List of 1990s American television episodes with LGBT themes
A list of 1990s American television episodes with LGBT themes includes a number that engendered controversies relating to LGBT representation. With the exception of what would come to be known as "lesbian kiss episodes", in which a straight-identified female character exchanges an intimate kiss with a lesbian or bisexual character, who was generally never seen again, representation of same-sex sexual or affectional displays lagged well behind the behaviour in which mixed-sex pairs engaged. In addition to the controversy that surrounded the sight of two men in bed together on thirtysomething, controversies were generated around lesbian kiss episodes on L.A. Law ("He's a Crowd"), Roseanne ("Don't Ask, Don't Tell") and Picket Fences ("Sugar & Spice"). A similar controversy surrounded Fox's decision to cut a kiss between gay character Matt Fielding (Doug Savant) and a male guest star from an episode of Melrose Place (1994's "'Til Death Do Us Part"). The hesitancy about allowing any expression of same-sex affection on television even extended to the refusal of allowing same-sex couples having weddings or commitment ceremonies on series including Roseanne ("December Bride"), Northern Exposure ("I Feel the Earth Move") and Friends ("The One with the Lesbian Wedding") to kiss at the conclusion of the ceremony. During a period in network television history when producers were pushing the broadcast boundaries on sexually explicit content with such shows as NYPD Blue, the controversy over this and other television episodes that made inroads into presenting same-sex sexuality or affection led producers not to present any sexualization of their gay and lesbian characters. As noted by author Ron Becker,
"So viewers got to see Carol and Susan wed on Friends, but they didn't get to see them kiss. And fans of NYPD Blue could hear male hustlers talk about their johns, but the only sex they got to see involved the precinct's straight cops—naked butts and all. Clearly, chastity was the price gay characters paid for admission to prime-time television in the 1990s."[1]
This list covers episodes that aired from 1990 to April 30, 1997. On that date, "The Puppy Episode" of Ellen aired, in which lead character Ellen Morgan came out concomitant with series star Ellen DeGeneres coming out in her public life.[2] "The Puppy Episode" was an enormous popular and critical success, drawing some 42 million viewers[3] and winning two Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award.[4][5] DeGeneres won a GLAAD Media Award in 1998.[6] Ellen Morgan's coming out has been described as "the most hyped, anticipated, and possibly influential gay moment on television".[7] The LGBT media watchdog group Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) credits Ellen with paving the way for such LGBT-themed programming as Will & Grace (1998), The L Word (2004) and Ugly Betty (2006) and it has been suggested that Ellen and these other series presenting LGBT characters have helped to reduce societal prejudice against LGBT people.[8]
Episodes
| Year | Series | Network or station |
Episode | Synopsis |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 21 Jump Street | Fox | "A Change of Heart" | A lesbian teacher is murdered and a lesbian student makes a pass at Hoffs (Holly Robinson Peete). |
| 1990 | American Playhouse | PBS | "Andre's Mother" | Cal (Richard Thomas), Andre's lover, and Andre's Mother (Sada Thompson) struggle to come to terms with Andre's death. |
| 1990 | Designing Women | CBS | "Suzanne Goes Looking for a Friend" | Suzanne (Delta Burke) misunderstands the "coming out" announcement of a former beauty queen and current television weather forecaster. |
| 1990 | Doctor, Doctor | CBS | "Accentuate the Positive" | Deirdre (Maureen Mueller) is uncomfortable treating local newsman Hugh Persons (Brian George) for AIDS. |
| 1990 | Doctor, Doctor | CBS | "The Terminator" | The staff is terrified of a new employee (Charles Rocket), believing he's ex-Green Beret who destroyed an entire village. It turns out the man is gay and wore a green beret when he was a backup dancer for the Village People. |
| 1990 | The Fanelli Boys | NBC | "Pursued" | Dominic Fanelli (Joe Pantoliano) is jealous that his old friend Tommy Espozito (Chazz Palminteri) wants to spend more time with other friends than with him, until Tommy comes out. Dominic then begins to worry about his younger brother Frankie (Chris Meloni) spending a weekend in a cabin with Tommy. |
| 1990 | The Golden Girls | NBC | "Ebbtide's Revenge" | Dorothy (Beatrice Arthur) attends the funeral for her younger brother Phil Petrillo. Phil was a heterosexual cross-dresser. |
