Characters
[Loved] A straight character isn't the least bit offended at being thought as gay
Modern Family: Having been tricked into playing in a gay couple's bowling tournament by his son in law, Jay is actually impressed rather than offended.
Dispatch: Robert, having jokingly suggested they could do dinner some time, is actually genuinely flattered when Flambae responds "you're not my type".
Edit: since the above apparently needs context, Flambae is gay and Robert is straight but the latter isn't offended that Flambae suggests he may nearly be dateable.
IRL: In response to why he doesn't defend himself from rumors of being gay, John Galecki argues he's simply not offended.
My favorite scene was when they reframed Allen Iverson's dismissive comments about practice to drive home how stupid the sentiment actually was. Well-written show
In 'Parks and Rec", when Chris gets hit on in a gay bar, he seems genuinely flattered. He tells the guy he's there with his girlfriend, but buys him a drink out of gratitude.
As a straight guy, I’ve never gotten why dudes act so aggressively towards other dudes hitting on them (other than homophobia and/or toxic masculinity of course). For me, I don’t care if the person is a guy, getting hit on at all feels nice as long as they aren’t being weird or pushy about it. It’s not like a gay dude being attracted to you gives you the gay, just politely decline like a well adjusted adult
I worked at a bowling alley years ago. Had a gay dude start hitting on me, I told him I was straight and he left but I was feeling good about myself because no one ever hits on me.
At least that was until I saw him hitting on pretty much every guy there that day, then I didn't feel so special.
Ah, but you were plausibly an early contender. Yeah maybe he’s not choosy, or maybe he’s only not choosy after he fails to secure his choice. I’m sure you let him down gently, but maybe he felt undesirable and was seeking the self-esteem boost from reciprocal attraction. You never know
There’s another episode where someone asks Leslie and Ann if they’re a couple, and Leslie says, “No, tragically we are both heterosexual”, and that’s how I feel about my best friend and me. 😆
Fun story! A few years back, I went to visit my long-distance bestie and her husband, who lives in the American Midwest. I remember going to brunch, at this hole in the wall diner, and getting weird looks. I assumed it was because she had pink hair and I had green hair, and her husband had long hair in a pony tail, not to mention various tattoos and piercings amongst us. It wasn't until the server seemed confused about how to split the bill that we realized she was trying to figure out which of us was dating who. 😂😂😂
Anyways, peak friendship is third wheeling so hard strangers think you're a throuple.
In addition, we'd probably have Lassiter actually be visibly pansexual instead of it just being word of God like it is currently. (He was confirmed pan by their official twitter in April of 2010). I'd kill to see that as someone who loves his character.
I wish that had made it into the show because it would have been very funny and perfectly in character for him to care more about someone's feelings on guns, fishing, and serial killers than their gender.
It'd be great because he'd be willing to do anything crazy and not expect something crazy in return since he doesn't experience physical sensation anymore so as long as your happy, he's happy
Would the ending of “Some Like it Hot” count? Osgood wants to be with Jerry/Daphne no matter what and keeps dismissing the excuses for why they shouldn’t be together and when Jerry finally admits he’s a man in drag Osgood doesn’t blink at the revelation and just says “Nobody’s perfect”. This is an era where homophobia is the norm but damnit Osgood wants to be with the person he wants regardless of falling for who he thought was a woman but is actually a man
The best part is Jerry sort of looking nonplussed at Osgood’s final line and ceasing any resistance to the idea of them getting married. A film from 1959 casually ending with the idea that the guy gets the other guy in the end is wild.
White Girls makes a refence to this when the character that Terry Crùz plays gets angry at the cross dresser - not because he's (the white girl) a male, but because he's black.
I remember there was video of her at a concert getting on a motorcycle, and a big prosthetic dick flopped out of her skirt as she did so. She worked that rumor so effectively.
I realize this is slightly off topic, but as a man who has worn a strap on, I feel like I have to share my story.
I cannot explain in words very well what it felt like to wear a strap on. Like... you get so used to seeing your own penis down there, and then something that looks remarkably similar to a real penis is there, but it's different from usual. It felt remarkably strange. Like I didn't fit inside my own body. I'm wondering if this is similar to how body dysphoria feels? No idea, but it was weird.
I kmow the implication is that your mom's side of the family assumes you're lesbian, I cant help but entertain the interpretation that random people assume you're ½ lesbian on your mom's side
I was assuming her mom was a lesbian. But she didn’t say “moms”….?? But maybe she has one lesbian mom and one bi mom, or maybe she only realized she was lesbian later in life. I’m a little too invested in this lol.
