Billy Eichner Quotes

I feel like certainly there are people expecting 'Looking' to be representative of everyone that's gay, the entire gay community. And it's a dangerous expectation to come in watching the show expecting that. Expecting that out of any show.

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

For some reason, being gay can be such a sad thing in media, so it's really cool to see someone like me who doesn't look like, I guess, the stereotypical gay guy.

The representation of gay characters on screen is important for us all to think about because there are sadly too few representations of gay characters on screen in mainstream cinema. If Marvel starts making movies about gay superheroes, then we'll be in a really great place. We're not at that place.

When I was growing up I didn't know what it meant to be a happy, successful grown-up gay person, and now I do. I feel like I'm setting an example for people everywhere.

I have straight married friends that other friends think are gay, and I have gay friends who don't throw that vibe at all. I know there's a full range out there, but I feel that gay men who aren't flamboyant are underrepresented on-screen.

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

And I'd like to believe that's true, you know, kind of showing gay people in this kind of light and - where it's not about that, it's just about the characters for the first time, like those shows were.

I grew up in a conservative small town, and the gay characters I saw on TV and in movies when I was growing up were all flamboyant and obnoxious and sometimes kind of annoying.

Early on, after gay liberation, there was an almost Stalinist pressure from gay critics and even gay readers to write about positive role models. We were never supposed to write negative things about gays, or else we were seen as collaborating with the enemy.

I'm a very political person. I'm a very opinionated person. I have a lot of opinions about LGBTQ representations in the media, and it's not just a gay community issue. It's a black issue. It's an Asian issue. It's a minority issue in general.

When I was growing up, we didn't have 'Will & Grace.' The one gay character was Monroe from 'Too Close For Comfort' - and he wasn't even gay! At least they didn't say he was. Same with Mr. Furley from 'Three's Company.' You know, these were the characters that people would always make fun of.

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

I got 'Will & Grace,' and I thought, 'Oh, this is different. I don't know how to handle this. I'm not bright enough; I'm not quick enough, I don't have the DNA to be a spokesperson for any kind of group of people.'

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

There was a criticism of 'Milk' that I found truth in, which was that it was focused on gay white men.

When I started, you couldn't do anything. A gay person trying to write a gay character in 1998 - it was so difficult.

When I meet gay kids and they know who we are, I remember that's amazing because literally every gay person in every gay story I knew growing up was doomed to die. There weren't any positive gay stories and it's incredible that has changed.

There are certain performers that the gay community receives and recognizes with love, and my whole life, I've always responded to those same artists.

I do think television has really fantasized it to the point where now everyone wants a gay best friend.

The work that needs to be done now is to diversify the picture of LGBTQ people so that people can see that we come from all races, different genders; we have trans people.

I knew I had to be the gay stereotype that was on the front of the papers every day. And I did my job well. I played the game.

I think, in general, straight actors should be able to play queer roles just as much as queer actors should be able to play straight roles. I think the reason why the debate is there is because we haven't had enough queer actors being cast in anything. People are in need of that representation in general.

Shows like 'Superstore' and certainly 'Pose' are leading the way and showing queer people of color in a much more complex, nuanced light that we've never seen.

I think it's great that 'Drag Race' is mainstream.