History Main / GayBestFriend

* Played with on ''Series/SchittsCreek'' with main characters David and Stevie. Initially, Stevie assumes David is gay but after they sleep together he comes out as pansexual. Their attempt at a FriendsWithBenefits situation fails, and when Stevie develops feelings for David she is heartbroken when she realizes he can't or won't return them. They eventually settle into being the best of friends and with their friendship (or as show creator Creator/DanielLevy calls it a "friendlationship") becoming a central part of the show's narrative. They even date the same guy, Jake, but reject the notion of ThreewaySex or {{Polyamory}}. Eventually, Stevie becomes TheMatchmaker for David and Patrick, and David serves as her {{Wingman}} as she purses Emir. Subverts the trope in that David is a main character, has an active sex life and Stevie is, for a time, the third wheel to David and Patrick.

* Lussuria from ''Manga/KatekyoHitmanReborn'', whose flamboyant-ness is played for laughs. Though it starts getting [[SarcasmMode ever so slightly]] disturbing when he's hitting on jail bait, ''and'' is insinuated to have necrophiliac tendencies as well.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusumeNiTeODasuNa'': Clara fills the role, as a lesbian who's best friends with three straight girls: [[BridgeBunnies Risa, Kisara, and Jun.]] The manga subverts the trope by exploring Clara's sexuality by having her steadily become aware of her growing attraction to the supervillain, "Honey, the Hugger". She eventually learns that Honey is her classmate, [[spoiler: Mei Seno]], but the attraction between them is limited to subtext until the epilogue chapters.

%% * Gabby in ''Series/BirdsOfPrey''.

If being gay has made him CloserToEarth and has thereby given him wisdom that he imparts to the cishet protagonist, he is the MagicalQueer.

* Kevin in ''Franchise/ArchieComics'' is friends with Betty and Veronica but doesn't count. Kevin in ''Series/{{Riverdale}}'' however is an example. Though not quite CampGay, Kevin is more effeminate than his StraightGay comic counterpart and is presented more in this fashion. Cheryl even makes a crack at this. Unlike other Gay Best Friends, Kevin actually has an active sex life (much more than Betty's even). Although his boyfriend, Joaquin, leaves at the end of the first season.

* ComicBook/ScottPilgrim's roommate Wallace Wells. He and Scott are close friends though he also serves as a mentor and even older brother figure to Scott. (Also applies to TheFilmOfTheBook.) A bit of a downplayed version since he is a supporting character. His sex life is pretty active and while he is quite catty, he's one of Scott's closest friends. [[spoiler: He's among the most horrified when Scott gets impaled by Gideon in Book 6.]]

* ComicBook/ScottPilgrim's gay best friend and roommate, Wallace Wells. (Also applies to TheFilmOfTheBook.) Downplayed in that his (very active) sex life clearly exists, though it doesn't get much attention due to Wallace's fairly small role in the series. He occasionally cracks jokes about him being Scott's sugar-daddy.

As modern society grows increasingly comfortable with gay people, fiction is slowly seeing more well-rounded gay supporting characters with onscreen love lives, whose sexuality is incidental to the character.

* ''Literature/TheseWordsAreTrueAndFaithful:'' Sam says that he thinks he is his coworkers' pet gay person.

[[quoteright:184:[[Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/index_541.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:184:Such a caring friend.]]

In fiction the most common use of this trope is a male GBF to a straight female protagonist but other permutations are very slowly beginning to appear.

** Things get slightly more subversive with his relationship with Amber's uptight sister Ruby. He's determined to break through her shell, and gives her some good advice when they first start talking, especially with regard to dressing for her attempts to get a serious job. She acknowledges his help, and [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/rock_these_designer_jeans sounds as grateful as she ever manages for it.]] However, [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/a_man_will_not_pay_my_bills the next day,]] he decides to give her a [[TheMakeover makeover]] to help her find a boyfriend, despite her attempts to tell him that she doesn't want one, and [[http://www.stickydillybuns.com/strips-sdb/best_ease_back_there throws]] a [[DramaQueen blubbering tantrum]] at the idea that they aren't going to work through every component of the trope.

