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ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY’S SPECIAL REPORT
GAY TEENS ON TV
GAY TEENS ON TV
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How producers and networks are making up for years of on-air silence and providing
inspiration for real-life youth (and parents) still searching for answers.
New York, N.Y. – When Rickie Vasquez came out to his family on a 1994 episode of My So- Called Life, he ended up bruised, bloodied, and living in an abandoned warehouse full of homeless teens, afraid to tell even his closest friends why his uncle had kicked him out of the house just before Christmas. He didn’t even utter the word “gay” on screen until the season finale, which became the show’s final episode—and that was only to console a girl he’d rejected.
No wonder Rickie felt the need to keep his sexual orientation painfully tucked away—he was completely alone when it came to gay teens on television. He was the first on a primetime network show, and he’d be the only one for another five lonely years. In fact, there would be just a handful more in the next 10 years. “It was cathartic in some ways and painful in others,” says the man who played him, Wilson Cruz, now 37, whose real life inspired many of Rickie’s story lines. “The biggest part was the acknowledgment of our existence and our pain, which we hadn’t seen at all on television before that.”
If only Rickie could see Glee’s Kurt Hummel now. The breakout character (played by Chris Colfer) on TV’s most buzzed-about network show has won an Emmy nomination, a Golden Globe, and viewers’ hearts with an at times poignant, but often, well, gleeful depiction of a modern gay teen. It took Kurt only four episodes to say the words “I’m gay” to his dad, to which his father shrugged and said, “If that’s who you are, there’s nothing I can do about it. And I love you just as much.” He sealed it with a hug, and a new kind of gay hero was born: one who’s loved as much for his boa wearing as he is for fending off bullies and forming a touching stepbrotherly bond with his former crush.
Kurt, incidentally, spent his Christmas episode duetting on a wildly flirtatious version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with his new dreamy male idol, Blaine (Darren Criss). “That was by far the gayest thing that has ever been on TV, period,” Colfer says. “Forget AbFab, forget Beautiful People and Will & Grace.” The song became the most downloaded track off the Glee Christmas album—and ubiquitous on the radio during the holidays. “I was proud of that,” Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy says. “I think it pushed the envelope a bit.”
Unlike Rickie, Kurt and Blaine are far from alone in their boundary pushing this TV season. Gay characters have gone from one-time guest stars, whispered tragedies, and silly sidekicks to not just an accepted but an expected part of teen-centric television. The change reflects real teens’ lives: The percentage of schools with gay-straight alliance clubs is up from 25 percent in 2001 to 45 percent today, indicating the increasingly visible role that gay kids are playing in the high school landscape. With the average coming-out age now 16 (down from 19–23 in the ’80s), according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it only makes sense for teens on TV to tackle the issue. “With our millennial audience, it’s what they expect to see,” says ABC Family exec VP of programming Kate Juergens. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was such a vestige of an older generation.”
Speaking of which, the trend reflects not only demographic shifts but also the social and political climate. It was telling that when Colfer took home a Golden Globe on Jan. 16 for his moving portrayal of a bullied teen, his tear-jerking acceptance speech ended with these words of encouragement to fans: “To all the amazing kids who watch our show…who are constantly told ‘No’…by bullies at school that they can’t be who they are... well, screw that, kids.” Despite the uptick in gay characters like Kurt—and out teens in general—it’s a message that’s still sorely needed in a world that doesn’t always reflect the same kind of happy-ending acceptance TV is almost obliged to depict. Nine out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students have been harassed because of their sexuality, according to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). And while Kurt is lucky to have supportive friends, there are many real teens out there feeling as if they have nowhere to go and no one to talk to—and the results have been devastating. A spate of teen suicides (at least six in September) linked to brutal bullying incidents prompted the U.S. Department of Education to draft anti-bullying guidelines for schools— and reinforced the need for empathetic portrayals of high schoolers on TV. The celebrity-studded It Gets Better campaign (in which everyone from Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian recorded video messages of hope and support) surely helped some struggling gay teens, but TV shows that form long-lasting relationships with their audiences can resonate even more. “I think young gay people look at [Kurt and Blaine] both as role models,” says Murphy, “and it means something to see their lives perhaps for the first time reflected on screen.”