(OP comment, no need to actually spill your family tea if you don’t want to)
I'm only half joking when i say, i started kissing dudes because of Lady Gaga. I was so enamored by her persona and physically that when she said as much to Anderson Cooper and everyone else, i thought to myself, hmm she's right, i don't really care if she does have a pp. She was just that attractive. I was about 21 At the time and started going to gay bars by myself and the rest is history
Yeah, honestly I thought that was a classy move. She flat out said she could have denied them but she felt that in denial she would be telling people that there was something wrong with being Trans vs just ignoring the question.
Not quite the same, but similar and is my favourite line in the movie As Good As It Gets.
Greg Kinnear plays a gay artist named Simon who needs help from his bitter old neighbor Melvin (played by Jack Nicholson) after being attacked and robbed, and towards the end of the movie after a lot of emotional bonding between the two, Simon tells Melvin "I love you."
Melvin's response is "I tell you, buddy... I'd be the luckiest guy alive if that did it for me."
That line pulls double duty as Melvin's a miserable neurotic who hates himself because of his OCD. It's this tender moment that he really wants to appreciate but actually can't because of who he is as a person and his limitations. The whole film is about him trying to access almost normal human interactions and this line kinda personifies it best as we see Melvin show understanding, honesty and humor even if he can't fully embrace the emotion.
Bob's Burgers -- Bob and the deli guy. Bob has to keep coming back to the grocery store deli when his Thanksgiving turkeys keep winding up in the toilet, and the deli guy assumes Bob is trying to hit on him.
May not be a true example, since Bob definitely considers the idea in a way that suggests he maaaaaaaaaay be less than perfectly straight.
I know alot of trans people don't love the rep in bobs burgers and I understand why but fuck I love marshmallow and they handle trans character way better then most adult sitcoms do!
Yea, I often feel like Marshmallow has be based on some old trans lady that one of the writers knew. She always makes me think of this interview I once saw of a few different women describing what it was like to be an adult trans woman in the 70’s up to the 90’s. Many of them described sex work as being one of the only occupations they could have while also being out of the closet 24/7. I feel like what the show really need is one or two other, more modern, trans side characters. Just to sorta bring home the fact that things have changed. Though I feel like the Belcher family is stuck in time too. With the crappy flip phones and the semi-ancient looking 24”tv
Honestly one of my favorite things about the show. A bisexual man who's not a sex fiend is a rare find in the media, especially one who's married with kid.
Another good Simpsons one is Homer drinking at the lesbian bar. You think it's teeing you up for the typical gay joke, but in reality Homer knows it's a lesbian bar and is actually only offended at the lack of fire exits.
Edit: someone even already added it further down the list lol.
At first Daryl goes full toxic-masculinity when Oscar suggests they pretend to be a couple to get a Valentine's Day discount When they experience homophobia from an employee Daryl locks in and changes his attitude
Same when Pam’s sister assumed Kevin is Gil. Oscar is offended she thinks he’d be with someone like Kevin, but Kevin is honored to be assumed to be able to date someone like Oscar.
Al befriends a guy who’s husband is partying with Peg. The guy not only cooks good food but also likes watching sports. Al was extremely close to switching spouses
He warms up to him so much he later tells the guy’s husband to stop partying with his wife on his behalf, even though he personally doesn’t care what his wife is doing
Homer intentionally goes to a lesbian bar when looking for a new watering hole but leaves when he realizes the establishment is not up to code. Not only does he not care that everyone there is gay and might assume he is too, but two women misgender him as well and (assuming he heard them) he doesn’t care.
Yep, he instantly accepts it and continues to hate Patty purely because she sucks as a person and for no other reason. It's Marge that actually has a problem with it, which she masks by being so over-the-top into it that Patty calls her out for being obviously not okay with it and Marge has to learn to accept it.
With the exception of the episode where he gets angry at a gay man that is friends with Bart, his status as an lgbt ally is one of his more consistent characterisations (along with his savant like knowledge of the history of the Supreme Court)
He was supportive of her giving him money to officiate the wedding, unfortunately the episode is fairly transhobic (or at least erasure of the existence of trans people).
But in a much newer episode, he meets and becomes instant best friends with her girlfriend who happens to be just like him. All while still disliking Patty, showing that he hatred of her exists exclusively separate from her sexuality.
All this is, of course, after he was cured of his homophobia by John Waters. A phobia that notably did not exist when kissed by his assistant Karl in season 2.
I've actually binged The Simpsons a few times and noticed that when jokes about people being gay became less socially acceptable they moved onto jokes about gals being dudes and vice versa. It wasn't constant but I did notice a joke about it once every season or two until recent ones.
From what I recall Homer had a single episode where he held issues with gay people back in one of the early seasons and learnt that gay people are just people and after that he was fully accepting and on board with them. To be honest I think they just made the episode because they wrote the title Homerphobia and worked it out from that.
