The Best Representations of Gay Men on TV in 2012

This was quite the year for gay male representation on TV. We saw some of the most complex, innovative and daring portrayals in the medium's history.... but that was juxtaposed against some absolutely painful, awkward and stereotypical portrayals. In fact, there were so much in the way of awful representation, I had to expand my annual list of the five most odious characters to ten.

Just as a note, this is more of a list of non-heterosexual male characters, as "gay" does not accurately fit several people I am listing.


These are the best. The characters I enjoyed watching the most. They're interesting, innovative, exciting and complicated. They all have well-rounded lives. They are both gay (or rather, non-heterosexual) and interesting characters, with neither overshadowing the other, but instead having all aspects integrated into a fascinating whole.


The 10 Best Representations of Gay Men on TV in 2012

10. Mr. Wolfe, Suburgatory (Rex Lee)

When Suburgatory first started airing, Mr. Wolfe was just another aspect of its satire of suburbia as a place that prides itself on friendliness, but is really oppressive, repressive and demands secrecy. About half way through the season, Mr. Wolfe perfunctorily came out of the closet, and since then has become the rarest of TV creatures, a gay man who has a large number of stereotypical qualities, but is not offensive. He's well rounded, well developed, in an relationship that is fairly nuanced.

9. Ian Gallagher, Shameless (Cameron Monaghan)

Shameless is a show that is ambiguous at best. There are many, often confusing and contradictory, ways to interpret it. Depending upon which lens you utilize, it is either brilliant or terrible. The same could be said for how to interpret middle child Ian. I choose to look at him as an economically and socially marginalized figure who has an incredibly limited pool of potential romantic partners, and so makes due with what is available. Which just happens to be mostly older men. But I don't deny that there is a creepy subtext to it all.

8.  Dean Craig Pelton, Community (Jim Rash)

Dean Pelton is a happy, pansexual imp. Nothing is really known about his sexuality, other than it is strange. But he is a remarkably well developed character, a rare minor character that is able to hold up entire episodes. And the joke is never that he is behaving in a stereotypically gay way. The joke about his affinity for cross-dressing is the weird tangential connections between his outfits and the news he is trying to convey. That and the fact that he does such elaborate pageantry just to deliver news to seven very specific people.

7. Danny Mahealani, Teen Wolf (Keahu Kahuanui)

I unapologetically and unironically love Teen Wolf. It is such a wonderful show that almost feels like it is tailor made to appeal specifically to me. And one of the great elements of Teen Wolf is my beloved Danny. He's part of the popular clique, but also friends with everyone. He's a jock, but also a total nerd. He's the only person that resident jerk Jackson can muster up any human compassion for. And he's got a rich life that the show drops all sorts of hints about. Every season I get up my hopes he will be bumped up from fan-favorite minor character to the main cast... let's hope it happens this next season.

6. Sonny Kiriakis, Days of Our Lives (Freddie Smith)

It's always rather difficult to review soap operas. They have a byzantine complexity, with massive casts, and glacial pacing that inevitably ensures stories will fall into good, bad, and impossible to understand, and sometimes all three. Nevertheless Sonny is just a great character. A small business owner who is just all around nice and his slowly built romance with main character Will Horton has been enjoyable to watch unfold daily.

5. Nasir, Spartacus (Pana Hema Taylor)

A former sex slave that Spartacus freed during a brief stop over at a mansion, Nasir has evolved into one of the most interesting characters on the show. At first a traitor, attempting to asassinate Spartacus, he was enfolded into the slave rebellion. At first weak, he sought out someone more powerful to protect him, but eventually was trained into a strong warrior in his own right. Always independent  he stands up for what he believes is right. And he is in what is inarguably the best gay romance this year.


4. Ray Gillette, Archer (Adam Reed)

Gillette really started off as a one-off joke about a gay secret agent in the spy spoof Archer. But Adam Reed enjoyed doing the voice, and so they kept bringing him back until he was as essential to the cast as any other character. He's often the straight man to Archer's insane antics, and is one of the few Isis employees who actually has some degree of competence. There's a world weary exhaustion to Gillette and a frustration that he has to deal with endless antics of working at the worst spy agency anyone ever created.

3. Nolan Ross, Revenge (Gabriel Mann)

A year ago, I considered Nolan the best non-heterosexual male character on the TV. Sadly, a season of underuse and listless plots have pushed him a bit father down. Nolan, the campy, quippy bisexul right-hand man to sociopathic vengence-machine Emily Thorne was possibly the best element in the surprisingly delightful and addictive Revenge. Everything about him was just fun. His hilarious jokes, his magical ability to hack into any computer on the planet and get it to do anything, his affinity for disguises, the fact that he banged a psychopathic male prostitute. There's just nothing not to like about him (other than a romance with the dullest character Revenge has ever had...)

2. Max Blum, Happy Endings (Adam Pally)

Max is fat, poor, a slob and also hilarious. A combination that's pretty much every gay guy I know in real life, but unlike anything you will ever see on TV. Max is incredibly well developed, having an acerbic, con-artist personality that floats from odd job to odd job. In the second season of Happy Endings he was the only character that was given a romantic arc. Max's sexuality is completely integrated into a character where it is never marginalized, but also never centralized. Brilliant.

1. Agron, Spartacus (Dan Feuerriegel)

There really aren't enough good things to say about Agron on Spartacus. He's tough as nails, completely loyal to Spartacus and the slave rebellion's cause, and depending upon the day either the second or third in charge. He's complex and fascinating, and even when he is acting in a less than noble fashion, Spartacus always makes sure he has excellent and well justified reasons for doing what he does. On top of just being generally bad-ass, he had the only really excellent romantic relationship on the show. The slowly built love between Agron and Nasir was one of the highlights of the second season, and an excellent juxtaposition between their mutual love and the rest of the show's use of sex as a representation of power dynamics. Frell, now I am going to have to go rewatch Spartacus: Vengeance.




Well, those were the best... coming up next, the worst...