GLAAD, Gay Characters Continue to Make Strides

"It's really romantic, it's not about the politics," Grey's Anatomy co-star Jessica Capshaw says of an upcoming wedding on the medical drama. The wedding she's referring to, however, could have been a political story as it's between Capshaw's Arizona Robbins and Sara Ramirez's Callie Torres and gay marriage isn't legally recognized in Washington, details the Hollywood Reporter.

While programming like ABC’s Modern Family and Grey's Anatomy as well as Focus Features’ The Kids Are All Right serve as strong examples of how gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender characters have evolved, there are great strides still to come for entertainment fare that tells the story of LGBT individuals.

As LGBT characters in film and television have grown in number and scope, so, too, has the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation’s annual awards. This year’s 22nd annual GLAAD Awards - part of the organization’s 25th anniversary - sees prizes handed out in a slew of categories recognizing film, TV and new media, a far cry from the lone TV category that existed in 1990, when L.A. Law, As the World Turns and The Tracey Ullman Show were among those honored.

“The room was a lot smaller and the nominee list was a lot shorter,” GLAAD president Jarrett Barrios says of those early awards, the first of which didn’t include a film category. “Perhaps the greatest change over the years is that there are more and better portrayals every year in Hollywood. We’re seeing more deeper and complex story lines involving LGBT characters.”