| 1990 | L.A. Law | NBC | "Outward Bound" | A gay police officer (Craig Wasson) files suit when he is outed in the gay press. |
| 1990 | L.A. Law | NBC | "Smoke Gets in Your Thighs" | The firm represents a man whose lover is dying of ALS when the dying man's parents refuse visitation rights. |
| 1990 | Law & Order | NBC | "The Reaper's Helper" | Jack Curry (Peter Frechette), a gay man with AIDS, is accused of murdering another gay man with AIDS and claims it was a mercy killing. NBC reportedly lost $1 million in revenue when advertisers pulled out of this and another 1990 episode.[9] |
| 1990 | Lifestories | NBC | "Steve Burdick" | Burdick (D. W. Moffett) is an HIV-positive gay television reporter. After his lover dies of AIDS, Burdick reveals his sexuality and diagnosis on the air. The episode was initially scheduled for December 2 but NBC pulled it, prompting some questions by LGBT and AIDS activists. The network aired the episode on December 19. |
| 1990 | Married... with Children | Fox | "Dance Show" | Peg (Katey Sagal) goes dancing with a man and the man's boyfriend confronts Al (Ed O'Neill). |
| 1990 | Northern Exposure | CBS | "Brains, Know How and Native Intelligence" | Chris (John Corbett) angers Maurice (Barry Corbin) when he reads some poetry on air by Walt Whitman and mentions the poet's homosexuality. |
| 1990 | Quantum Leap | NBC | "Good Night, Dear Heart" | Sam investigates a young woman's apparent suicide, learning the woman was really accidentally killed by Stephanie Haywood (Marcia Cross), her jealous girlfriend. Haywood was featured in issue #9 of the Quantum Leap comic book which documents her involvement with the Stonewall riots.[10] |
| 1990 | Roseanne | ABC | "Trick or Treat" | Dan is upset that DJ wants to be a witch for Halloween, while Roseanne dresses up as a man. |
| 1990 | The Simpsons | Fox | "Simpson and Delilah" | Homer (voiced by Dan Castellaneta) is promoted and gets a new secretary named Karl (voiced by Harvey Fierstein) who later kisses him. |
| 1990 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Syndicated | "The Host" | Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) falls in love with a male Trill ambassador. When he dies and the Trill symbiote is moved into a female host, Crusher ends the relationship. |
| 1990 | Wings | NBC | "There's Always Room for Cello" | R.J. Biggins (Abraham Benrubi), Roy's (David Schramm) gay son, makes his first appearance. |
| 1991 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Fox | "Summer Storm" | Kelly (Jennie Garth) is interested in Kyle Connors (David Lascher) but Kyle is gay. |
| 1991 | Coach | ABC | "A Real Guy's Guy" | Hayden (Craig T. Nelson) pressures Kelly to date his star player (Rob Youngblood), only to find out that he is gay. Hayden talks it out with the player in what is unbeknownst to him a gay bar in which two of Hayden's former players are seen dancing. |
| 1991 | Dear John | NBC | "Kirk's Ex-Wife" | Kirk (Jere Burns) goes into hiding when the group discovers his wife left him for another woman. |
| 1991 | Designing Women | CBS | "Toe in the Water" | Julia (Dixie Carter) starts dating again after the death of her long-term beau, choosing Mark (Charles Frank), whom her cousin Allison (Julia Duffy) pegs as "the gayest human being I've ever met in my life" because he knows what a peplum is and references Ida Lupino. Mark is not gay but Julia realizes she is not ready to date. |
| 1991 | The Golden Girls | NBC | "Sister of the Bride" | Blanche's (Rue McClanahan) brother Clayton (Monte Markham) returns with a boyfriend with whom he intends to have a commitment ceremony. |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | NBC | "Speak, Lawyers for Me" | A transgender model (Claudia Christian) sues the cosmetics company that fired her after discovering her status. |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | NBC | "He's a Crowd" | Kuzak (Harry Hamlin) defends a man with multiple personalities, one of whom is an elderly woman. Bisexual C. J. Lamb (Amanda Donohoe) and straight-identifying Abby Perkins (Michele Greene) share an intimate kiss, leading Abby to consider the idea of a relationship. |
