Being gay may very well be hip these days, but apparently it’s still a little too edgy for primetime judging from the fall television lineup debuting this season on the major television networks.

A few weeks ago in this very same space, I touted the progress and indeed the great strides that gays were making on television as reflected by the multiple new outlets for gay programming that were coming into being. However, as I reviewed the fall television line-ups for the major networks, I began to wonder if we are in fact making great strides on the small screen or if we are still in the process of breaking out of the neatly sanitized packages that are so palatable to our heterosexual compatriots.

Despite the success of shows like Will & Grace, Queer As Folk and Queer Eye for the Straight Gay, there is very little that is gay about what we can expect to see on mainstream television this fall. To be sure there are gay characters here and there and there will certainly be gay storylines designed to tease and titillate on any number of shows, but for the most part the gays portrayed on television this season will be no different from what we have seen in seasons past. Gay characters will exist as neutered beings kept around to provide comic relief and rehash all of the stereotypes that have permeated television programming since Paul Lynde cackled Endora into submission on Bewitched and Jim J. Bullock got Too Close for Comfort. Like so many other “minorities” it appears that gays will continue to be ghettoized on television...allowed out only at night and even then only on those scrappy cable networks desperately in search of a niche…any niche…that will attract controversy and consequently, ratings. So the question becomes, is this all a good thing? Are gays really making progress on television? Or are we still in the process of coming out and revealing our true selves? I, for one, say that the answer is twofold.

On the one hand, I am a firm believer in the old Hollywood adage that one only need be worried when people stop talking. And, believe me, people are still talking. The mere whisper of a gay storyline is enough to get tongues wagging and garner tasty little ratings bumps for shows from all the media interest gay subject matter has a tendency to engender. Why else do you think so many of Hollywood’s “straight” A-list stars are chomping at the bit to play gay characters on screens of any size? The very fact that gays continue to have a place on television is indicative of the ever-growing realization that gay culture is a part (and a significant one at that) of mainstream culture and as such cannot be overlooked or denied as a part of the fabric of society.

On the other hand, progress is by definition reflective of change. Asexual gay characters on television who are endowed with the combined wit of Bette Midler and Oscar Wilde and the sex drive of Barbara Bush are not necessarily representative of change, nor are they reflective of the very real motivations of most gays. Being gay is not about the way one decorates a room, hangs a chandelier or chooses what to wear from one season to the next. Being gay is about those parts of the anatomy of another human being that drive one crazy…it’s about the person that one wants to sleep with after a long day at work entertaining the masses…and, most importantly, it’s about being totally free to love openly and fully whomever one chooses. And this is the piece of gay life that mainstream television continues to miss or has otherwise decided to ignore. Gays are more than sidekicks…more than best friends…more than people who can help put together the most fabulous dinner party straight people have ever seen…but you’d never know judging from what’s on television these days.

So, in the final analysis… yes, we have made progress, but we’re still in the process of proving that we’ve earned our couch potato status. The longevity of gays on television is proof that we ain’t going anywhere, but the real issue is how long is it gonna’ be before we stop marching in place? But, at least at the moment we’re on the lineup for the parade and that ain’t a bad place to be at all.