Brothers & Sisters: Something Good and Gay on TV

Television often has a very powerful affect on our culture – sometimes more so than anything our country’s political and legal systems can produce. Growing up, I remember when Ellen came out. I was too young to have been struggling with my own sexuality at that point, but I remember her having her own sitcom, and I remember seeing the “Yep, I’m Gay” Time magazine cover at the grocery store. I was in high school when Will & Grace became popular, and while I’ve always thought that the show focused too much on stereotypes, I would generally support the notion that the show made homosexuality a bit more mainstream.

Having heard good things, last winter I tuned in to watch ABC’s Brothers & Sisters. The hour-long family drama stars Sally Field as the mother of five adult children (Calista Flockhart among them). Unbeknownst to me before I started watching, one of the sons is gay. Even more surprising to me was how prominently this gay character factored into the show’s plot, and how un-stereotypical and refreshingly realistic the character is portrayed. Kevin, played by (straight) actor Matthew Rhys, is a successful lawyer, is hardly flamboyant, and while now in a committed relationship, had an active dating life beforehand.

Watching the show last season, I’ll admit to tearing up when Rhys’ character got married to his boyfriend. It was a bit sappy (and who doesn’t like a bit of that?), but profound in how “normal” it seemed. Living at home at the time, I tivoed the episode and made my mom watch it after I had. The episode aired shortly after I had come out to my parents, and was at a time when they were still very much grappling with how my being gay would change the future they had always pictured for me. Having my mom watch as two men became a family, while obviously fictional, was tremendously helpful. She wasn’t suddenly over the fact that I was gay, but I think it did give her an image of what my future could look like – something nice to fill the void that had previously been occupied by visions of my straight wedding.

After watching the wedding episode, I got a little curious. Who was writing this, and how were they so authentically capturing the gay experience? Which is how I stumbled upon Greg Berlanti… who, btw, is the hot guy featured in the adjoining picture (I totally have a crush on him). Berlanti, it turns out, who is himself gay, is no stranger to pushing the television envelope on behalf of gays. While writing for Dawson’s Creek (his first show), Berlanti successfully lobbied the WB to air what became television’s first gay kiss.

While much has changed since that episode of Dawson’s Creek, Berlanti attributes most of the progress to television itself. Speaking with AfterElton.com, Berlanti explained that “The executives are my age now [he’s 36] as opposed to 10 or 15 years older than me, and they've grown up in a post-Will & Grace world and a post-Six Feet Under world… And you can't live in a post-Six Feet Under world and tell mature, adult story lines without gay characters kissing where everyone else would kiss.” Which makes sense really… our generation (people under 40) is much more comfortable with gays and lesbians. And why? Because we’ve been exposed to gays and lesbians far more often, and in a far more positive light than previous generations (thanks largely to tv). And now, Berlanti is adding further to that progress.

In addition to producing Brothers & Sisters, Berlanti also produces Dirty Sexy Money and Eli Stone (starring a certain former Dawson’s Creek actress and famous Scientologist). Brothers & Sisters airs Sundays on ABC at 10pm.