| 1991 | Cheers | NBC | "I'm Getting My Act Together and Sticking It in Your Face" | Sam (Ted Danson) and Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) misinterpret each other's voice mail messages, leading Sam to pretend to be gay to dispel Rebecca's hopes for a more serious relationship. The episode includes a brief same-sex kiss. Aired the same night as the L.A. Law episode "He's a Crowd" |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | NBC | "Since I Fell for You" | Mark Gilliam (Stanley Kamel), a gay lawyer with AIDS, sues his insurance company when it refuses to pay for an experimental treatment. |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | NBC | "Do the Spike Thing" | An old college friend comes out to Douglas Brackman (Alan Rachins). When Brackman is gay-bashed he first tries to cover up the event. Eventually he accedes to his friend's wishes and testifies against the attacker, at the same time confronting some of his own homophobia. |
| 1991 | L.A. Law | NBC | "The Nut Before Christmas" | Arnold Becker (Corbin Bernsen) defends C.J.'s former lover, whose ex-husband is threatening to take her children away from her for being lesbian. |
| 1991 | Northern Exposure | CBS | "What I Did for Love" | It is discovered that the town was founded by a lesbian couple, Roslyn and Cicely, who fled homophobia in Montana in the early 1900s. |
| 1991 | Northern Exposure | CBS | "Slow Dance" | A gay couple, Ron Bantz (Doug Ballard) and Erick Hillman (Don R. McManus), buy a bed and breakfast from the conservative and homophobic Maurice. |
| 1991 | Roc | Fox | "Can't Help Loving That Man" | Andrew's brother Russell (Richard Roundtree) visits with his longtime white lover and announces that the two of them plan to wed. |
| 1991 | Roseanne | ABC | "Dances with Darlene" | After trying to get Leon (Martin Mull) to date a woman who works for the headquarters of Rodbell's, Roseanne and Bonnie (Bonnie Bramlett) discover that he is gay when his boyfriend comes to pick him up from work. |
| 1992 | American Playhouse | PBS | "Tru" | Robert Morse plays gay American author Truman Capote. |
| 1992 | Cheers | NBC | "Rebecca's Lover... Not" | Harvey Fierstein guest stars as a man whom Rebecca (Kirstie Alley) had a crush on in high school and is oblivious to his being gay. |
| 1992 | Dream On | HBO | "For Peter's Sake" | Martin (Brian Benben) is assigned to edit the memoirs of an author (David Clennon) with AIDS. |
| 1992 | The Golden Girls | NBC | "Goodbye, Mr. Gordon" | Blanche and Dorothy are mistaken for a couple on a talk show. |
| 1992 | Herman's Head | Fox | "Spermin' Herman" | Herman's (William Ragsdale) ex-girlfriend is a lesbian and wants Herman to donate sperm. |
| 1992 | Law & Order | NBC | "Silence" | A politician opposes the prosecution of his son's murderer because it might mean revealing that his late son was gay. |
| 1992 | Murder She Wrote | CBS | "Dead File" | Harvey Fierstein plays a comic strip artist who, while previously married and divorced, seems fond of his male coworker. |
| 1992 | Murphy Brown | CBS | "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are" | Miles (Grant Shaud) worries that he might be gay following a dream about dolphins, the Washington Monument and a gay co-worker. |
| 1992 | Northern Exposure | CBS | "Cicely" | The story of Cicely's founding by a lesbian couple is told in flashbacks. |
| 1992 | Picket Fences | CBS | "Remembering Rosemary" | The investigation into a ten-year-old death reveals that a husband murdered his wife after discovering she was in love with another woman. |
| 1992 | Picket Fences | CBS | "Pageantry" | A teacher named Louise Talbot (Natalia Nogulich) is revealed to be transgender. |
| 1992 | Roseanne | ABC | "Ladies Choice" | Nancy Bartlett Thomas (Sandra Bernhard) tells Roseanne and Jackie that she is a lesbian and dating Marla (Morgan Fairchild). |
| 1992 | Roseanne | ABC | "Stand on Your Man" | Nancy stands up to Arnie (Tom Arnold), who wants her back even more after learning that she is a lesbian. |
| 1992 | Seinfeld | NBC | "The Cheever Letters" | George (Jason Alexander) finds love letters written to his girlfriend's father by John Cheever. |
| 1992 | Star Trek: The Next Generation | Syndicated | "The Outcast" | Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes) falls in love with Soren, a member of an alien race called the J'naii. The J'naii society believes that of any sort of male or female gender, and especially sexual liaisons, are primitive. |
| 1993 | CBS Schoolbreak Special | CBS | "Other Mothers" | Will (Justin Whalin) is afraid that word will get out at school that he has two lesbian mothers (Meredith Baxter, Joanna Cassidy). |
| 1993 | Cheers | NBC | "One for the Road" | Diane (Shelley Long) asks a gay friend to pose as her husband so as to one-up Sam (Ted Danson). |
| 1993 | Designing Women | CBS | "The Lying Game" | When Carlene (Jan Hooks) learns that the man she is dating is a cross-dresser, she cross-dresses herself to try to understand him better. |
| 1993 | Doogie Howser, M.D. | ABC | "Spell it M-A-N" | Vinnie (Max Casella) is disturbed to learn his college roommate (Gil Cates, Jr.) is gay. |
