We were queer first: Male homophobic anxieties in three American sitcoms of the 1990s

Abstract

This article investigates how three of the most popular and influential mainstream American situation comedies of the 1990s (Seinfeld, Frasier and Friends) explored and developed societal attitudes to sexual identities. None of these sitcoms feature gay male characters in leading roles, yet (the odd camp restaurant critic aside) they may be seen as pioneering popular televisual representations of attitudes towards male homosexuality. This article argues that these sitcoms (which are today considered homophobic by some) may, in their exploration of problematic responses to differences in sexual identities, be (in effect) more progressive than those series of that period (such as Ellen [1994–98] and Will & Grace [1998–2006, 2017–20]) whose representations of central gay characters in positive but often stereotypical ways tended to avoid (or posited that they had no need to engage in) discussions of the prejudices of wider society (of homophobic ridicule, discrimination and violence).