RIP Norman Lear, What He Did for the TV Queer

December 7, 2023
ALEXANDER

Norman Lear, What He Did for the TV Queer

This Tuesday, entertainment lost a true icon. Passing away at his home at age 101, he was working hard and making appearances up to the very end. Credited with changing the face of television, he brought some of the most memorable TV shows to American living rooms, including All in the Family, Maude, The Jeffersons, Good Times, Sanford and Sons, and One Day at a Time, among others, and executive produced The Princess Bride and Fried Green Tomatoes.

An outspoken liberal, his shows pushed the envelope dealing with issues like racism, feminism, and social inequalities — things that were not often talked about on network television. His liberal efforts earned him a place on President Nixon's enemy list and he was called the #1 Enemy of the American Family by Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell. For his work, he was presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Clinton in 1999, was inducted into the Kennedy Center at its annual honors in 2017, and became the oldest nominee and winner of an Emmy. Social media was flooded with fond memories by just about every celebrity imaginable.

As far as the gays are concerned, here are some of the top things he did for our community.

MAUDE

Need we say more? Bea Arthur, who later would play Dorothy in The Golden Girls, went from stage star to TV star with her portrayal of Maude in Norman's series. Originally a two-time guest on All in the Family, Bea's character of Maude was a hit and earned her own spin-off. Outspoken, Maude dealt with any issues regarding race, feminism, abortion, classism, and even gay issues. Without Maude, would we have even had Dorothy in Golden Girls? Who knows, but you can see the resemblance in the characters.

ALL IN THE FAMILY

The first openly gay character to appear on US television made his debut in All in the Family's fifth episode, titled “Judging Books by Covers,” which dealt with Archie Bunker finding out his former college football friend turned out to be gay. The episode was meant to open conversations and fight gay stereotypes of the time.

All in the Family, in its sixth season, featured a character named Beverly LaSalle, a drag queen portrayed by real-life queen Lori Shannon. LaSalle appeared on a number of times on the show until the character was slain in a hate crime. In typical Lear fashion, comedy and drama played hand in hand to make a statement.

THE JEFFERSONS

Outside of what The Jeffersons did for Black representation in America, the comedy featured a trans character named Edie Stokes, who was not presented as someone to pity or someone in a crisis, but as a woman who has successfully transitioned and is living to the fullest.

ONE DAY AT A TIME (reboot)

The much-loved reboot of One Day At A Time features Elena, who comes out as a lesbian to her family and who is a main character. She has a non-binary girlfriend and navigates it all through her teen years in this loving family.

HOT L BALTIMORE

In Norman Lear's first show for ABC, Hot l Baltimore, based on an off-Broadway play, featured one of the first gay couples to be depicted on American television. The network showed a warning before each episode because of its mature themes. Unfortunately, the show only aired 13 episodes.

ALL THAT GLITTERS

In the short-lived soap opera spoof in 1977, All that Glitters featured TV's first transgender leading character, played by Dallas' Linda Gray. Under Lear's instruction, Linda met with many trans women to get a feel of the reality of the trans community.

AWARDS

Lear was given the Pioneer Award at the 2014 GLAAD Media Awards and Equality California’s Ally Leadership Award in 2020.

ACTIVISM

Norman founded People for the American Way, a non-profit promoting liberal causes in direct opposition to the conservative agenda. Over the years, the organization produced many editions of Hostile Climate: Report on Anti-Gay Activity.

ON GOING

His legacy lives on as his production company is working on Clean Slate for Amazon’s Freevee, starring Laverne Cox and centering around a man who finds out his adult offspring is trans, as well as Netflix' The Corps, about a gay, bullied student joining the Marines during the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell" era.

RIP, Norman...thanks for everything!

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