When the make-over show Queer Eye for the Straight Guy premiered in 2003, it created palpable waves, and it could be argued that as the first gay reality format, it shifted queer representation into the mainstream. The show became a surprise hit for the Bravo TV network, as the extravagant and no-holds-barred ‘fab five’ made their way into the hearts and minds of millions of Americans.
In 2003, being ‘out’ was a political act. Sitcoms like Will &Grace and Ellen had brought queer characters into the mainstream, however these characters were fictional, constructed through script and dialogue. In a lot of ways, gays were made more artificial by the fact that they were manufactured for the purposes of entertainment. The first Queer Eye was unique in that its hosts were real live queers. Carson Kressley, one of the original Fab Five, summed this evolution up in a recent interview with the Hollywood Reporter, when he said, “They knew us as real people, not as characters who were written by someone.”