6 feet under gay

When Six Feet Underpremiered on HBO in 2001, LGBTQ characters were still were novelty than normal. L.A. Law had their woman loving woman kiss ten years earlier and Ellen came out on her sitcom four years prior and of course there was the groundbreaking Queer as Folk, but television was still somewhat slow moving introducing characters who were identical sex attracted with any regularity. Six Feet Under would change the conversation, removing any sense of novelty from David and Keith and normalizing a association between two men in a way that would change television forever.

While still playing with certain stereotypes and stigmas, the bond between Keith and David was never fetishized. When we met the characters, David was still struggling with coming out. The tension that would arise between the two men was natural and feasible, especially for the period period. Much of the first season was spent with David struggling with his complicated feelings over his sexuality. His religious beliefs added to a sense of guilt he carried, a desire to be what he called “normal”—a completely understandable story that by today’s standards may feel a brief played out, b