| 1993 | Dream On | HBO | "Pop's Secret" | Martin learns that his father Mickey (Paul Dooley) is gay and that his "roommate" Roger (Dion Anderson) is more than just a roommate. |
| 1993 | The John Larroquette Show | NBC | "The Past Comes Back" | A startled John (John Larroquette) begins questioning his sexuality after another male alcoholic visits to make amends. |
| 1993 | Law & Order | NBC | "Manhood" | Police officers fail to respond to an officer's distress call during a shootout because he is gay. "Manhood" was remade as the Law & Order: UK season 2 episode "Samaritan". |
| 1993 | Life Goes On | ABC | "Incident on Main" | Gay bashing skinheads beat up Jesse (Chad Lowe) outside an AIDS hospice. Jesse was HIV-positive but heterosexual. |
| 1993 | The Mommies | NBC | "I Got the Music in Me" | Caryl (Caryl Kristensen) and Paul (Robin Thomas) worry their son Blake (Ryan Merriman) might be gay when he takes up the flute. |
| 1993 | Picket Fences | CBS | "Sugar & Spice" | Kimberly (Holly Marie Combs) exchanges intimate kisses with her friend Lisa Fenn (Alexondra Lee), leading to questions about her sexuality. She turns to her biological mother, who had a lesbian relationship while in college. Before agreeing to air the episode, CBS demanded that producer David E. Kelley reshoot the kissing scene in reduced light.[11] |
| 1993 | Picket Fences | CBS | "The Body Politic" | Mayor Bill Pugen (Michael Keenen) fires the town dentist, who is gay and HIV-positive. |
| 1993 | Quantum Leap | NBC | "Running for Honor" | Sam leaps into a brilliant naval academy cadet (who might be gay) whose roommate Phillip (Sean O'Bryan) was expelled for being gay and who may become the next victim of a group of gay-bashing cadets who call themselves The CHAIN (Cadets Honoring An Ideal Navy). Coach Martz (John Roselius) comes out to help prevent Phillip from killing himself. |
| 1993 | Seinfeld | NBC | "The Outing" | Jerry (Jerry Seinfeld) is mistakenly outed as being gay and in a relationship with George by a college journalist. |
| 1993 | Seinfeld | NBC | "The Smelly Car" | George learns that his ex-girlfriend is now dating a woman and he blames himself for turning her into a lesbian. |
| 1994 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Fox | "Blind Spot" | Steve (Ian Ziering) spots Mike (Jack Armstrong), the president of Steve's fraternity, in a gay coffeehouse. When Steve outs Mike later, the fraternity tries to throw Mike out but Steve speaks up in his defense. The producers screened the episode at several LGBT youth organizations before airing. Executive producer Chuck Rosin and actor Todd Bryant participated in question-and-answer sessions after each screening.[12] |
| 1994 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Fox | "Up In Flames" | Steve throws a house party at an abandoned house and Claire inadvertently attracts a large lesbian crowd. When fire breaks out Kelly is trapped with Alison (Sara Melson). |
| 1994 | Blossom | NBC | "Double Date" | Joey (Joey Lawrence) is excited to learn he has a secret admirer named Leslie until he finds out that Leslie is really Les (Paul Wittenburg), a fellow player on Joey's baseball team. |
| 1994 | The Commish | ABC | "Keeping Secrets" | A recent string of anti-gay hate crimes prompts Officer Hank Radovich (Matthew Ryan) to come out and face homophobia in the police department. |
| 1994 | Dream On | HBO | "The Courtship of Martin's Father" | Mickey and Roger break up and Mickey moves in with Martin. Martin admits he is uncomfortable with his father's sexuality but the two come to an understanding. |
| 1994 | ER | NBC | "ER Confidential" | Carter helps a suicidal transgender patient. |
| 1994 | Evening Shade | CBS | "The Perfect Woman" | Ponder (Ossie Davis) is set up with a beautiful woman (Diahann Carroll) who he learns is transgender. |
| 1994 | Frasier | NBC | "The Matchmaker" | New station manager Tom Duran (Eric Lutes) misinterprets Frasier's (Kelsey Grammer) dinner invitation as a date. |
| 1994 | Friends | NBC | "The One with the Sonogram at the End" | Ross (David Schwimmer) learns that his ex-wife Carol (Jane Sibbett) is pregnant and going to raise the baby with her partner Susan (Jessica Hecht). |
| 1994 | Friends | NBC | "The One Where Nana Dies Twice" | People think that Chandler (Matthew Perry) is gay. |
| 1994 | Hearts Afire | CBS | "Birth of a Donation" | Billy Bob (Billy Bob Thornton) gets angry when his friend Jeff (Charles Frank) confirms he is gay. Later he realizes he behaved foolishly. |
| 1994 | The John Larroquette Show | NBC | "Dirty Deeds" | John runs into his old college roommate, who is playing Marlene Dietrich in a drag show. |
