Yesterday, I crowned Captain Jack Harkness the first openly gay male leading character. Having spoken to a lot of people and done a lot of research since I went on this jag, I feel that's a definitive statement of fact.
Now it's time to dig a little deeper into the broader significance. It must be said, and so I will say it: Captain Jack, charming as he may be, is hardly a model citizen. This wouldn't be such a big problem if he wasn't the first and only openly gay male leading character in science fiction. EVER.
Don't get me wrong; I like Captain Jack, and I'm enjoying "Torchwood." That being said, it occurs to me that Wales must have a pretty lax set of regulations regarding sexual harassment in the workplace. Even though he is created and played with the best of intentions - a stellar "gay pedigree" if you will - he represents all the fears of the unevolved straight man come to life.
First, a step back. For those of you new to the scene, Captain Jack was created by Russell T. Davies, who took over the Dr. Who helm and brought the new series to life. Davies is himself openly gay, and I commend him for having the guts to put homosexuality on the science fiction scene at all. As far as I can tell, that's a rare thing.
Captain Jack is played by John Barrowman, who is also openly gay. I want to highlight this point, because although the mainstream audience has become accepting of gay fictional characters, we still prefer them to be played by straight men. In fact, Barrowman was up for the part of Will in "Will & Grace," but the show's producers passed him over for Eric McCormack, who is straight.
The most salient and noticeable feature of Captain Jack Harkness is that he will hit on anything, and frequently does. Within the context of the show, his advances are usually welcome, but occasionally lead to awkward moments. For example, sometimes when he hits on Ianto, his male employee, Ianto's reaction could be charitably described as "conflicted." See also this deleted scene from the Torchwood episode "Meat."
Ianto has previously had a girlfriend, although there is the implication that he and Jack have engaged in hanky panky which Ianto initiated. Although the basis for this statement is a notoriously bizarre and confusing scene, regarding the activities which one can engage in with the help of a stopwatch. (I don't half suspect it was just a bit of silliness, and that at some point in the future, we will see Jack and Ianto playing a game of chess in Jack's office.)
The trope of the predatory, hyper-sexual gay man is an ugly one, and one which mainstream media has happily left behind for the most part. But I expect that science fiction has to start somewhere, and hopefully in the future it will move forward into acceptance like the rest of the evolved world.