Scripting Black Gayness

Abstract

This essay explores the creation of black gay characters within black-cast sitcoms Moesha, All of Us, and Are We There Yet? Using in-depth interviews with the credited writers for three episodes of black-cast sitcoms that feature black gay characters, I examine the ways the writers negotiate the creation of black gay characters within the writers’ room. In addition, this essay examines how the closet functions as an organizing logic for the ways black gay characters are imagined within the writers’ room, and the industrial logics that prevent black gay characters from reappearing in subsequent episodes. In addition, I argue that the individual writers’ autobiographies are important to consider when creating black gay characters for black-cast sitcoms, as they bring their positionality as black (and in one instance a black gay) writers to the episodes they wrote.