| 1994 | Law & Order | NBC | "Mayhem" | One of the stories involves an innocent man who is afraid to tell the police that he is gay and was with his boyfriend at the time of the crime. |
| 1994 | Lifestories: Families in Crisis | HBO | "More Than Friends: The Coming Out of Heidi Leiter" | Based on the true story of Heidi Leiter, who attended her senior prom in Virginia with her girlfriend.[13] |
| 1994 | Living Single | Fox | "They Gotta Have It" | A gay man is a part of a seminar lecture on how to stop being too dependent on men. |
| 1994 | The Mommies | NBC | "Mr Mommies" | The mommies suspect a stay-at-home dad (Jere Burns) of being a bigamist, a spy or gay. |
| 1994 | Murphy Brown | CBS | "Brown vs. the Board of Education" | The "Ducky Lucky Pre-School" representative mistakes Miles as gay and assures him that the pre-school welcomes same-sex parents. |
| 1994 | Ned & Stacey | Fox | "The Gay Cabelleros" | Ned (Thomas Haden Church) pretends to be gay in hopes of keeping an important client. |
| 1994 | Northern Exposure | CBS | "I Feel the Earth Move" | Ron and Erick have a commitment ceremony. |
| 1994 | NYPD Blue | ABC | "Jumpin' Jack Fleishman" | A transvestite is murdered. |
| 1994 | NYPD Blue | ABC | "Rockin' Robin Finale" | A priest's body is located in a park used by male prostitutes. |
| 1994 | Party of Five | Fox | "Something Out of Nothing" | Ross (Mitchell Anderson) reveals to Claudia (Lacey Chabert) that he is gay. |
| 1994 | Roc | Fox | "Brothers" | Russell Emerson returns for a second visit and announces that he and his husband are relocating to Paris because of America's racism and homophobia. |
| 1994 | Roseanne | ABC | "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" | Roseanne visits a gay bar with Nancy and is kissed by Nancy's new girlfriend Sharon (Mariel Hemingway). |
| 1994 | Roseanne | ABC | "Skeleton in the Closet" | Leon throws a Halloween party and his gay friends seem to know Fred (Michael O'Keefe suspiciously well. |
| 1994 | The X-Files | Fox | "Gender Bender" | A series of sex crimes leads Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully to an Amish-inspired alien commune where the murderer is revealed to be a runaway transgender alien. |
| 1995 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Fox | "Girls on the Side" | Kelly learns that Alison has feelings for her. |
| 1995 | Beverly Hills, 90210 | Fox | "P.S. I Love You" | Alison acknowledges that she is in love with Kelly and rumors about their relationship start circulating. Steve becomes infatuated with the beautiful Elle (Monika Schnarre), only to discover that she is a pre-operative MTF transsexual. |
| 1995 | Blossom | NBC | "It Happened One Night" | Nick (Ted Wass) volunteers Blossom (Mayim Bialik) to show his friend's son Fred (Charlie Heath) around the city. Nick later learns that Fred is gay. |
| 1995 | Caroline in the City | NBC | "Caroline and the Gay Art Show" | Richard (Malcolm Gets) accidentally participates in an art gallery for gay artists. |
| 1995 | Chicago Hope | CBS | "Informed Consent" | Dr. Kronk (Peter Berg) dates Annie (Mia Sara), believing she is the sister of his childhood friend Andy until she advises him that she was Andy. |
| 1995 | Empty Nest | NBC | "Single White Male" | Charlie (David Leisure) invites his co-worker Hank (Douglas Sill) to move in with him, not realizing that Hank is gay. |
| 1995 | Fallen Angels | Showtime | "The Professional Man" | Brendan Fraser and Peter Coyote play two-thirds of a murderous gay love triangle.[14] |
| 1995 | Friends | NBC | "The One With Phoebe's Husband" | Phoebe's (Lisa Kudrow) husband, a gay Canadian ice dancer she married to help him get his green card, returns. He wants to divorce because he is not really gay and wants to marry another woman. |
| 1995 | Grace Under Fire | ABC | "Emmet's Secret" | Grace (Brett Butler) finds out that her former father-in law Emmet (Matt Clark) is gay after seeing him in a gay sports bar. |
| 1995 | Grace Under Fire | ABC | "Emmet, We Hardly Knew You" | Emmet dies and his partner Danny (Michael Winters) declares their love for each other at the funeral. |
| 1995 | Highlander: The Series | Syndicated | "Leader of the Pact" | The episode's two immortal villains are cryptically depicted as a gay couple. |
| 1995 | Homicide: Life on the Street | NBC | "Hate Crimes" | Neo-Nazis kill a man because he is gay, in a gay neighborhood. |
| 1995 | In the House | UPN | "Boys II Men II Women" | Mario (LL Cool J) discovers that an old friend (RuPaul) is a drag queen (who claims to be straight). |
| 1995 | The John Larroquette Show | NBC | "An Odd Cup of Tea" | Officer Hampton (Lenny Clarke) gets flowers that he believes are from his male doctor. |