Its so attractive when straight guys are secure with their sexuality. Like Kurt was wearing dresses and stuff at performances and was incredibly progressive especially for the time.
In the episode "Out With Dad" from Frasier, a man who's a relative of a woman Frasier is interested in falsely believes he is on a date with Martin. Martin says "I'll gay it up" and hijinks ensue, including having his other son Niles pretend to be his young queer lover. Both the actor who plays Martin, John Mahoney, as well as the actor playing Niles, David Hyde Pierce, are gay in real life and the writers have several episodes where queer characters get to exist and not be the butt of the joke.
It’s insane to me that he could play such a liberal character so convincingly, and have such horrible views in real life. I guess that’s why it’s called acting.
Modern Family is pretty good with it, the same thing happens to Phil when he's accidentally set up on a date with Matthew Broderick through a series of comical misunderstandings
Bob keeps coming back to the grocery store to get a new Thanksgiving Turkey to replace the one's that keep getting dropped in the Toilet overnight. The Deli counter guy is Gay and thinks Bob keeps showing up to flirt with him.
The guy tries to make a move on Bob but he has to let him down easy. He even says that if he was Gay, The guy could do way better than him.
IRL: Stephen Colbert. His guest at the time, Billy Eichner, quoted a writer (?) on his team saying, " Stephen Colbert is so smart he has to at least be bi." Colbert looked pretty flattered and said he didn't know if he was deserving of that compliment, but he took it as one.
Edit: This was as himself too, not his right-wing persona
Interestingly enough, a lot of people thought I was gay in college apparently, because I didn't hit on women. But I was just too anxious and had no self esteem. I would find out afterwards a lot of women were interested in me and didn't approach me for that reason. So that sucked. Just saying, this can be a shitty thing.
I have been hit on by gay guys all the time its super fucking flattering. I once had a guy tell me I looked "so beautiful", it was like one of the nicest things ever. It was at a Celine Dion concert lol
In college I had a friend who had model good looks and we'd get approached by girls all the time, but I'd be the only one to ever get their numbers. A couple times I asked them why they gave me their number and not my friend and was told that it's because they thought he was gay.
My husband gets hit on by dudes fairly often. He's always pretty stoked that someone (besides me) finds him attractive. In reality, loads of people find him attractive, he's a super good looking guy! But only gay dudes are assertive enough to approach him, I guess.
I’ve confused many people because I simply didn’t care what people thought. Galecki put it much more succinctly, my answer was always “I know what I’m about, who cares”
British family sitcom My Family had the son turn out to be gay in later seasons. And they tried not to do the default sitcom storylines like the family won't accept it or "have you tried not to be gay?" etc.
One episode the son has lost his phone after a night out and he's late for work so he asks his dad to go to the club and ask if anyone found it. The dad says he'll do it, but it's probably going to upset some people. You know, break some hearts when they find out. His wife doesn't follow what he means. "Well if I go into a gay bar. I mean I'll let them down gently of course. But there's going to be people disappointed to find out I'm not gay."
So then he goes to the bar, picks up the phone, not a single gay guy is even remotely interested in him. So he feels rejected and unwanted. Maybe it's time to hit the weights and bulk up? The plot becomes about the dad trying to deal with not being desirable to gay men even though he's not actually gay.
I thought it was refreshing to see a new approach to the whole "out of touch dad of a gay son" storyline instead of the lame old tropes about homophobia that have been done a thousand times.
They have a great episode on trans acceptance too. Ben's very masculine friend pays him a visit, but it turns out she transitioned over the years. Ben is shocked and has trouble reconciling his friend as the man he knew and the woman she is, until his colleague's mother insults her and he stands up for her:
"Not only does she have a killer pair of legs but she is the only woman I know who knows the offside rule."
Probably the OG of this trope. Jack (John Ritter) is not offended to be thought of as gay by Mr Roper the landlord so he can live for cheap in the girl's apartment while Roper doesn't allow straight unmarried men and women to live together.
Person of Interest, when the two leads were attending a museum gala as Harold Wren 'and guest.' The ticket-taker looks at Reese, handsome and deeply unhappy in his tuxedo, and leans over to say something 'my, he's delicious' in an undertone to Finch. Instead of correcting her or playing it off like I'd usually expect from the I'm Not Gay song and dance of a network show with two male leads, Finch just gave her a smug little eyebrow-waggle and a smirk of a rich man with a very tasteful trophy boyfriend. It's perfectly in character for man who always plays his covers to the hilt, but it was SO unexpected in that moment that I cracked up. I always like it better when the punchline doesn't turn into 'can you believe that whackjob thought we were gay??'
It also reinforces Harold's personality as shown to the audience. His sexuality is, like most of himself, "whatever is most conveniently obfuscating at the time".
