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Now characters from a variety of LGBTQ+ identities are increasingly seen in bigger roles. In the UK, the soaps also became noticeably gayer, with Hollyoaks in particular becoming home to a wide spectrum of queer storylines.
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Similarly, in Ryan Murphy’s Glee, fashion-obsessed Kurt Hummel’s relationship with his dad and teenage romance storylines were handled with a new level of openness and sensitivity. But the show spotlighted several LGBTQ+ characters and afforded its gay leads – fashion assistant turned editor Marc St James and Betty’s nephew Justin – a depth to which audiences had previously been unaccustomed. Television led the way: in Ugly Betty, the stereotype of gay men as fashion-obsessed and bitchy remained. So what’s changed? From the mid-2000s and towards the start of the 2010s, gay characters began evolving. “I think it was quite harmful for younger queer audiences to only see themselves in this way, as Shakespearean fools not intrinsic to the story, but more there to offer the straights some comic relief.” Looking back, Al-Kadhi thinks that this stereotype did more harm than good. Andrew Rannells as Elijah Krantz in Girls. It’s an unthreatening gay representation that was intrinsically tied to commerciality.”ĭapper laughs. “Commercial platforms felt they were doing their bit for ‘inclusion’ without potentially upsetting advertisers. “The GBF was always a bit of a eunuch: sexually harmless, more a court jester than anything else,” Al-Kadhi says. The screenwriter Amrou Al-Kadhi (Little America, Hollyoaks, The Watch) says that it was “the perfect way” for platforms to represent gay characters without having to think of them sexually.
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But it feels like scripted TV shows and films had a particular love for the GBF. When Paris Hilton – a 00s cultural phenomenon – filmed her quest to find her “new BFF”, the winners of her US and UK competition shows were both gay men. They worked in creative jobs, were armed with witty one-liners and rarely had their own storylines. SATC’s Stanford Blatch and Anthony Marentino, a colourfully dressed talent agent and sharp-tongued wedding planner respectively, were the quintessential gay best friends. From Damian (“too gay to function!”) in Mean Girls to Stanley Tucci in The Devil Wears Prada and Burlesque, the GBF often played the sidekick to a woman, providing emotional support and fashion tips along the way. In the 2000s – long before Lil Nas X was giving the devil a lap dance in PVC boots – representations of gay men in films and TV shows often revolved round the “gay best friend” stereotype.