abstract
| - Since the 1970s, American television and cable programs have sometimes aired episodes addressing issues relating to homosexuality. Storylines in individual episodes have concerned gay rights, or perhaps more broadly, expressed what a producer or writer believes is a need for understanding and tolerance for gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people. A producer or writer may choose to address homosexual-related topics in one of several ways:
* The "coming out" episode – Where a main or supporting character reveals he/she is gay.
* Integrating (often briefly) a LGBT character into the series.
* An episode where a one-time character – seen or unseen – is revealed as being gay, and the main characters dealing with the issue (e.g., a family visiting a relative who makes his/her announcement).
* An episode with a villain who is identified as being LGBT.
* An episode dealing with the AIDS-HIV pandemic. Until the late 1990s (when actress Ellen DeGeneres revealed her real-life homosexuality and built this into her situation comedy, Ellen), it was relatively rare for a television series – drama or comedy – to address homosexual issues. However, a handful of programs did build individual episodes around the issue as early as the 1970s – most notably All in the Family, which had several "gay-themed" episodes – usually either to address a certain aspect of the topic, to make the show controversial or establish a certain philosophy among the characters.
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