GLAAD Report: HBO Leads Showing Gay Characters

HBO scores the highest among 15 networks for its representation of gay characters last season, according to a report by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.

In its third annual Network Responsibility Index, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation found that of HBO’s 14 original prime-time series, 10 included content reflecting the lives of gay, bisexual and transgender people. That totaled 42 percent of the network’s programming hours, in series such as 'True Blood,' 'Entourage” and “The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency.” 

Cable’s Showtime ranked second, with 26 percent of its programming hours featuring gay characters or themes. Series included “The L Word,” “Weeds” and “The United States of Tara,” a new comedy about a family whose teenage son is gay.

The reports adds: "By contrast, on NBC and CBS only 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively, of prime-time hours included them, the report said."

HBO's southern gothic vampire series has become must-see-television on Sunday nights. Part of that reason: The return of Nelsan Ellis' Lafayette Reynolds (above), the black gay short order cook slash escort slash drug dealer, In a recent interview, Ellis suggested he could remain on the show for another season or tw. Oh and Lafayette's fans will appreciate some background on an upcoming scene where the "homoeroticism in that moment was off the charts."

There is also this explanation from After Elton on Showtime's curremnt LGBT roster. "Showtime dropped 8% from the previous year, and its most inclusive (by definition) program was The L Word, which isn’t returning next year. Still, it offered fresh representation on Weeds and The United States of Tara. While the excellent Nurse Jackie fell outside the time frame of the study, it will help fill the void with Thor and MoMo."

Comments

[Ryan Canty]

I'm not surprised at all...HBO and Showtime have been the REAL forerunners for showing VERY realistic, well written, and complex characters..be they black, white, etc.

the fact that HBO has ALWAYS been a home for strong LGBT characters (The Wire, In Treatment, True Blood, etc.) this should tell you JUST how GOOD HBO truly is.

Showtime is basically tied with them also...

i love how ABC is in the mix but ONLY becauuse of the still exquisite work of Shonda Rimes over at Grey's Anatomy...if Grey's wasn't on ABC, no one would care.

the other networks...they still promote the same old bland, homophobic crap it's not even funny...

yes, NBC gets points for Southland..but not that many. But, now that Ben Silverman is leaving NBC, more future showrunners will FEEL more comfortable creating characters who are LGBT and/or LGBT friendly.

[ff]

shamefully, I havent watched True Blood yet. I think I might just wait til season 2 is over and get watch seasons 1&2 on DVD over a long weekend.

ABC gets points for Shonda. But also Ugly Betty and Brothers & Sisters. And the homo undertones on Scrubs was off the charts now that it moved to ABC. ABC Family (not sure if that counts) also has a black gay character on "Greek" and delved into bisexuality last season.

CBS I dont even watch. Do they get points for having Shemar Moore on? :)

[DFS]

Mo mo on nurse jackie is hotness

[Bruh]

Everybody is soooo hyped about the Lafayette character on "True
Blood", and I don't get it. I mean, its always great when a POC is able to get a role on a series, especially a role of importance on that series, so much
luv to Nelsan Ellis for that, but as for the character Lafayette, isn't he just another "snow queen"? That, was probably just as much the reason for his return
as anything else. If he was into
other MOC, he likely WOULD have been killed off like in the book.
"They" seem to only want to show US when we desire t-h-e-m. A Brotha actually into anotha, and lo and behold, that always seems to be problematic, no matter how popular it was/how large the fanbase. I'm STILL waiting on more than those lone 4 episodes of The DL Chronicles, and y'all
know what happened to Noah's Arc.
I'm happy for Nelsan, I hope he has a long and fruitful career, but phuck "True Blood"...I won't be watching any more of it. That's my True Word.

[Isis]

CBS is starting to get there. In the Daytime Soap Young and the Restless, they have 2 Gay characters and 1 pretend Gay. The tides are starting to turn for Gay characters on the Big Networks. It takes time, but its happening.

[Brien]

Bruh,
I think you've nailed it for me as far as my issue with Ball and other series with Black, Gay characters. In Six Feet Under I had the same issue with the Kieth character. It sends the message that gay blacks are not capable of loving each other, that if they want commitment, they have to seek it with a white partner. Then again, there is a strong West Coast influence in the storylines of these characters. I'm juss sayin' . . .

