It used to be that we, as a public, could hold networks accountable and responsible for the ways in which they represent minority characters. But can we still do that? Are writers of our current television fare no longer held accountable for the characters they create?

America is ready for more than just gay best friends, gay assistants, gay relatives and gay hairstylists. It's time for a world where we're more than todays' version of Carla on Cheers, but the Sams and the Dianes, or even the Rebeccas.

We now have a generation of gay kids who have always known they are not alone, and they can't go back into the closet; they were never there to begin with. Even before dealing with their own sexual orientation, they knew there were others.