Jason Galisatus, a 17-year-old student ambassador for GLSEN, would be the first to agree with Murphy. “I think that Kurt will become a historical figure in LGBT history,” says Galisatus. “My friends talk about the episode where he came out to his dad. We all talk about how amazing that is and how crazy it must be to live in a conservative, Midwestern community and be able to be open about your sexuality. That’s very inspiring to all of us, and we can say, ‘Well, hey, if Kurt can do it, why can’t we?’ Frequently, even if it is just a show, it does give us hope that coming out is not always a horrible thing to do.” And a little hope can often go a long way. The Trevor Project, which runs a toll-free suicide hotline for gay youth or those questioning their sexuality, has been receiving numerous calls from teens who have been moved to pick up the phone after watching relatable TV characters such as Kurt. “There are conversations that happen with counselors that point to characters on TV,” says Trevor Project executive director Charles Robbins. “Obviously, Glee is dealing with a very spot-on issue with Kurt’s character. Since September, our call volume has increased, and that coincides with the Glee story lines and all the news media coverage of gay bullying.”
Thanks to Glee and its 14.1 million viewers, gay teen characters are now reaching more eyes than ever, as Kurt’s run-in with bullying has dominated the first half of the musical’s second season. It’s also led to the addition of wildly popular mentor/love interest Blaine. “They’re kind of like the Joanie and Chachi of our generation,” Colfer says. True enough, audiences are pulling for the couple just as they have for such iconically sweet teen pairings of the past. “When we made the announcement that Kurt was getting a boyfriend, people went bats - - -, they were so excited,” Colfer adds. “And then you add Darren, who is incredibly talented, and people are just jumping up and down.” For Criss, the real sign of progress is that the pairing has caused no controversy whatsoever. No protests. No outcry. No loss of corporate sponsors. Even their suggestive yuletide duet caused far less commotion than, say, some of their Glee costars posing provocatively (and heterosexually) in GQ magazine. “It’s become less and less about the obvious frame of it, the young teen gay couple on the popular network show,” says Criss. “It’s more about just a favorite character having a love interest, which is awesome.”
(Cover Story, Page 34)
Link to EW.com with Video: http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/20/glee-gay-teens-ew-cover/
inspiration for real-life youth (and parents) still searching for answers.
New York, N.Y. – When Rickie Vasquez came out to his family on a 1994 episode of My So- Called Life, he ended up bruised, bloodied, and living in an abandoned warehouse full of homeless teens, afraid to tell even his closest friends why his uncle had kicked him out of the house just before Christmas. He didn’t even utter the word “gay” on screen until the season finale, which became the show’s final episode—and that was only to console a girl he’d rejected.
No wonder Rickie felt the need to keep his sexual orientation painfully tucked away—he was completely alone when it came to gay teens on television. He was the first on a primetime network show, and he’d be the only one for another five lonely years. In fact, there would be just a handful more in the next 10 years. “It was cathartic in some ways and painful in others,” says the man who played him, Wilson Cruz, now 37, whose real life inspired many of Rickie’s story lines. “The biggest part was the acknowledgment of our existence and our pain, which we hadn’t seen at all on television before that.”
If only Rickie could see Glee’s Kurt Hummel now. The breakout character (played by Chris Colfer) on TV’s most buzzed-about network show has won an Emmy nomination, a Golden Globe, and viewers’ hearts with an at times poignant, but often, well, gleeful depiction of a modern gay teen. It took Kurt only four episodes to say the words “I’m gay” to his dad, to which his father shrugged and said, “If that’s who you are, there’s nothing I can do about it. And I love you just as much.” He sealed it with a hug, and a new kind of gay hero was born: one who’s loved as much for his boa wearing as he is for fending off bullies and forming a touching stepbrotherly bond with his former crush.
Kurt, incidentally, spent his Christmas episode duetting on a wildly flirtatious version of “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” with his new dreamy male idol, Blaine (Darren Criss). “That was by far the gayest thing that has ever been on TV, period,” Colfer says. “Forget AbFab, forget Beautiful People and Will & Grace.” The song became the most downloaded track off the Glee Christmas album—and ubiquitous on the radio during the holidays. “I was proud of that,” Glee co-creator Ryan Murphy says. “I think it pushed the envelope a bit.”
