‘The Simpsons’ Had TV’s First Guy-on-Guy Kiss A Decade Before ‘Dawson’s Creek’
Homer Simpson likes his beer cold, his TV loud and his homosexuals fuh-laaaming — but Karl liked Homer even more.
While Homer himself might not always be the most open-minded man in Springfield, there’s no doubt that, as a whole, The Simpsons is a pretty accepting show compared to other comedies from its early era. Everyone remembers how, in 1997, the show broke through Fox’s anti-gay censorship wall and invited legendary transgressive filmmaker John Waters to play The Simpsons’ first openly, expressively and charmingly gay character John in “Homer’s Phobia,” but The Simpsons’ flirtation with positive depictions of homosexuality stretches back even further than that.
Enter Karl, Homer’s slender, charismatic and extraordinarily motivational assistant in Season Two’s “Simpson and Delilah.” After a miracle drug gifts Homer with the return of his hair, Karl helps him turn his entire life around before taking the fall for one of Smither’s sabotage attempts, leaving Homer’s life (and the entire Simpsons canon) for good.
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But before Karl left the show forever, he gave Homer one last pep-talk, a pat on the ass and a kiss that (sort of) marked a major milestone long before most audiences were ready to see two men kiss onscreen. A decade before Dawson’s Creek made TV history when Jack and Ethan kissed in the 2000 episode “True Love,” Homer and Karl connected lips and broke the smooch barrier:
In “Simpson and Delilah,” Homer gets a promotion after Mr. Burns mistakes his revitalized head of hair as the sign of a young, up-and-coming go-getter, much to the ire of Smithers. As a new executive, the plant assigns Homer an assistant, eventually pairing him with the impossibly competent Karl, played by the incomparable Harvey Fierstein. Karl essentially represents everything Homer and his hair are supposed to be — charismatic, ambitious, fast-paced and impeccably styled — and Karl makes it his mission to give Homer the confidence and wherewithal to win the rat race.
Despite Karl’s invaluable guidance, Homer’s rise up the corporate ladder stalls when Bart spills the rest of Homer’s miracle hair drug and a spiteful Smithers attempts to frame Homer for insurance fraud. Karl takes the bullet for his boss, and, before Homer is supposed to give a big speech (written by Karl) to inspire the entire plant, Karl gives Homer a farewell ass-pat and lip-lock to inspire him. Unfortunately for Homer, his baldness still ruins his respectability in the company, and he returns to the safety inspector job as Karl disappears into the rain.
While The Simpsons never explicitly reveals Karl’s sexuality, it’s pretty clear from Karl’s style and demeanor that he and “the gals in the typing pool” are just friends. Fierstein, an openly gay actor and trailblazer, specifically requested that the animators make Karl “look like gay people, how they’re supposed to look,” suggesting that his character should be “blond, and tall, and gorgeous, and skinny, and (given) a beautiful place to live,” according to the 2009 book The Simpsons: An Uncensored, Unauthorized History.
When fans and critics began to pester Matt Groening about Karl’s leanings, The Simpsons creator chose to be evasive about ever explicitly admitting that he snuck a gay character underneath the Fox censorship shroud. Though, in a conversation with the LGBT-focused Advocate magazine in 1991, Groening said of Karl, “he does kiss Homer: He does give him a nice pat on the butt,” saying of the show’s gay representation, “I think that given the nature of TV these days, the fact that we did (that) is beyond any other cartoon.”
Still, since Karl wasn’t explicitly out as gay (and because he and Homer are animated characters), Dawson's Creek gets the record for the first passionate kiss between two men in primetime television history. Nevertheless, we won’t forget Karl and his lessons – don’t forget, you’re nature’s greatest miracle!
