"The Golden Girls" and the question of who may marry
Blanche's brother wants to get married: in 1991, "The Golden Girls" asked a question that US television otherwise avoided.
On 12 January 1991, the US network NBC broadcast an episode of "The Golden Girls" that was far ahead of its time. In "Sister of the Bride", Clayton, the gay brother of Blanche Devereaux, returns to Miami. He is played by Monte Markham. Clayton brings his partner Doug, a police officer, with him. And he has news: the two want to get married.
The audience already knew Clayton. A good two years earlier, he had come out in the series, and Blanche had been flabbergasted at the time. Now, too, she is struggling, above all with the thought of what people might say. She has nothing against her brother being homosexual, she says in essence. She just doesn't like him dating men. The line is built as a punchline, yet it captures exactly the attitude that prevailed in many families at the time.
The answer comes from Sophia, the oldest in the house. Everyone wants someone to grow old with, she says. And shouldn't everyone have that chance? Coming from a feisty old lady, this was more convincing than any plea.
The episode was written by Marc Cherry and Jamie Wooten. Cherry later became world-famous with "Desperate Housewives". He recalled that it was probably the first or second television programme ever to deal with marriage for same-sex couples. According to Wooten, there were no objections from the network; the series was simply too successful. The hate mail only came after the broadcast.
Around thirty million people watched. At the time, same-sex couples could not marry in a single US state, and it would be almost a quarter of a century before marriage equality came nationwide. "The Golden Girls" had long since asked the crucial question, somewhere between cheesecake and the kitchen table.