Few television stars were as vocal and demanding as comedian Roseanne Barr was when it came to making sure that her sitcom, Roseanne, reflected her own personality and politics. It was this very outspoken, brash manner that made millions respond to her, first as a stand-up comic and then as one of the medium’s champions of the unsung working class and of causes like gay rights. Having not one but two real-life gay siblings and well aware that she had a large gay following, Roseanne was insistent that the Roseanne universe of Lanford, Illinois, reflect the whole fabric of American life, including lesbians and homosexuals.

Within its first year, the show became one of the medium’s biggest hits, staying firmly in the Nielsen Top 5 for six seasons in a row, thereby giving its star clout and allowing her to make her share of demands to the network. As a result, in the third season, the character of Leon Karp (Martin Mull), Roseanne’s cynical boss, was eventually revealed to be gay. Wanting to push the issue further, Barr made sure Leon ended up marrying another man. In the meantime, a friend of Roseanne’s husband Dan discovered that the wife he left, Nancy (Sandra Bernhard), had become far more interested in women. This led to one of the series’ most controversial episodes, in which Roseanne found herself being kissed by Nancy’s new girlfriend (Mariel Hemingway) at a gay bar, a seemingly harmless moment that caused a great deal of uproar among ABC executives and certain television watchdog groups, much to the comedian’s delight.   

Continuing to give gays prominence, Roseanne further rocked sitcom conventions when the character of Roseanne’s mother (Estelle Parsons) came out during a traditional Thanksgiving dinner. By this point most of its viewers had come to expect and accept the “gayness” of the series, even something as unprecedented as the medium’s first lesbian grandma. For the final episode, Roseanne curiously negated this revelation, it being part of the “dream” concept of the farewell season, but instead declared that her character’s sister, Jackie (Laurie Metcalf), had come to terms with being a lesbian. No matter; television audiences seemed more willing to embrace gay characters by the late '90s, thanks to people like Roseanne Barr making sure that the “issue” wasn’t an issue at all.

Bonus Audio: Speakers talk about characters that were embraced by the lesbian community including Xena and Cagney & Lacey; gay followings for series like The Golden Girls; gay kisses that prompted controversy; and Roseanne Barr’s crusade to include gay characters on her show.   

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