The Golden Girls has always been popular among the gays. Here are the LGBT characters who popped up throughout the years.
Coco ("The Engagement")
Oh, Coco, we hardly knew ye. In the Golden Girls pilot, Coco served as the women's chef — no explanation as to how they could afford that — and a dispenser of snaps. Thankfully, he was written out of the series: While Coco is campy fun, he was also an outdated stereotype even then. And The Golden Girls likely would not have the reputation for the progressive series it was if Coco had stayed put. Not to mention the fact that on a show with Bea Arthur, a sassy gay character is redundant.
As writer Marc Cherry puts it, "The fascinating thing is, you would just write what was a really great joke, and you put it in Bea Arthur's mouth, and it comes out gay."
Source: youtube.com
Jean ("Isn't It Romantic?")
When Dorothy's friend Jean, a lesbian, came to visit, Dorothy worried her roommates wouldn't understand. They eventually got it — especially when Jean developed a crush on Rose. The episode remains rather touching and surprisingly frank. Rose explains to Jean that although she's not interested in women, she's flattered by the attention from her female admirer. "Isn't It Romantic?" picked up an Emmy Award for Best Direction.
From that episode, Sophia expresses her approval of the gays. "If one of my kids was gay, I wouldn't love him one bit less," she offers. Then there's Blanche's classic "lesbian"/"Lebanese" confusion.
Source: youtube.com
