There have been a multitude of openly at not so openly gay characters on the small screen for decades, but only in the last few years have we seen some of the funniest, most serious and most well written gay male characters. From ground breakers to laugh makers, from witches to gangsters, these 10 characters are the best of the best, and we salute them with this list.

Will Truman (Will & Grace)

Will & Grace ran on TV for eight wonderfully hilarious seasons. Will was the more serious lawyerly type, with a few small neuroses and BFFs with Grace.  Always getting along with Grace, their antics always made for great television.

Kurt (Glee)

Glee as a television show itself has fostered a huge advancement of the LGB agenda into the general conversation of the nation as a whole. Kurt is the boy with the soprano voice who once was picked on by the jocks, but now is friends with one and gaining more confidence in every episode.

Jack McFarland (Will & Grace)

Jack was the crazy one. Always with a plan and enjoying snickering at other’s pitfalls. One of the funniest characters in all sitcoms of all time.  Now he will be playing one of the Three Stooges in the remaking of the classic characters.

Marc St. James (Ugly Betty)

A dirty rotten scoundrel who took pleasure in others pain. Not exactly who I would think is top gay material, but he had his moments.  It’s a shame this show is no longer on television.  It really got off to a fast start, but slowed down as it lost viewers.

Jack McPhee (Dawson’s Creek)

I might be dating myself, but as a young college boy, this guy was the shiznit. One of he first gay characters that I remember, he had to deal with a lot of demons on television before a lot of gay television characters were introduced.

Sam Adama (Caprica)

OK, I’m a techy and a nerd, bite me. Caprica is a futuristic past kinda like Star Wars, and one of the main characters’ brother (Sam) has a complete gay family. In sci-fi that just seems like the norm, which brings it into the norm for us.

Lafayette Reynolds (True Blood)

Who doesn’t love Vampire shows these days. This is the grown up version of the Twilight saga with better characters, acting, and writers.  Lafayette is the overt male hooker with some sort of witch tendencies that are about to show themselves in the upcoming season.  This show is incredibly popular and one of HBO’s current offerings.

Cameron Tucker (Modern Family)

Cameron is the chubbier of the pair of the best of what makes Modern Family. He and his man adopted a Korean baby and they clash over everything, but make it work. Cameron is the dry humor guy most of the time.  Cameron screaming like a woman to break his baby out of a locked car is one of my favorite scenes.

Mitchell Pritchett (Modern Family)

Mitchell is the more high strung guy who has to deal regularly with his “masculine” father and is more defensive of the life. He sometimes works himself into a corner on some of the craziest subjects.  Physically smaller than Cameron, Mitchell is still the “man” of the house.

Max Blum (Happy Endings)

As of late, Max is my favorite character.  and that’s why he makes this list. I’m a guy like him, I like sports, I’m not effeminate, and I like guys. To be gay doesn’t mean change who you are to fit that mold from more than one side. Max is more real than most closet gay men want to admit, trust me.

That is the Top 10 list of the Top 10 gay television characters. While this list is in no way perfect, I feel these are some of the best performances on television over the past 20-30 years.  Who did we miss?  Add your additions in the comment section!