| 1995 | Law & Order | NBC | "Pride" | An openly gay city councilman is murdered by a bigoted rival politician. |
| 1995 | Living Single | Fox | "Woman to Woman" | Max (Erika Alexander) is upset to find out that her former college roommate is gay and had a crush on her. |
| 1995 | Murder One | ABC | "Chapter Nine" | Hoffman (Daniel Benzali) defends a closeted college professor (Richard Schiff) who picked up a hustler in a public restroom. The professor kills himself rather than come out to his wife. |
| 1995 | Muscle | The WB | "Episode Five" | Television news anchor Bronwyn Jones (Amy Pietz) comes out during a newscast to thwart an outing attempt. Her station then began using her lesbianism as a promotional gimmick. |
| 1995 | The Nanny | CBS | "Oy Vey, You're Gay" | Mr. Sheffield (Charles Shaughnessy) hires a beautiful publicist named Sydney Mercer (Catherine Oxenberg) to improve his image. Fran (Fran Drescher) and C.C. (Lauren Lane) are both fearful that Sheffield is falling in love with Mercer until they learn that she is gay. |
| 1995 | NYPD Blue | ABC | "Don We Now Our Gay Apparel" | The detectives investigate the murder of a gay bar owner. |
| 1995 | The Outer Limits | Showtime | "Caught in the Act" | An alien takes control of the body of an engaged and chaste college student, causing her to engage in casual sex, prostitution and lesbian sex. |
| 1995 | Picket Fences | CBS | "Witness for the Prosecution" | A gay man kills his lover during a visit to Rome by Pope John Paul II and the Pope is sought as a witness. |
| 1995 | Roseanne | ABC | "December Bride" | Roseanne plans an outrageous wedding for Leon (Martin Mull) and Scott (Fred Willard). |
| 1995 | Seinfeld | NBC | "The Beard" | Elaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) tries to convert a gay man who feels that his coworkers need to see him with a girlfriend. |
| 1995 | The Single Guy | NBC | "Neighbors" | Jonathan (Jonathan Silverman) stays with his gay neighbors when his apartment requires extensive repairs. |
| 1995 | Star Trek: Deep Space Nine | Syndicated | "Rejoined" | Jadzia Dax (Terry Farrell) is reunited with the mate of a former host and the two struggle with their feelings for one another. |
| 1996 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | NBC | "I Enjoy Being a Dick" | Dick (John Lithgow) poses as a woman to sneak into a women-only study group. |
| 1996 | 3rd Rock from the Sun | NBC | "World's Greatest Dick" | Sally's (Kristen Johnston) gay male dance partner mistakes her for a drag queen. |
| 1996 | Arliss | ESPN | "A Man of Our Times" | Arliss (Robert Wuhl) has a client who has entered into a same-sex marriage. |
| 1996 | Boston Common | NBC | "Autumn Foliage" | Leonard (Steve Paymer) expresses in an interest in the "girl" at the impound lot. |
| 1996 | Caroline in the City | NBC | "Caroline and Victor/Victoria" | Annie (Amy Pietz) poses as a man to prepare for a "Victor/Victoria" audition. |
| 1996 | Chicago Hope | CBS | "Right to Life" | Dr. Kronk treats a female impersonator named Ms. Cherchez LaFemme (Giancarlo Esposito) for AIDS. |
| 1996 | Chicago Hope | CBS | "Women on the Verge" | A devastated Annie, forced by a medical condition to stop hormone treatments, commits suicide. |
| 1996 | Chicago Hope | CBS | "The Parent Rap" | The parents (Paul McCrane, Cynthia Lynch) of a baby born with ambiguous genitalia must decide whether to have constructive surgery performed to give the child female genitals. |
| 1996 | Cybill | CBS | "Three Women & a Dummy" | Cybill attends a party with Jeff (Tim Maculan) hosted by his ex-boyfriend. |
| 1996 | Diagnosis: Murder | CBS | "All-American Murder" | When a beautiful woman is murdered, Dr. Sloan (Dick Van Dyke) learns that this woman was a male-to-female transgender person who (while still biologically male) was kicked out of the Marines for her sexual orientation. |
| 1996 | Ellen | ABC | "Two Ring Circus" | Barrett (Jack Plotnick) and Peter (Patrick Bristow) have a commitment ceremony. |
| 1996 | ER | NBC | "Random Acts" | Jorja Fox plays a lesbian doctor named Dr. Maggie Doyle. |
| 1996 | Frasier | NBC | "The Impossible Dream" | A recurring dream about the station's food critic Gil Chesterton (Edward Hibbert) leads Frasier to question his sexuality. |
| 1996 | Friends | NBC | "The One with the Lesbian Wedding" | Carol and Susan have a commitment ceremony. Candace Gingrich appears as the minister who marries them. |
| 1996 | The John Larroquette Show | NBC | "Happy Endings" | Officer Adam Hampton (Lenny Clarke) comes out. |
| 1996 | The Larry Sanders Show | HBO | "Ellen, Or Isn't She?" | Larry (Garry Shandling) plans to convince Ellen DeGeneres to come out on his show but he is not sure if she is actually gay.[15] |
