Gay storyline in Shameless

I've been reading After Elton for a few weeks now. Really enjoy it!

I was wondering (for my first topic) if any non-Brits know about the tv series Shameless? I only started watching it the other week even though it's been quite big here for a while. I was struck by how the gay characters are written, very natural, and within the working class setting of the show, surprisingly frank. I feel that queerness is treated by most people (of whatever persuasion) as a rather bourgeois subject matter generally, so I found this quite refreshing.

Any thoughts?