Port Charles Pride: A Look Back At General Hospital’s LGBTQ Characters
Happy Pride Month, General Hospital! Let’s take a look back at the soap’s LGBTQ+ characters and storylines that paved the way for the show’s current fan-favorite same-sex couple, Kristina and Blaze.
Coming Out In 2005
While Jon Hanley (Lee Mathis) was GH’s very first openly gay character, who was the co-chair of the Nurses Ball from 1994-1996 before Mathis’ death from AIDS, the soap did its very first coming out storyline in 2005 when Lucas (then-Ben Hogestyn) came out as gay. His coming out coincided with National Coming Out Day on October 11 of that year. After a teenaged Lucas endured coming out to friends and family, a hate crime, disownment from his mother Bobbie (ex-Jacklyn Zeman – here’s how GH said goodbye), and counseling before finally being accepted by his dying father Tony (ex-Brad Maule).
After Lucas left Port Charles in 2006, GH didn’t see another queer character until 2012 when the openly gay Felix (Marc Anthony Samuel) and Brad (Parry Shen) were introduced and eventually ended up in a love triangle when Lucas (Ryan Carnes) returned to town. Things didn’t end well for any of them romantically, and they have since all gone their separate ways.
Completing The Acronym
It wasn’t long until GH introduced a bisexual character and a transgender character, respectively. Kristina (then-Lexi Ainsworth) came out as bisexual in 2016 after the character questioned her sexuality and entered into a same-sex relationship with her college professor Parker (ex-Ashley Jones), followed by transgender actress Cassandra James debuting as Dr. Terry Randolph, the show’s first transgender character, in 2018. This was the same year GH tackled transphobia when Josslyn (Eden McCoy) and Oscar (ex-Garren Stitt) organized an alternative prom when a transgender classmate experienced transphobia regarding the actual prom.
Elizabeth’s (Rebecca Herbst) youngest son Aiden (Tristan Riggs) was presumed to be gay back in 2018, but he didn’t officially come out until late 2023 when he revealed his interest in a male classmate to his mom.
The latest member of Port Charles’ queer community is Blaze (Jacqueline Grace Lopez), who quickly fell head over heels for Kristina (Kate Mansi), despite her mother Natalia’s (Eva LaRue) objections. Natalia hasn’t been quiet about her homophobic views, but has recently begun to slowly turn around after noticing the way her daughter and Kristina truly love each other.
Which LGBTQ+ storyline has been your favorite on GH? Let us know in the comments.
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