[seahawk]

I avoid the hype, whether its "Lost," "Heroes," "True Blood," or whatever. So I have not seen this show.

What I have seen - too often - is dozens of black SGL characters on TV and film who only date whites. Dating back to "Roc" on Fox, I've seen it 9 times out of ten and I'm not surprised to see a snow queen character here.

As Bruh pointed out, there must be something very threatening about a bruh loving a bruh - on screen and in real life.

[Shabaka]

Hmmm... Interesting observations. I've been hooked on the show ever since it aired and I had never thought of Lafayette's character as a snow queen. I mean, Tara has had an on again off again affair with that bar owner (whose name escapes me) and he's white. But this season she's with Eggs(Mehcad Brooks). I think Lafayette's character wasn't meant to have a meaningful relationship as the other ones do (u can thank Hollywood for that) but I doubt it's as racial as we might think. He simply isn't relationship material. As a matter of fact I don't remember seeing him manifest any kind of fondness towards another male character on the show. His character is focused more on making money by any means necessary. But he plays it so well and that's why we enjoy the show.

[Said]

The Wire's Omar has had boyfriends of various colors.

[soulbrotha]

Bruh's point is an interesting one. I think the reason that the Lafayette character seems like a "snow queen" is that there aren't many Black characters on the show to begin with. Look at the show carefully. The only Black people I've ever seen are the 3 leads! So who else is he gonna get with?

And that's an issue I have always had with this show and most others. They write these shows as if Black folks are unicorns and you would never see more than one or two at one time. True Blood is set in a poor Louisiana swamp land, for gods sake! How are you not gonna have Black folks?!

Also, Lafayette's character started off as a strong, sassy, take-no-guff kind of character and now after his vampire encounter, he is a weak wimp dependent on the white folks for protection. I have seen this "gelding" done repeatedly with Black male characters in t.v.dramas. Grey's Anatomy did the same damn thing with James Picken's Jr.'s chief doctor. Powerful Black male roles do not survive on television.

[cullen]

I personally don't see a problem with a black character dating a white character and why should you be labeled a snow queen just because you have a relationship with someone of another race. Love comes in all colors we should all be so lucky to find it, WHEREVER we can find it.

[Nas]

Before we get all huffy and puffy about race, let me say that True Blood is based off the Sookie Stackhouse novels written by Charlaine Harris. In those books both Lafayette and Tara are white. The show is simply following the novels, I commend Alan Ball for making some of the characters for the show black in the first place.

[Bruh]

Cullen, its not a "problem". Date whoever the hell you want. "Love" DOES come in all colors, so why is the s-w-i-r-l
the only combo that can get any
representation on our screens?
It would not be an issue at all, if the few (and I do mean FEW) shows that did show MOC dating and relating to each other, were
not treated sooooo disdainfully.
"The Closet", whatever happened
to it? "The D L Chronicles", only
four phucking episodes since its
debut...y-e-a-r-s ago?? "Noah's Arc", a water cooler show, very popular. Got canceled, due to "financial" reasons according to LOGO....then the bastards turned right around and got "Queer as Folk". If money was so gaddamned t-i-g-h-t, they
couldn't keep N A in production,
how in the hell could they afford
Q A F?? Did they put that mofo in the lay-a-way??? No, Q A F
was a "White" show. It will always be my belief that LOGO never really expected N A to be as popular as it was. It became the network's "signature" show, and I suspect they didn't like having a BLACK show bestowed with
that honor. There are plenty of Brothaz who are happy to be with other Brothaz. Doesn't mean they hate/dislike Whites, just means they prefer their own....so to never see such relationships portrayed onscreen, gets irritating after awhile. I'm a Black man who is turned on by other Black men....am I not allowed to see that renacted somewhere without it having to come from CocoDorm, or Pitbull
Productions??
I was just loosely using the term
"snowqueen" to describe the Lafayette character...however, if
you want to keep it real, a Black
man who ONLY dates White men (as
if his own isn't good enough) IS
a snowqueen. Plus, 9 times out of
10, the White guy he is all hugged up with, doesn't look like
JACK!! Some scalywag no other White guy would look at twice, yet that Brotha is acting like
he got an Earth Angel on his arm.
Why is that??? Why will the flyest Brothaz get with the sorriest looking White guys, when
you know they would not date the
Nubian equivalent? I guess "Love"
is blind, like they say....but in
some cases, deaf and dumb, too!