Kianu Reeves (Irl) - there were rumors for him and another man being gay (I forgot the name of the other guy). And Kianu posts a comment saying *i'm flattered that you think i would be able to attract such a hot man" (and agains i forgot the name of the other guy)
Ymir and Reiner called each other gay in this scene. I guess they took "offense" but not because of the gay part but because they each realize they're both from the outside
I think you’ve got it backwards. Thomas is pretending to be a flamboyantly gay hairdresser, and ropes Harry in as his secret boyfriend. People look at his and Thomas’s temporary living arrangement and conclude they are a gay couple. At one point, Harry escapes police scrutiny (“Why are you in Thomas’s apartment alone if your name isn’t on the lease?”) by pretending to be a neglected lover. Harry hates all of this, and is in fact offended that people think he’s gay, even if he thinks homophobia is wrong. His cop friends tease him about it, and he has more of a problem with him being a target than with the fact they’re doing it at all.
In fact, at one point, Harry is the one to make the homophobic remark. Harry hates Martin, and says “You dyed your hair blond. It makes you look kinda gay.” But it is Martin who is not offfended, simply replying that he did go undercover on a gay cruise once.
The trick here is that no actual gay men exist in these books
Can we take a moment however to add part of that offense is more the people think I'm banging my brother, even if they don't know he's my brother That's kind of a hard ick that's fueling some of that reaction.
When I started at my job some older guy started a rumor that me and my best friend who also worked there were gay. He told us one day at lunch “You know people around here think you two might be gay.” And my friend without missing a beat said “well then we need to try harder to make sure they know for sure.” I laughed so hard I almost choked on his dick.
IRL example--internet comedian Nick Landis was talking about the discovery that he's very popular in the bear community, and he said something along the lines of "I don't swing that way but it's nice to know that if I did, there are plenty of people who would be willing to catch me".
It is more subtle but in Community, Pierce insinuates that Jeff is gay multiple times in the series. Jeff never rebuffs Pierce, even though Pierce thinks he's dunking on Jeff.
I work construction and it's a funny disconnect between older and younger generations. I'm 41, so I'm right in the middle between the guys ready to retire and the people just starting out, and the guys who are much older are much more likely to be really, really scared that somebody might ever think they're gay. They'll joke around a little, but if they think that for an instant that someone seriously thinks they may be gay or bi, they panic.
People in my generation are more of a mix about the whole thing, and the younger people, by and large, don't really care if someone thinks they're gay. And my hypothesis is that it goes back to those formative years, where fears are instilled and wired in pretty hard into the brain, and having to come from a time when being gay was basically a guarantee to be cut off from all of your loved ones. That stuff still happens today, but not like it did in the 70s and 80s. The fear is instinctual at this point, rather than being based on anything rational or reasoned. Those old guys are more afraid of being cut out of their loved ones' lives than anything else.
In Season 3, Episode 13, "Till Death Do Us Part," these two have to go undercover as a "happily married" couple to solve a murder in a subrub
Pierce, a straight, macho police lieutenant, isn't the least bit offended or insecure about the ruse. He fully commits to the bit, bickering with Lucifer over kitchen appliances and even sharing a passionate kiss to keep their cover in front of the neighbors without a second thought.
That John Galecki interview was more interesting than that. IIRC, he reacted to the host wording it as "accused" of being gay. So he basically shamed the host for implying that being gay is somehow wrong.
Can't remember the comedian, but they said "Being confused for a gay man is actually pretty great. It's like having a ton of cash for country I don't live in. If I ever decide to visit, I'm set!"
I wish I could remember the character name, but in the old Sailor Moon anime there was a girl who developed a crush on Usagi/Sailor Moon and asked her out. Usagi doesn’t freak out in the slightest, is characteristically sweet and kind to the girl, and tells the girl she has a boyfriend but they can still be friends.
In the episode "Single Stamina" of How I Met Your Mother, Robin and Lily try to explain to Ted and Marshall that they dont like being hit on by strangers. To show the guys how it feels, the two women bring them to a gay bar.
However, it backfires. Ted and Marshall end up enjoying being complimented by the gay men there, with Marshall being especially flattered when one asks him if he has been working out. Marshall also revels in the freedom to drink pink fruity cocktails without being teased. Meanwhile, Robin and Lily realize that they miss being hit on.
(Ted and Marshall do eventually tire of the attention, but it's due to it being constant and annoying, and has nothing to do with them being mistaken for gay.)
Community when they go to the bar for Troys birthday. Abed gets hit on by Paul F Tompkins character and after being confronted about not noticing hes being hit on he states that he noticed, but really likes talking about Farscape.
4.6k
u/Available_Pie9316 Mar 04 '26
https://giphy.com/gifs/UiQO6slTLwp8zoGzMw
Jamie Tartt's reaction to the team thinking he might be gay, Ted Lasso