Unlike Rickie, Kurt and Blaine are far from alone in their boundary pushing this TV season. Gay characters have gone from one-time guest stars, whispered tragedies, and silly sidekicks to not just an accepted but an expected part of teen-centric television. The change reflects real teens’ lives: The percentage of schools with gay-straight alliance clubs is up from 25 percent in 2001 to 45 percent today, indicating the increasingly visible role that gay kids are playing in the high school landscape. With the average coming-out age now 16 (down from 19–23 in the ’80s), according to the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, it only makes sense for teens on TV to tackle the issue. “With our millennial audience, it’s what they expect to see,” says ABC Family exec VP of programming Kate Juergens. “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell was such a vestige of an older generation.”
Speaking of which, the trend reflects not only demographic shifts but also the social and political climate. It was telling that when Colfer took home a Golden Globe on Jan. 16 for his moving portrayal of a bullied teen, his tear-jerking acceptance speech ended with these words of encouragement to fans: “To all the amazing kids who watch our show…who are constantly told ‘No’…by bullies at school that they can’t be who they are... well, screw that, kids.” Despite the uptick in gay characters like Kurt—and out teens in general—it’s a message that’s still sorely needed in a world that doesn’t always reflect the same kind of happy-ending acceptance TV is almost obliged to depict. Nine out of 10 lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender students have been harassed because of their sexuality, according to the Gay, Lesbian, and Straight Education Network (GLSEN). And while Kurt is lucky to have supportive friends, there are many real teens out there feeling as if they have nowhere to go and no one to talk to—and the results have been devastating. A spate of teen suicides (at least six in September) linked to brutal bullying incidents prompted the U.S. Department of Education to draft anti-bullying guidelines for schools— and reinforced the need for empathetic portrayals of high schoolers on TV. The celebrity-studded It Gets Better campaign (in which everyone from Barack Obama to Kim Kardashian recorded video messages of hope and support) surely helped some struggling gay teens, but TV shows that form long-lasting relationships with their audiences can resonate even more. “I think young gay people look at [Kurt and Blaine] both as role models,” says Murphy, “and it means something to see their lives perhaps for the first time reflected on screen.”
Jason Galisatus, a 17-year-old student ambassador for GLSEN, would be the first to agree with Murphy. “I think that Kurt will become a historical figure in LGBT history,” says Galisatus. “My friends talk about the episode where he came out to his dad. We all talk about how amazing that is and how crazy it must be to live in a conservative, Midwestern community and be able to be open about your sexuality. That’s very inspiring to all of us, and we can say, ‘Well, hey, if Kurt can do it, why can’t we?’ Frequently, even if it is just a show, it does give us hope that coming out is not always a horrible thing to do.” And a little hope can often go a long way. The Trevor Project, which runs a toll-free suicide hotline for gay youth or those questioning their sexuality, has been receiving numerous calls from teens who have been moved to pick up the phone after watching relatable TV characters such as Kurt. “There are conversations that happen with counselors that point to characters on TV,” says Trevor Project executive director Charles Robbins. “Obviously, Glee is dealing with a very spot-on issue with Kurt’s character. Since September, our call volume has increased, and that coincides with the Glee story lines and all the news media coverage of gay bullying.”
Thanks to Glee and its 14.1 million viewers, gay teen characters are now reaching more eyes than ever, as Kurt’s run-in with bullying has dominated the first half of the musical’s second season. It’s also led to the addition of wildly popular mentor/love interest Blaine. “They’re kind of like the Joanie and Chachi of our generation,” Colfer says. True enough, audiences are pulling for the couple just as they have for such iconically sweet teen pairings of the past. “When we made the announcement that Kurt was getting a boyfriend, people went bats - - -, they were so excited,” Colfer adds. “And then you add Darren, who is incredibly talented, and people are just jumping up and down.” For Criss, the real sign of progress is that the pairing has caused no controversy whatsoever. No protests. No outcry. No loss of corporate sponsors. Even their suggestive yuletide duet caused far less commotion than, say, some of their Glee costars posing provocatively (and heterosexually) in GQ magazine. “It’s become less and less about the obvious frame of it, the young teen gay couple on the popular network show,” says Criss. “It’s more about just a favorite character having a love interest, which is awesome.”
(Cover Story, Page 34)
Link to EW.com with Video: http://popwatch.ew.com/2011/01/20/glee-gay-teens-ew-cover/
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