Lisa -- Seems to me that Entertainment Weekly did a cover story about gay
characters in prime time around the time that Ellen was coming out. I
think they counted around 33 gay characters at that time. I can't muster
up the list right off the top of my head but here are a few:
Ross' ex-wife and her wife, on Friends
Scott Thompson's character on Larry Sanders -- he plays Hank's assistant
(HBO)
Tony Randall's character in Love Sidney is considered to be one of the
earlier prime time gay characters (early 80s), however I don't think it
was ever explicitly acknowledged.
Paul Reiser's character's sister on Mad About You
Leon (Martin Mull) and his husband on Roseanne. Also, Sandra Bernhardt's
character.
There are many more...just can't think of them right now.
 
Julie Friedline
Dept. of Communication
University of St. Thomas
St. Paul, MN
 
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