ABC, FX get high marks from gay, lesbian alliance

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NEW YORK (AP) — The marriage between the gay characters Kevin and
Scotty in the season finale of ABC's "Brothers & Sisters" helped
the network win the highest praise Sunday from an advocacy group that
pushes for more visibility of such characters on television.
It
was the first wedding of two gay or lesbian characters in a prime-time
scripted series, said the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
ABC has had other historic moments, including introducing a gay
character to "Soap" in 1977, having a gay teen in "My So-Called Life"
and Ellen DeGeneres coming out on "Ellen" as well as in real life.
ABC
ranked highest among the broadcast networks in hours where gay and
lesbian characters were portrayed, with FX topping the 10 cable
networks monitored, GLAAD said.
ABC is owned by the Walt Disney Corp. and FX by Rupert Murdoch's News Corp.
"We
know that programming to lesbian and gay viewers is good business and
these are two networks that realize the social and economic benefits of
including images of our community in their programming," said Damon
Romine, GLAAD's director of entertainment media.
FX was praised
for "Nip/Tuck," which GLAAD said had one gay, lesbian or bisexual
character in every episode. "Rescue Me" had a minor storyline with a
gay couple having a commitment ceremony and "It's Always Sunny in
Philadelphia" had a transgender character.
Fox, also owned by
News Corp., and NBC both had "failing" grades from GLAAD. While GLAAD
was pleased by the inclusion of gay characters on "House" and the games
"American Idol" and "So You Think You Can Dance," the group didn't like
a "New Amsterdam" episode where two lesbian characters fell in love
with a straight man.
GLAAD is pushing NBC to include more gay characters, particularly after the prominent lesbian doctor Kerry Weaver left "ER."