| 1996 | Law & Order | NBC | "Deceit" | A lawyer is fired for being gay and then killed to prevent his sex discrimination lawsuit from outing another lawyer. |
| 1996 | Living Single | Fox | "Swing Out Sisters" | The girls patronize a gay bar. |
| 1996 | Mad About You | NBC | "Ovulation Day" | Paul's sister Debbie (Robin Bartlett) comes out as gay. She has a gynecologist girlfriend named Joan (Suzie Plakson). |
| 1996 | Millennium | Fox | "Pilot" | Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) comes out of retirement to help the FBI track down a serial killer who is targeting female strippers and gay men who are cruising for sex at night in a Seattle park. |
| 1996 | Moesha | UPN | "Labels" | Moesha (Brandy) figures out on a date with Hakeem's (Lamont Bentley) cousin Omar (Chris Lobban) that Omar is gay and gossips about it at school, jeopardizing her friendship with Hakeem. |
| 1996 | Murphy Brown | CBS | "A Comedy of Eros" | Frank's (Joe Regalbuto) play about his love life is transformed on stage into a gay love story. |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | CBS | "Pilot" | Inspector/Lieutenant Joe Dominguez (Cheech Marin), ends up owning a gay bar. |
| 1996 | Nash Bridges | CBS | "The Javelin Catcher" | Two investigations, of a series of hate crimes against male prostitutes and of a weapons dealer, intersect when the dealer starts picking up transgender prostitutes. |
| 1996 | New York Undercover | Fox | "Without Mercy" | A mercy killer is poisoning patients at an AIDS clinic supposedly to spare them the suffering that her daughter went through. |
| 1996 | Picket Fences | CBS | "Bye-Bye, Bey-Bey" | Mayor Laurie Bey (Marlee Matlin) announces that she had a baby for her brother Jerry and his boyfriend Gordy, who plan to raise the baby in the town. Laurie's mother Christine (Louise Fletcher) sues for custody and the couple are gay bashed. Custody is granted to the couple. |
| 1996 | The Pretender | NBC | "The Paper Clock" | Jarod Pretends to be a lawyer in California to defend a mentally-challenged man on death row, enlisting the aid of a transvestite cab driver along the way. |
| 1996 | Roseanne | ABC | "Home Is Where the Afghan Is" | Bev (Estelle Parsons) comes out as a lesbian. |
| 1996 | Roseanne | ABC | "Mothers and Other Strangers" | Bev embarks on a journey with Scott and Leon to find out the truth about her father. |
| 1996 | Silk Stalkings | CBS | "Compulsion" | A man (Christopher Atkins) murders a wealthy gay couple so he can collect part of their fortune. |
| 1996 | Touched by an Angel | CBS | "The Violin Lesson" | Tony Du Bois (Lawrence Monoson) returns to his parents home for Christmas, to tell his homophobic father that he is gay and dying of AIDS. The angels try and persuade the father and son to reconcile and for Tony to understand that God is not the source of bigotry. |
| 1996 | Tracey Takes On... | HBO | "Romance" | Chris Warner (Tracey Ullman), girlfriend of pro-golfer Midge Dexter (Julie Kavner), demands that the couple stop hiding their relationship from the public. |
| 1996 | Turning Point | ABC | "For Better or Worse: Same-Sex Marriage" | Anchor Diane Sawyer and correspondent Elizabeth Vargas document four same-sex couples marrying.[16][17] |
| 1996 | Wings | NBC | "Sons and Lovers" | Roy's son comes to visit him for his Leap Year birthday and brings along his boyfriend. |
| 1997 | The Nanny | CBS | "Danny's Dead and Who's Got the Will" | Fran goes on a date with a gay man (Todd Graff) whose lover's family won't acknowledge their relationship. |
| 1997 | Coach | ABC | "A Boy and His Doll" | Howard (Kenneth Kimmins) and Shirley give Timothy a doll but Luther (Jerry Van Dyke) feels the boy should have more masculine influences. |
| 1997 | Cosby | CBS | "Older and Out" | Hilton (Bill Cosby) is overjoyed when he meets new friends Chuck (Joseph Bologna) and Larry (Andre De Shields), and joins their "Older and Out" team, unaware that it is a group for older gay athletes. |
| 1997 | Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman | CBS | "The Body Electric" | The town welcomes the famous poet Walt Whitman (Donald Moffat) until they learn of his homosexuality. |
| 1997 | The Drew Carey Show | ABC | "Man's Best Same-Sex Companion" | Drew (Drew Carey) fakes an insurance claim, listing his dog as his domestic partner. When the claim is challenged he enlists Oswald (Diedrich Bader) to pretend to be his spouse. |
| 1997 | Early Edition | CBS | "The Jury" | Chuck Fishman poses as Gary's boyfriend, to help Gary escape from sequestered jury duty in order to prevent an innocent man from being convicted. |
