Greg Berlanti Quotes

When I was a kid, there were hardly any gay story lines or characters on television that I recall. Then when I was in college, 'Will & Grace' started up.

As an actor, it was important to me to play gay characters because, growing up, it was something I never really saw done on television and in film, and I was questioning why there weren't more people like me.

As a fan of the franchise, I count myself among the countless LGBTQ fans who have longed to see themselves and our relationships depicted on 'Star Trek.'

The first film role I deliberately chose to play after I came out was a raging heterosexual, John Profumo.

I feel like because I've done more gay characters, gay scenes, or gay projects than most straight actors, people see it as some sort of mission. It's more of a case-by-case basis, and just trying to capture figures that I love. I guess that a lot of the figures that I love were gay.

I remember when I heard 'Jessie's Girl' for the first time, I was like, 'This is so applicable to lesbians!'

We don't really get to see gay characters who are completely open with their sexuality, but it doesn't define who they are.

I kind of cheer the presence of any gay characters at all - I think the more we can saturate television with any gay character or lesbian character or transgender character, I think that's a really great thing. We're kind of getting past the fact that they're the punchline or that they're the novelty.

I love it when novels contain a broad cast of characters, including queer ones.

Now, it's weird not to have gay characters on a show.

I personally always have a hard time relating to queer characters in media because I didn't really see myself in them. They were kind of pigeonholed early on as the gay character, and they would naturally end up with the other gay character who would emerge at some point as their love interest.

There are plenty of lesbians in Hollywood, but they're not out. And that's their choice, but I can't do that, it's too important to me.

I've heard people tell me there's never been a gay character like Agron on TV before, and some fans have even thanked me because they now feel like they have a gay action hero, and it's very endearing to hear that kind of stuff. But I just played him the way he was and tried to do right by the character.

I think Chris Brown gets kind of dismissed as a gay writer, and I think Chris's books are really, really smart. I wish his books sold a little more widely.

One result of An American Family was that I became a gay role model.

The media has gone through lots of things that make it a less foreign thing to have your lead character be gay.

It's not being marketed as a gay show by a gay person. It's just Ellen DeGeneres.

The mainstream needs Ellen DeGeneres and Rosie O'Donnell. The mainstream needs RuPaul.

When I was young, there were bars called the 'Hungry Hole,' and in those same neighbourhoods are now gay people pushing baby carriages.

We had a gay marriage on 'Will & Grace' in 2000, 2001. And I was like, 'Gay marriage?' I mean, it was just really early.

Nobody knew if the pilot would even get picked up because it had two gay lead characters, which has never happened before. And now every show has at least two gay characters, if not many more.

I think there is much more queer visibility than there was when I was a kid. There is marriage, more trans visibility, and many more celebrities who are open about the sexuality. This was so not the case when I was a kid.

I love that we've chipped away at the celluloid closet and have wonderful programs that feature gay and lesbian characters in really rich, fully developed ways.

I think it's very important that, you know, gay actors get to play gay characters.

'The L-Word' was such a great show because of the amazing writing and characters, but maybe because it was such a new concept, people couldn't pick up on it, but I think it was down to the dynamic characters and how well done it was.