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<blockquote data-quote="MGibster" data-source="post: 8707571" data-attributes="member: 4534">Billy Crystal's portrayal of Jodie Dallas from the prime time comedy series Soap ran from 1977-1981 is the first one I can think of.&nbsp; The portrayal wasn't without its problems, particularly in the first season where Jodie considers sexual reassignment surgery to be with his deeply closeted quarterback boyfriend and he sleeps with a woman and has a daughter with her, but they handled the character better as the series progressed.&nbsp; In the 3rd or 4th season, Jodie goes to court to keep custody of his daughter whose mother has returned after abandoning them both.&nbsp; Jodie's lawyer lays out the truth for him, that as a gay man, there's no way the judge is going to give him custody.&nbsp; Throughout the season, Jodie is shown to be a good father who cares about his daughter and is going to pieces over the thought of losing custody.&nbsp; He's the character we're supposed to empathize with.&nbsp; I sitll don't know if that was the first portrayal of a positive gay character on American television.&nbsp; It's just the first one I can think of.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="MGibster, post: 8707571, member: 4534"] Billy Crystal's portrayal of Jodie Dallas from the prime time comedy series [I]Soap [/I]ran from 1977-1981 is the first one I can think of. The portrayal wasn't without its problems, particularly in the first season where Jodie considers sexual reassignment surgery to be with his deeply closeted quarterback boyfriend and he sleeps with a woman and has a daughter with her, but they handled the character better as the series progressed. In the 3rd or 4th season, Jodie goes to court to keep custody of his daughter whose mother has returned after abandoning them both. Jodie's lawyer lays out the truth for him, that as a gay man, there's no way the judge is going to give him custody. Throughout the season, Jodie is shown to be a good father who cares about his daughter and is going to pieces over the thought of losing custody. He's the character we're supposed to empathize with. I sitll don't know if that was the first portrayal of a positive gay character on American television. It's just the first one I can think of. [/QUOTE]

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