The 15 Most Groundbreaking Gay Roles on Television

The flamboyant, eyeliner-wearing, girls-bathroom-preferring Rickie Vasquez was first introduced by Claire Danes' Angela Chase as "bi," but it wasn't long before he started coming out to Rayanne, Angela and most important, his sympathetic English teacher (and eventual foster father), Mr. Katimski ("EnRIQUE!!!!") as gay. While the 1994-95 series met a premature end, Rickie remains memorable because although his homosexuality did cause many problems for him (physical abuse, being kicked out of his home) it wasn't used solely as a plot device – pretty uncommon for those heavy Nineties TV dramas.