Battle of the Network Gays! It's Kevin & Scotty vs. Blaine vs. Kurt vs. Glenn Burke!

Who gets the coveted crown?

Every week we're going to pick the gays we think have made the biggest splash in television 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 the following Monday, and that champ will reign until a new set of challengers are introduced the following week to try to steal the title.

The nominees will include a mix of scripted characters and reality contestants, but will not include real people appearing on news programs. However, a real person who hosts a show like the Emmys or Saturday Night Live will be eligible. Basically, the program they appear on has to be entertainment/pop culture which is what we mostly cover here at AfterElton.

For example, if Dan Savage makes a memorable cable news appearance, he won't be eligible. But if Neil Patrick Harris hosts SNL, he will probably be nominated.

Now on to the nominees! 

Blaine, Glee.

Where do we start? From the moment Blaine took Kurt's hand and ran down the hallway in slow motion, we were smitten. Then he takes a Katy Perry song, "Teenage Dream" and makes us love it (with help from the Tufts Beelzebubs). He texts "Courage" to Kurt at just the right moment, and he ventures outside the safe confines of Dalton Academy to try and help Dave Araofksy come to terms with his feelings. We'd hate him for being perfect, but by his own admission, he ran from his own demons.

Will he be back as a series regular? We can only hope.

Kurt Hummel, Glee

A perpetual favorite, Kurt Hummel wears his heart on his sleeve. We watched him fall in puppy love with Blaine , then stand up to his tormentor in the hallway only to be subject to a dive bomb kiss in the locker room. He pulled himself together enough to get Blaine to help with Karofsky, and he also told Mr. Schue that the teachers weren't doing their job to help him. He may be the bravest high school student in history.

Blaine may have that new gay smell, but it was the decisions that Kurt made along the way that brought him into our lives.

Glenn Burke, Out. The Glenn Burke Story

Glenn Burke was a Major League Baseball player and he was out, at least to his team, 30 years ago, which is extraordinary. The team offered him cash to have a fake marriage, and he responded by dating baseball legend Tommy Lasorda's estranged gay son. Traded to remove the problem, he was eventually run out of the game. His life inspired an episode of Cheers, and he became a celebrity in the Castro until his young death from AIDS.

If Burke were alive today, he'd no doubt end up a celebrity on the cable news programs. But he probably still would be run out of the clubhouse.

Kevin & Scotty, Brothers & Sisters

It's a painful thing to find out your hero is less than perfect, and Scotty was certainly Kevin's hero. So when Scotty cheated, Kevin responded by running to his family. But Scotty never shied away from the stigma of having had an affair, almost getting to the point of adding a scarlet letter to his chef's hat.

But Kevin found his way back with a little help from his niece, and managed to understand his part in Scotty's affair. It was real, and it could happen. We can hope they're stronger for having been through the test.