Queer as Folk, 20 Years Later
Gant’s HIV-positive Ben Bruckner (pictured, standing, third from right) may be the show’s most enduring character. December 11 2020 1:41 PM EST
As I’ve mentioned before, I grew up in Pittsburgh, so when Showtime premiered the first-ever network broadcast of a gay drama 20 years ago this month, based in Pittsburgh, my interest was naturally piqued.
I was disappointed, and in hindsight maybe tinged with jealousy, after watching the first few episodes in what seems like a lifetime ago. The show’s thumping, gay-central Liberty Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh was nothing like the thoroughfare I knew intimately, lined with office buildings and straight bars; more Wall Street than Christopher Street. I understood that the creators wanted to show that gay life could thrive in a smaller metropolis, in the Midwest, but I wasn’t buying that happening in Pittsburgh.