Are the 2010 Emmy Awards a High-Water Mark for Gay Visibility?

The nominations for the 2010 Emmy Awards were announced last week, and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, which gives the awards, has set a high-water mark for GLBT visibility – especially gay male visibility.

Consider:

• The gay favorite Glee received an impressive 19 nominations – the most of any show this year – including nominations for out creator Ryan Murphy, out actor Chris Colfer, who plays gay teen Kurt Hummel, and Mike O’Malley, who plays Kurt’s father Burt Hummel.

Ryan Murphy, Chris Colfer, Mike O'Malley

• Both the actors who play gay characters on Modern Family were nominated in the category of Supporting Actor in the Comedy Series: Jesse Tyler Ferguson (who is an out gay actor), and Eric Stonestreet (who is straight). The show received 12 other nominations as well.

• Of the six nominees in the Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series category, four are for gay characters and/or out gay actors: Modern Family’s Tyler Ferguson and Stonestreet; Glee’s Colfer; and out actor Neil Patrick Harris in How I Met Your Mother.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Eric Stonestreet, Neil Patrick Harris

• Other notable “gay” nominees include out actor Ian McKellen for the (otherwise unwatchable) The Prisoner; Neil Patrick Harris, nominated a second time for his guest appearance on Glee; out director Paris Barclay for directing an episode of Glee; Kathy Griffin, nominated twice, for her frequently-gay My Life on the D-List and for a special, Kathy Griffin: Balls of Steel; out bisexual actor Alan Cumming in The Good Wife; out composer Marc Shaiman (for musically directing the Academy Awards); and the frequently-gay-themed True Blood, which was nominated for Outstanding Drama for the first time – a rare feat for a genre show.

Lesbian visibility wasn’t as strong, but there were also nominations for out actors such as Damages’ Lily Tomlin and Glee’s Jane Lynch.

Modern Family and Glee aren’t the first two gay-themed shows to do well in Emmy nominations. Will & Grace was a perennial Emmy favorite, garnering 83 nominations (and 16 wins) over its eight-year run; in 2005, it reached its series high, landing 15 nominations.

And Ugly Betty made a big splash its first season, winning 11 Emmy nominations.

But despite their notable gay sensibilities, none of the actors in either of these shows were out at the time of the nominations (except for Leslie Jordan), unlike the case with both Glee and Modern Family.

And while Brothers & Sisters has featured strong gay storylines and won a handful Emmy nominations and one win for Sally Field along the way, it’s never been honored for its gay characters or episodes.

Regardless of who ends up actually winning the awards, it’s already an incredible year for gay and bisexual male visibility at the Emmy Awards. And if Neil Patrick Harris ends up hosting, as he did last year, the ceremony could wind up being even more “gay” than the Tony Awards, which have long been noted for their gay and bisexual male visibility.