Nine gay dads

With the news that Gossip Girl's gay dad will be appearing on the show soon, I've been thinking of other gay dads from TV and films. While there have been quite a few, here are nine that stick in memory:

Carson Ward
From: The OC

Talking about Gossip Girl's gay dad character can't help but bring to mind the gay father from another Josh Schwartz series, The O.C. Twelve episodes into the first season Carson Ward (Brian McNamara) is spotted by his son, Newport Beach bad boy Luke, kissing his business partner. The scandal that arises when he comes out hurts Luke's popularity in Newport Beach circles, setting up for him to move to Portland with his dad at the end of the first season.

Justin
From: Absolutely Fabulous

Justin was the second husband of Absolutely Fabulous's Edina Monsoon (Jennifer Saunders) and the father of Saffron, the responsible, long-suffering daughter who had to deal with Edie's foolhardiness. Whenever they'd come around, Edie would trade some pointed barbs with Oliver, Justin's partner who refused to take Edie's self-centered nature gently.

Anthony Belrose
From: The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert

In the landmark 1994 film, we met Anthony and two other drag performers he traveled across Australia to perform at a casino in Alice Springs. As they reach their destination, we were surprised to learn that Anthony was married and had a young son

Francesca's dad
From: The Tracey Ullman Show

One of the many endearing recurring characters on The Tracey Ullman Show was Francesca, an awkward teenager who lived with her father (Dan Castellenta) and his partner William (Sam McMurry). Francesca saw tons of support from the two as she navigated her way to adulthood as she learned about dating, bad jobs and other challenges of life She saw both partners as her parents, as evidenced in a line from Francesca's memorable first appearance -- we see her introduce them to a date with the memorable line, "This is my dad... and this is my William."

Armand Goldman
From: The Birdcage

Robin Williams camped it up in this American remake of La Cage Aux Folles, where he played the owner of a South Beach nightclub known for its drag performances and the partner of Nathan Lane, who was the club's featured performer.

Owen Benjamin
From: The Lost Language of Cranes

In this BBC/PBS adaptation of the acclaimed David Leavitt novel, the now-ubiquitous Brian Cox played a closeted gay man driven to despair when his son comes out. Even though it's been over fifteen years since Cranes came out, recent news stories show Cox's portrayal of a deeply closeted man who turns to anonymous sex still resonates today.

Doug Salter
From: That Certain Summer

This landmark TV movie starred Scott Jacoby as a young man who goes to visit his recently-divorced father (Hal HolbrooK) for the summer and begins to wonder about dad's relationship with his "best friend" (Martin Sheen). Coming from a time when TV networks daringly explored social issues in their movies of the week, ABC gave us one of the earliest positive depictions of gay men and a male couple in this 1972 telefilm.

Jessie Jo
From: Hidden Palms

The most compelling aspect of this short-lived summer drama was Leslie Jordan's role as the lead character's AA sponsor and a drag performer. The adults of Hidden Palms didn't act much more maturely than the show's teen characters, so Jordan's Jessie Jo was the rare voice of responsibility. His fatherhood was briefly revealed to another recovering alcoholic Jessie Jo took under his wing, while getting ready to perform as Tammy Wynette at a big drag show -- his three sons and five grandchildren might have made a more interesting show.