The Gay Emmys

So how gay were the Emmys? The Oscars better step it up this year, because the Rainbow Mafia looked good, won good at this year’s TV awards fest. I won’t bore you with all the straight winners, etc. etc. (Like, how did I not know that Naomi Watts and Billy Crudup were married? The Straights, I swear.) Anyway, here are the most notably queer shit at this year’s award show.

Jodie Fucking Foster

Really and truly I cannot get enough of this wildly happy, wildly successful, wildly gay era of Jodie’s life and career. Everytime I see her all glammed up with with Alexandra Hedison I think, see, big gay dreams can come true. I hope Jodie signs up for some kind of prestige limited TV series every few years (her, Kate Winslet and Gillian Anderson can rotate seasons) to keep her and Alex on the awards part circuit for our personal enjoyment? What? We can’t get a little residual happiness off her big gay glow these days?

Hacks & Hannah Einbinder

Yes, I know, it’s inappropriate to secretly be an Avorah shipper. But, I mean, deep down we’d all at least like to see what would have happened if Ava hadn’t woken up from that dream when she did, right?

Niecy Nash-Betts & wife Jessica Betts

Honestly, does Niecy not not have the most handsome arm candy always at these things? I swear. It’s almost unfair.

Sarah Paulson & Holland Taylor

Whereas these two always look like the royal court for the May-December Queer Prom.

Nava Mau & Jessica Gunning

The “Baby Reindeer” LGBTQ+ cast broke ground both with Nava’s nomination and Jessica’s win. Which means I probably should watch “Baby Reindeer” after all, shouldn’t I?

Jane Lynch & Sue Sylvester

I only wish Jane and Ilona Maher interacted onstage instead of Coach Beard, for obvious reasons.

Meredith Baxter & Other TV Moms

Lest we forget, the mom from “Family Ties” came out like 15 years ago. So, my grade-school crush on Michael J. Fox remains vindicated.

Ayo Edebiri & Reba

When you come out as queer, you need to stand next to random queer icons for photos. And, like, I think Reba qualifies, but I may need to consult the rule book since I never followed contemporary country close enough to know for sure about her.

Kristen Kish

Like all that AND she can cook. Again, unfair.

Lily Gladstone & Greta Lee

Like, yeah I know Greta is married to a fella and whatnot. But like you’d hold Lily’s hand too, and you know it.

Jodie & Kali Reis

I amend my previous statement, where I want Jodie to put up every other season or so in a prestige limited series. I want Jodie to put up every other season or so in a prestige limited series that features out LGBTQ+ cast and other marginalized voices. Because, you want more pictures like this too, right? Right.

Ain’t no nothing we can’t love each other through

Yep, Elyse Keaton is gay. Meredith Baxter (I will always and forever want to add the Birney) came out yesterday on “Today.” Never in my wildest wishful thinking would I have imagined that the “Family Ties” mom was actually a lesbian. Hoped? Sure. Dreamed? The naughty kind.

Her interview on “Today” was direct, honest and thoughtful. At 62, it’s definitely better late than never. A late-in-life coming out is no easier than an early-in-life coming out. In fact, it might be harder given decades of expectations and self-identifying that must be overcome. But I think Meredith handled herself with style and poise, sensitivity and candor. This is all we can ask hope for from our celebrities after all, that they share their essential truth – whatever that is – with us.

Watch her segment here. (Sorry if it won’t play internationally – Here’s a recap: She’s gay. She’s in a relationship. She’s still hot.)

I like how Matt almost said “Congratulations!” at the end of the interview. Really, they are in order. But the best part about that whole thing? Her saying: “I am extraordinarily happy.” Because, in the end, that’s what it’s all about: Being happy. Being who we are makes us happy. Being accepted for who we are makes us happy. Being in love makes us happy. Being accepted for who we love makes us happy.

This gay thing is so simple yet so complicated. It wraps around so many of the cornerstones of basic human existence like love, sex and faith yet in the end it boils down to just this: being happy.

As an enormous, enormous, enormous (yes, a third enormous – that enormous) fan of “Family Ties” growing up, this news is momentous on so many levels. Initially I watched because I had a ridiculously acute crush on Michael J. Fox. I justify said crush now by saying that if you tilt your head and squint, Alex P. Keaton looks like a petite, preppy butch girl. But I also harbored a deep and secret mom crush on Meredith. She was everything I though was great: Smart. Compassionate. Spunky. Liberal. Beautiful. And she’s got a mean right hook.

Now add “Gay” and “In a tank top” and I’ve just found heaven.

To this day impassioned speech making coupled with blue-eyed, blonde-haired All-American attractiveness is a weakness of mine. But none did it better than Meredith as she battled with her Reagan-worshiping, Brooks Brother-wearing TV son. In fact, her revelation today settles it: Elyse Keaton made me gay.

[T-shirt design courtesy StuntDouble]

Look, America. The Brady Bunch dad was gay. The Family Ties mom is gay. These are the people you already love and trust and admire. That they’re gay doesn’t change that one bit. Plus, it’s another argument for gay marriage: End fictitious TV divorces.

Meredith also did an interview with The Advocate, which features a great, “You are glasses” moment. Gosh, do you think she is a Callica fan?

Q: And was that a revelation or just a slow aha! moment?
A: No, it was pretty much a revelation. The analogy I’ve used is a story [from] when I was a kid. I never could see very well and I said something to my parents and it kind of went unnoticed, or no one really responded to it. I guess I didn’t make enough noise. When I was 12 I tried on a [friend’s] pair of glasses and I was stunned with how clearly I could see. In truth, I used to think trees looked like lollipops because there was a solid stake and this solid ball. I didn’t know most people could see leaves. Oh, this is how the world is perceived? That’s kind of what having that second relationship made me realize — that this is where I want to be because I was dead to the world in many other ways. I’ve been married three times, and I have a slew of children, but I’ve never felt that kind of connection before in that kind of awakening. It was very profound for me.

Awww. Don’t you just want to hug her – or something more? So welcome, Mama Keaton. You will always be a tender, wonderful, influential part of my childhood. And now I couldn’t be prouder or happier to get to call you a member of the family. Sha la la la.