Not every gay TV character is gay from the start...
Some gay characters are out before we even meet them. Others have big, important coming-out episodes early in their storylines. But for some, it can take years, or even decades, before they officially come out of the closet.
Whether these characters were always planned to come out, started out as homophobic jokes, or grew to be seen as gay, they all took their time to come out.
Here are seven TV characters who took years from their first appearances to come out.
1. Aiden - 'General Hospital'
On the December 20, 2023 episode of General Hospital, Elizabeth Webber was in the kitchen baking with her son Aiden when he confessed to her that he has a crush on someone. “Actually, his name is Tobias,” he said. Four years ago on the show, Aiden’s mom and family started suspecting he was gay because of his love of baking and princesses. Now, half a decade later, he got to come out on his own terms.
2. Stewie - 'Family Guy'
Since the beginning of the show, fans have laughed at Stewie in Family Guy for being a gay baby, but his sexuality was never confirmed. Then, in 2018, nearly twenty years after the first episode aired, Stewie finally addressed it in an episode where he was talking to his psychologist (voiced by out actor Ian McKellen). “I’m not gay,” Stewie tells his doctor. “This whole thing isn’t because I’m gay so calm down, I can already see you licking your chops. I’m sure you live for the ‘coming out’ sessions.”
“If anything I’m less gay than I used to be,” he continued, making a meta-joke about how some of the show’s more blatant homophobia has been left in the past. “Not that anybody at this school would care. But do I think Grant Gustin and I would make the most adorable Instagram couple? Yes, yes we would. Anyway, fluid is something I hear being tossed around. But I’m confident in my heterosexuality. That’s a word, right?”
3. Bruce - 'Family Guy'
Another gay Family Guy character who started as a joke is Bruce, a recurring character with a vest, one earring, a mustache, and a high-pitched voice whose catchphrase is “Oh noooooo!”
In the season 19 episode “Meg’s Wedding,” Meg can’t find a date to the school dance and starts dating Bruce. It all starts to snowball, and soon the two are engaged. When their wedding comes along, Meg sees how sad Bruce is (and how sad his actual boyfriend Jeffrey is), and she calls the wedding off. After two decades of gay jokes, Bruce finally says the words, “I’m gay.”
4. Smithers - 'The Simpsons'
For 30 years Waylon Smithers has been devoted to and obsessed with his boss Mr. Burns, dreaming about him, getting tattoos of him, and dedicating his every thought and action to him. The character finally came out to his boss in an episode in 2016 when he became so distraught about Mr. Burns’ lack of affection for him that Homer tried to find him a boyfriend.
"In Springfield now, most people know he's gay, but obviously Burns doesn't," executive producer Al Jean told TVLine at the time. "We deal with that in two episodes... We actually do a lot with Smithers this year; he gets fed up with Burns not appreciating him and considers his options."
5. Mr. Ratburn - 'Arthur'
On the more positive side, in the PBS Kids series Arthur, Mr. Nigel Ratburn, the third grade teacher of Arthur and his friends, came out in an episode that featured a gay rat wedding. Mr. Ratburn had been a beloved character on the show for years, and viewers didn’t know he was gay until he invited his students to his wedding. While they thought he would be marrying a woman, Mr. Ratburn ended up walking down the aisle with another man, much to his students’ delight.
6. Miranda - 'Sex and the City' & 'And Just Like That...'
Miranda Hobbes was played by out actress Cynthia Nixon on Sex and the City for six years. But it wasn’t until the show’s spinoff, And Just Like That..., that she came out. In the first season of And Just Like That..., Miranda has been getting close to a queer comedian and podcaster named Che Diaz (Sara Ramirez), and by the third episode, the two are alone together when Che offers Miranda some weed. At first, Miranda declines, but when Che offers to shotgun it directly from her mouth into Miranda’s, Miranda changes her mind. The scene did a wonderful job of showing the growing intimacy between the two characters, and soon, they’d be in a full-blown relationship.
7. Mac - 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia'
Probably the best example of this trope is Mac from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia. From the early seasons of the show, Mac was shown to be obsessed with men’s bodies and muscles, was always completely dedicated to Dennis, and had such an over-the-top case of homophobia it had to come from something inside. He was almost a parody of characters like Smithers and Stewie Griffin, doing the “so closeted he’s the only one who doesn’t know he’s gay” bit in a way that punched up instead of down.
After years of jokes about Mac’s sexuality and his related homophobia, he eventually came out to the rest of the crew in season 12. Then the next season, in one of the show’s most powerful episodes, he comes out to his dad, a murderer in prison. The episode is one of the best in the show’s history and ends with an emotional and beautifully choreographed dance where Mac comes out. It’s one of the few It’s Always Sunny episodes that makes you cry.