Gay characters in glee

From Santana’s lesbian kiss with openly bisexual cheerleader Brittany, to Kurt Hummel’s messy storyline with closeted school bully Dave Karofsky, and the show’s first transgender characters, Glee has had a fair few LGBT moments.

LGBT stands for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender people respectively. Glee had some moments of brilliance in its first few seasons, but once the main characters graduated, it became almost unwatchable or totally hate-watchable. But the show's focus on sexuality and sexual orientation can also be limiting.

We can move beyond the trope of gay characters only for sweeps episodes The O. We can expect and demand fully human LGBTQ characters who are defined by more than just who they want to end up with at the end of the day.

In season three, watching the straight white male character Finn tell the character Santana, a lesbian, that she needed to be brave and come out left a particularly bitter taste in my mouth. The show is on its tenth season — it really needs to end — but because of its track record of writing fully developed LGBTQ characters not defined by that one character trait, I keep watching from time to time.

Not only did he defy traditional gay stereotypes by being a football team ultra-jock, but Spencer was completely shameless about. To celebrate Glee making its way to Netflix, we have collated the LGBT characters’ best moments.

As television moves forward and splinters into the land of Netflix, online series, and more cable shows, hopefully future GLAAD reports will show an increase in meaningful representation and demonstrate what television can be at its best.

Part of enjoying the stories we're told is being able to identify with the characters. I've never had a conversation with my mom about The L Word because she's never seen it, but we've had conversations about the gay characters on Glee because the show and its LGBTQ characters are so ubiquitous.

This is a category page for all LGBT characters in the FOX television series Glee. Take The L Wordwhich aired on Showtime from to Watching The L Word is somewhat of a rite-of-passage for any recently out lesbian seriously, it isand it provides an excellent fallback conversation for a first date.

At its best, television has the power to open minds and generate meaningful discussion. Gay characters deserve to be featured on an assortment of shows, so that the general audience can watch them not just as ratings ploys, but as realistic depictions of members of society.

Glee The True Story :

We need more shows like this. Take it from someone who still watches Grey's Anatomy because there's a storyline with two women married to each other. From these numbers, it's clear that depicting LGBTQ characters hasn't been a priority for most big networks.

That's why I sometimes watch shows I wouldn't otherwise — because they have a gay character totally the reason I started watching Pretty Little Liarsbut then it also turned out to be amazing. Nevertheless, Glee has certainly opened the door for further LGBTQ representation on popular television shows by proving that a show that embraces diversity can find mainstream success.

If the main characters the ones we're supposed to identify with are only white, heterosexual, and upper class, television is saying this is their target demographic, and the LGBTQ audience could be easily left out. This year, Fox's Glee was ranked the most inclusive show on television, though it will be ending next year after its sixth season.

Spencer might just be the most underrated character in all of Glee.

With Glee coming to a close, will any popular TV shows step up their inclusivity?