton.com articles which will examine just how same-sex "weddings" have been treated both on the big and little screen over the years.