The recent news on gun violence on a gay night club in Florida reminds me that homophobia still exists today. This also reminded me of a TV series that I had enjoyed 16 years ago. Just recently, I started watching the series in my PC and again, I must say it is one TV series that made me cry, laugh, angry, disturbed, concerned and most of all entertained because the variety of the subjects it has portrayed. Queers as Folk had received 34 nominations and 8 awards. However, if you are homophobic this TV drama is not for you!
Controversial story lines which have been explored in Queer as Folk have included the following: coming out, same-sex marriage, ex-gay ministries, recreational drug use and abuse (cocaine, methamphetamine, ecstasy, GHB, ketamine, cannabis); gay adoption, artificial insemination, vigilantism, Autoerotic asphyxiation, gay-bashing, safe sex, HIV/AIDS, casual sex, cruising, "the baths," sero-discordancy in relationships, underage prostitution, actively gay Catholic priests, discrimination in the workplace based on sexual orientation, the internet pornography industry, and bug chasers (HIV-negative individuals who actively seek to become HIV-positive).
Other topics and story lines in this series are political corruption ( local level), platonic love between two homosexual men, brotherly and sisterly love, comics, making movies in Hollywood, fund raising scams, bisexuality, closeted gay men in sports, acceptance and non-acceptance of sons and daughters sexual orientation by their parents, testicular cancer, Proposition 14, bombing of a gay night club, and cosmetic surgery. There are several episodes with classical music (violin concertos) and art exhibits.
Queer as Folk is an American–Canadian co-production. The series ran between December 2000 and August 2005 and was produced for Showtime and Showcase by Cowlip Productions, Tony Jonas Productions, Temple Street Productions and Showtime Networks in association with Crowe Entertainment. It was developed and written by Ron Cowen and Daniel Lipman, who were the showrunners, and also the executive producers along with Tony Jonas, former President of Warner Bros. Television.
It was based on the British series created by Russell T Davies. Queer as Folk was the first hour-long drama on American television to portray the lives of gay men and women. Although it was set in Pittsburgh, PA, much of the series was actually shot in Toronto and employed various Canadian directors known for their independent film work (including Bruce McDonald, David Wellington, Kelly Makin, John Greyson, Jeremy Podeswa and Michael DeCarlo) as well as Australian director Russell Mulcahy, who directed the pilot episode.
http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/watch/Queer-as-Folk/7415223650357422112/full-episodes#episode=7323481961721158112
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