Battle of the Network Gays: October 29, 2009

Every week we pick the gays who we think have made the biggest splash in television (or pop culture in general) and leave it to you, the keepers of the flame, to decide who will be crowned Gay of the Week. We'll announce the winner on Friday, and that champ will reign until a new set of challengers are introduced the following week to try to steal his title.

Last week, Irish hurler Dónal Óg Cusack deservedly took the crown for being one of the scant few professional athletes to come out while still active in their sport. This week we've got four new contenders vying for the throne, including one posthumous honorary nomination! (Well, two posthumous nominations if you count the gay character who's show just got canceled by NBC.)

Check them out after the break, and vote for your favorite!

• Bea Arthur. Okay, so she's deceased and as far as we know she wasn't gay. But she was a beloved gay-fave for many years and she left 300,000 in her will to the Ali Fornay Center, a NY organization that helps homeless gay youth. Very very cool, Dorothy. Thank you for being a friend.. 

• This week Tyler Briggs was outed as the gay paramedic on NBC's Trauma. It was a stellar episode and the big reveal came when Tyler finally got fed up with the homophobic comments of his EMT partner. Great scene. Interesting character. And hey, it's probably the one and only time he'll be nominated for Gay of the Week — NBC pulled the plug on the show a few days after this episode aired.   

Vote for your favorite by 10 PM EDT Today. And be sure to check back tomorrow on the blog to see which network gay our readers have carried to glory!