Panel Voices: What are your favorite portrayals of LGBT characters in mainstream movies and TV shows?

Pieter Tolsma, Brianna Matthews, George Gramer and Keo Frazier weigh in on this week’s question. 

Pieter Tolsma 

I had a tough time coming up with LGBT characters because so often it seems like the characters’ sexuality and gender identity are made such an issue they receive undue attention.  Characters like Jack from Will & Grace are a squealing stereotype.  Characters like Max from a clever show called Happy Endings are nominally gay but seem to be created to be the anti-gay gay, representing hyper-masculinized characteristics and few attributes of a sexualized gay lifestyle. Lesbians rarely seem to come up at all.

A favorite character of mine is from Dr. Who and Torchwood: Jack Harkness.  He is openly bisexual and expresses a fluid type of identity that, while important to the personality of his character, does not define who he is but simply supplements it.  His sexual self is visible to the audience but yet is not overplayed to seem egregious or heavy-handed.  At the same time, his storyline involves meaningful relationships as well as casual encounters.  He’s a truly well-written character who is genuinely likeable and richly textured. To be fair, the actor, John Barrowman, is already out and adorable in real life, so I might be biased.

Pieter Tolsma is the program coordinator of Denver PIQUE, a program for gay/bi young men in Denver.

Brianna Matthews 

I’ve recently been captivated in the new Netflix original series, Orange is the New Black.  Laverne Cox, who in real life is a post-op trans woman, portrays a post-op trans inmate, Sophia Burset, in prison for credit card fraud. Her character deals with the true-to-life struggles of a trans woman inmate and prejudice from both inside and outside the prison walls.

Incarcerated or not, Cox’s authentic portrayal of an actual trans person — not just an actor playing a trans person — instills authenticity in her role, and a sense of believability in the character that you wouldn’t find anywhere in mainstream programming.  She shows the general public that a strong trans person can easily be a strong and authentic actor or actress.

Brianna J Matthews is a 43-year-old post-op Trans-lesbian ready to take on the world.

George Gramer 

Believe it or not, I haven’t seen Brokeback Mountain, and I like Modern Family but haven’t watched any of this season — the gay couple is pleasant and you feel good when they are happy — but admittedly I am not a moviegoer, nor do I watch much television.

Tom Hanks in the 1993 film Philadelphia, portraying lawyer Andrew Beckett, may be my favorite character, since he excoriated attorneys with his line, “What do you call a thousand lawyers chained together at the bottom of the ocean? … A good start!”  It is not at all difficult to dislike most attorneys and I have some lawyer acquaintances, but no close lawyer friends.  I think there might be a reason; Andrew Beckett had one too.

If I were to choose between Will or Jack, I would go with Will — much more educated, masculine and clear-thinking.  I doubt that Jack had a college degree, let alone a law degree (attorneys, again).

I know that gay people love to project gay onto others … so Daniel Radcliffe, Joe Jonas, British diver Tom Daley, Chord Overstreet, Tim Tebow, Taylor Lautner, Ryan Seacrest, Max and and Charlie Carver need to get with the program!

Iowa native George K. Gramer, Jr. is the president of the Colorado Log Cabin Republicans.

Keo Frazier 

My favorite characters in mainstream media are those who portray the values I believe in: honesty, loyalty, intelligence and humor.

Honesty is portrayed by Lena Heady who plays a lovestruck lesbian, Luce, in the movie Imagine Me and You, and a strong, independent wife in 300. Her honesty is uncanny in both as she defies her own emotions to spare those she loves from heartbreak. Ellen DeGeneres makes the list for loyalty — to her career, her wife and her fans. Ellen has not been wavered by ridicule. She has always stood for who she is, no matter what. Intelligence is Elton John, a musician who appeals to the masses through his talent, intellect, education in the arts and ability to express himself through style and quiet pizazz. Laughter is the most important medicine in life and my favorite gay character who makes me laugh every week is Cameron Tucker in Modern Family, played by Eric Stonestreet. Need I say more?

Last but not least, the lesbian who makes my heart throb is Jody Foster — she seems to be all the above.

Keo Frazier is the fearless leader and founder of KEOS Marketing Group.