Matthew Rhys (left) plays Kevin Walker on ABC’s ‘Brothers & Sisters.’ Gay actor Luke MacFarlane plays his partner on the show. (Photo by Mitch Haddad; courtesy of ABC)
MANY GAY CRITICS ARE relentless when it comes to gay television characters. They must be prominent, not peripheral. They can’t be stereotypical, but they can’t be one-note and boring either.
They must avoid a clichéd coming out, and they must not be overly angsty about their sexuality. Their lives should involve complications unrelated to being gay, but we must on a continual basis be reminded that they are, in fact, gay, or they’ll be deemed “gay in name only.”
They can’t be promiscuous; they can’t be campy; they can’t be psychotic. They should preferably be in a relationship, and if they are, they should have awesome, hot make-out scenes frequently. Anything less is hardly equal treatment.
But with a glass-half-full mentality, we should appreciate the strides made in the last few years. Watching “Brothers & Sisters,” it’s delightful how the character Kevin Walker passes every gay test.
Created by out playwright Jon Robin Baitz, overseen by out producer Greg Berlanti and portrayed by straight actor Matthew Rhys, Kevin Walker is everything gay audiences could ask for, and then some. He’s a prominent character whose conflict often derives from his crazy family, not his sexual orientation. But his sexuality isn’t a non-entity; he often fights for his rights when embroiled in political discussions, and incidentally, gets very excited about seeing “Wicked.”
He’s in a committed relationship with his partner Scotty (gay actor Luke MacFarlane) that’s featured no more and no less than any of the other couples on the show.
ANYONE DOUBTING KEVIN’S VIABILITY as a gay character need look no further than Kevin’s proposal to Scotty at the end of last season.
“I look at Saul [his closeted uncle], who’s missed his life entirely, and I realize how lucky I am because I get to come home to someone who is kind and caring and who changes the light bulbs … Marry me … I am completely in love with you. I even love the things about you that I hate … and to me that feels like family. And that’s what I want us to be. I want us to be family because that never ends.”
The monologue couldn’t have been written any better for a straight character. And Rhys’ genuine, emotive delivery — as well as MacFarlane’s utterly shocked, thrilled reaction — make the scene all the more moving and realistic.
“BROTHERS & SISTERS,” now in its third season, continues to deliver. In a recent episode, Kevin, a lawyer, planned to bring Scotty to a dinner aimed at wooing a sports company to his firm. When his boss questioned that move, noting that the client might become distracted by his sexual orientation, Kevin was put in a modern-day quandary.
Kevin’s professional ambitions clashed with his personal life again last Sunday when an overdue reconciling with Scotty’s parents coincided with an office function in which Kevin might be named a partner in the law firm.
The situations are emblematic of the real-life tensions and dilemmas gay men and lesbians face. They are realistic interpretations of one of the least-outwardly discriminatory, but ubiquitous forms of sacrifice that even the most accepting workplaces may force on gay professionals.
Kevin is not ashamed of his sexual orientation, but his sexuality is not the only guiding factor in his life. That’s good for all of us, and all of America, to see.
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