I remember a series that had a gay character “Hot L Baltimore” that many station refused to play in prime time. They later aired it after the 10 o’clock news here in Memphis.
A few years later “SOAP” suffered the same fate for a little while. Billy Crystal, in an early role, played a openly gay character.
"...I got a good job, you know, this whole "You loooook..." thing... you know, everywhere I go, they say it. Like, EVERYBODY. Like 22 Mart Street, Peking duck (in Chinese accent) "Ohhh, you look maaaavhlus...how you, Mistah Crystal...ah so, you look mahvelus...ah...better to look good than, uh...I still workin' on it..." It's fun. A lot better than what I used to get when I was doing "Soap"...(in New York blue collar voice) "HEY! FAGGOT!" Like I said, its all good..."