Built on Their Shoulders

Glee was fantastic tonight and not just because the two original songs New Directions did at regionals were actually good. Which they were. Also Kurt and Blaine finally got together and had a super long boy on boy kiss which I'm pretty sure included tongue. My friends and I got REALLY excited about it. But let's not forget that Blaine and Kurt didn't get there by themselves. There are a few specific examples of characters that in my opinion paved the way for our two favorite blazered acappella guys:

Jack McFee: Dawson's Creek

In Season 2, after Joey and Dawson's romance totally imploded, she started dating mysterious new guy Jack McFee. About three episodes later, Jack wrote a revealing poem about his feelings and yelled at his dad about how he was gay. He then moved out of his family's house and in with Jen and Grams creating possibly the most functional family unit on that show. (Yeah, I know!)

After he came out Jack could get kind of preachy, and occasionally annoying...but um, well, if you've seen any of Dawson's, you know he wasn't alone there. They all got that way occasionally. But Jack was also a star wide receiver for the Capeside Minute Men, went through a douchey frat guy phase, and eventually settled in to life as a teacher, living with Pacey's older brother Doug, and the couple raised Jen's baby after she died. (CRY FOREVER! One of the best finales ever)

Marco Del Rossi: Degrassi: The Next Generation

Sure, it's a Canadian basic cable import, but Marco's storylines were always the best on Degrassi...with the possible exception of the EPIC Ash/Craig/Manny triangle, or that time Shawn and Peter were street racing, or when Emma got gonorrhea from going down on Jay in that van...anyway, Marco came out in season 2, but just to Ellie who then pretended to be his girlfriend for a while. Then in the season 3 premier Spinner figured it out, and they got into a big fight and Marco got beat up.

Then he dated Paige's brother for a long time, then he was a hustler in one episode. Also that time that Darcy's mean Christian friends tried to take him down and he shoved his cross in their face and talked about going to Mass every Sunday was awesome. And Marco wasn't the only gay teen on Degrassi, there was also Paige and Alex, but they just weren't as ground breaking.

Calvin Owens and Heath: Greek

I've been rewatching Greek, and really, Cal's awesome. A bit insecure when he first gets to CRU, he hooks up with closeted KT bro Heath. Then he dates TA Michael, but he's still got feelings for Heath, who's coming out remains one of my favorite moments on the show. Heath takes a deep breath and says he has something serious to discuss with pledge brothers Cappie, Beaver and Wade, and reveals his sexuality. The trio exhales, relieved, because they thought this conversation was about Beaver's hitting on Heath's 15 year old sister (Heather, who became a mini Rebecca, but that's a completely different story) at a family event. The brother's are supportive.

Additionally, when Cal gets past his initial insecurities, he comes out to best friends Rusty and Ashleigh, and his brothers at Omege Chi are mostly OK with it too, until he starts dating that douchey other gay Omega Chi, who's name I don't remember. But then he got back together with Heath, thank God!

So yes, Blaine and Kurt are exciting, but let's not forget that they didn't get there overnight.