| 1997 | Grace Under Fire | ABC | "Riverboat Queen" | Grace and her business partner find out that their investor is gay. |
| 1997 | Living Single | Fox | "Misleading Lady" | Snyclaire (Kim Coles) poses as a man to win a part in a play. |
| 1997 | Malcolm & Eddie | UPN | "The Commercial" | A television commercial for the bar accidentally attracts lots of gay patrons. |
| 1997 | Married... with Children | Fox | "Lez Be Friends" | Al meets Marcy's (Amanda Bearse) lesbian cousin (also played by Bearse). |
| 1997 | The Naked Truth | NBC | "Woman Gets Plastered, Star Gets Even" | Nick (Jonathan Penner) and David (Mark Roberts) pretend to be a gay couple to curry favor with their boss, Les (George Wendt). When he challenges them to kiss and they are unable to their lie is exposed. |
| 1997 | The Nanny | CBS | "First Dates" | Fran's first official date with Sheffield is at a dinner party hosted by Elton John and his real life boyfriend. |
| 1997 | Ned & Stacey | Fox | "Saved by the Belvedere" | Ned's crewmember Jody (Andrew Craig) has a crush on Ned. He leaves Ned a series of increasingly explicit answering machine messages, leading Ned to arm himself with a gun. GLAAD condemned the episode for fostering stereotypes and promoting violence against LGBT people and Fox issued an apology.[18] |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | ABC | "I Love Lucy" | A drag queen seeks the squad's protection from her boyfriend. |
| 1997 | NYPD Blue | ABC | "Remembrance of Humps Past" | A deadly bisexual love triangle is featured. |
| 1997 | Roseanne | ABC | "Roseanne-feld" | Bev introduces Leon and Scott to her girlfriend, a boozy lounge singer named Joyce (Ruta Lee). |
| 1997 | Silk Stalkings | CBS | "Pumped Up" | A woman pretends to be a lesbian so she can seduce and murder her stepmother to prevent her from inheriting her father's money. She acknowledges enjoying the seduction more than she expected. |
| 1997 | The Simpsons | Fox | "Homer's Phobia" | After learning that new family friend John (voiced by John Waters) is gay, Homer worries that John will influence Bart to become gay too. |
| 1997 | Suddenly Susan | NBC | "A Boy Like That" | Luis's younger brother Carlos (Bruno Campos) arrives from Cuba and comes out. |
| 1997 | Temporarily Yours | CBS | "Temptation" | Temp worker Deb (Debi Mazar) thinks her romance novelist boss is sexually harassing her, only to discover that he is gay. |
| 1997 | Wings | NBC | "Escape from New York" | Brian (Steven Weber) and Helen (Crystal Bernard) lose all of their money on a New York City trip so Helen enters a drag lyp-synching contest as "Hell-in-a-Handbasket". |
See also
- List of pre–Stonewall riots American television episodes with LGBTQ+ themes
- List of 1970s American television episodes with LGBTQ+ themes
- List of 1980s American television episodes with LGBTQ+ themes
Notes
- Becker, Ron (2006). Gay TV and Straight America. Rutgers University Press. p. 179. ISBN 0-8135-3689-8.
- Handy, Bruce; Elizabeth L. Bland; William Tynan; Jeffrey Resner (2007-04-17). "Roll Over, Ward Cleaver". Time. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- "Ellen: TV Guide news". tvguide.com. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- "And The Winners Are..." The Seattle Times. 1997-09-15. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- "'Ellen' Wins Peabody Award". The New York Times. 1998-04-03. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- Lo, Malinda (2005-04-09). "Back in the Day: Coming Out With Ellen". AfterEllen.com. Archived from the original on 2010-03-04. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- Castañeda, et al., p. 267
- Staff (2007-04-11). "US activists celebrate Ellen's ten lesbian years". pinknews. Archived from the original on 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2008-11-19.
- Capsuto, p. 253
- Mangels, Andy (w, a). "Up Against a Stonewall" Quantum Leap 9 (February 1993), Innovation Comics
- Tropiano, Stephen (2003-05-28). "When a kiss is not just a kiss". popmatters.com. Retrieved 2008-10-31.
- Tropiano, p. 172
- Capsuto, p. 335
- Gays on the Tube
- Tropiano, p. 285
- Marriages That Dare Not
- `Same-Sex Marriage' Special Provides Valuable Insights
- Tropiano, p. 203
References
- Capsuto, Steven (2000). Alternate Channels: The Uncensored Story of Gay and Lesbian Images on Radio and Television. New York, Ballantine Books. ISBN 0-345-41243-5.
- Castañeda, Laura and Shannon B. Campbell (2005). News and Sexuality: Media Portraits of Diversity. SAGE. ISBN 1-4129-0999-6.
- Tropiano, Stephen (2002). The Prime Time Closet: A History of Gays and Lesbians on TV. New York, Applause Theatre and Cinema Books. ISBN 1-55783-557-8.
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