Writer, producer and director Greg Berlanti, who has long advocated for greater LGBTQ+ visibility on television, was honored with the Governors Award at Sunday’s Emmy Awards. The award is given to creatives who make a “profound, transformative and lasting contribution” to television.
Berlanti was introduced by Matt Bomer, who starred opposite Jonathan Bailey in the gay romance thriller “Fellow Travelers,” and Joshua Jackson, a former cast member of the teen drama series “Dawson’s Creek,” where Berlanti served as a staff writer and later as an executive producer.
“I wanted to be on television before I even knew it was possible,” Berlanti said as she accepted the award on Sunday night. “There weren’t many gay characters on television at the time, and I was a gay boy who didn’t come out as gay. It’s hard to describe how lonely I was at that time.”
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But then the first reports about AIDS came, Berlanti said, and he saw openly gay men on television for the first time.
“Too many died, but they were also on the streets. Men holding hands with other men, marching and fighting for their lives – and they gave me hope that one day I could have their courage to come out and share my truth with the world.”
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With the support of his mother, who got Berlanti his first job as a young puppeteer, as well as “teachers, friends, representatives and executives over the years,” the veteran gay producer championed LGBTQ storylines in countless television shows, including “Brothers & Sisters,” “Arrow” and “Riverdale.”
And as Jackson recalled, “Dawson’s Creek” made history in 2000 when it featured the first gay kiss between teenagers on prime-time television.
When Berlanti accepted his award, he received a standing ovation.
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This story originally appeared in the Los Angeles Times.
