Gay and lesbian coming-out stories on teen dramas: Now status quo?

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‘Gossip Girl’ has told a gay-teen coming-out story. So has ‘Glee,’ ‘Pretty Little Liars,’ ‘90210’ and ‘Degrassi.’ And out-at-home Calvin on ‘Greek’ had to go through the process all over again with his frat brothers.

‘I felt like the world of ‘90210’ was missing the gay characters that it would realistically have,’ said Rebecca Sinclair, the CW series’ showrunner and executive producer, on the writers’ decision to show teen character Teddy Montgomery’s coming-out process. ‘If I had created the show, I would definitely have made one of the main characters gay. And honestly, in a genre that depends on the coupling, decoupling and re-coupling of its characters, it behooves us to find the most diverse ways to do that.’

Read hers and others thoughts on the matter in my story about gay and lesbian characters in teen dramas.

What do you think? Has the gay character become an essential part of a teen drama? And do you think it’s realistic to show the character’s coming-out story? Share in the comments section.

-- Whitney Friedlander

Photos, clockwise from top left: Shay Mitchell as Emily in ‘Pretty Little Liars.’ Credit: ABC Family. Argiris Karras as Riley in ‘Degrassi.’ Credit: Epitome Pictures. Trevor Donovan as Teddy in ‘90210.’ Credit: the CW. Chris Colfer as Kurt in ‘Glee.’ Credit: Fox