* ''Fanfic/TheBoltChronicles'': Mittens’s dog friend Petey is this in “The Survivor.” By extension, also refers to Petey’s circle of friends, all of whom accept Mittens into their group.

* Averted by Seiji Kisaragi, Mikako's ''gay'' friend in ''Manga/GokinjoMonogatari''. He's an extremely {{bishonen}} aspiring hairdresser and former fashion student with a rather flamboyant appearance, but he's portrayed as mature, talented and determined and is of great importance as an older brother/mentor figure for Mikako. What's best is [[spoiler:he's not even ''gay'', [[BiTheWay he's bisexual]].]]

* Trevor in ''VideoGame/{{Phantasmagoria|2}}: A Puzzle of Flesh'' starts out as this, but as his character develops it starts to be subverted, as he turns into more of a StraightGay [[TheBarnum Humphrey]] deliberately playing up the CampGay. It's further subverted when main character Curtis confesses his attraction [[BiTheWay for Trevor]]. At one point in [[WebVideo/TheSpoonyExperiment Spoony's]] LetsPlay he calls Trevor the one interesting character he liked [[spoiler: and didn't want to see brutally murdered.]] The same thing applied in the Website/SomethingAwful LP of the game, with the Goons managing to track down and get an interview with Trevor's actor.
* ''VideoGame/NightInTheWoods'' features Gregg, who operates as this for Mae. However, Mae is a {{tomboy}}, so she and the StraightGay Gregg tend to do more masculine, delinquent activities, like petty vandalism and loitering. The trope is somewhat subverted, however, since Mae is [[BiTheWay pansexual]] herself.

%% * ''Film/TheWomanInRed'': Buddy (Charles Grodin), who is gay but basically acts not very differently from Joey or Mikey.

%% Simply stating the character's sexuality is enough; please explain their mannerisms and their role in the plot.

On the nonfiction side, there are more than a few Real Life examples of deep friendships that transcend the fictional one-sided stereotype or any pejorative nicknames.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* The FagHag phenomenon -- i.e. straight women who collect gay male friends.
* Truman Capote was this for a number of socialites before he wrote ''Literature/AnsweredPrayers''. He was also this to Harper Lee, until he started telling everyone [[StealingTheCredit he wrote]] ''Literature/ToKillAMockingbird''.
%% * Jonathan Groff is this to Creator/LeaMichele.
%% * If we go by what ''Series/{{Feud}}'' said, than Victor Buono was this to Creator/BetteDavis.
%% * Adam Lambert is this to Creator/AnnaKendrick.
%% * Murdered SilentFilm director William Desmond Taylor is thought to have been this to actress and director Creator/MabelNormand, who was the last person to see him alive.
%% * Creator/DanielLevy is this to his ''Series/SchittsCreek'' co-star Creator/EmilyHampshire, in a situation that mirrors their characters even though their real-life personalities are very different.
%% * Noel Coward was said to be this to [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseofWindsor Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, The Queen Mother]] and actress Gertrude Lawrence.
* Actor and decorator William Haines was this to Creator/CaroleLombard and Creator/JoanCrawford. Crawford and Lombard both hired Haines as a decorator, kickstarting his second career after he was let go from MGM for refusing to give up his common-law husband Jimmy Shields. Crawford also continued to invite Billy and Jimmy to her parties after they had been arrested on morals charges, and her support is in part what saved their decorating business.
%% * Robert Reed was this to his ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' co-star Florence Henderson, and she passionately defended him after his death from AIDS.
* Photographer, makeup artist, and artist Martin Burgoyne was this to a pre-fame Music/{{Madonna}}. He took many early photos of her and helped her design her look. After she became famous and he became sick from AIDS, she rented him an apartment and saw to it he was cared for until his death.
%% * Creator/RockHudson was this to frequent co-star Creator/DorisDay, adding a delicious layer of queer subtext to their films.
%% * Music/ColePorter married his best friend, socialite Linda Lee Thomas, who was well aware of Porter's sexuality. The marriage was mutually advantageous, and they were platonically devoted to each other for the rest of their lives.
%% * Poet Creator/WHAuden married Thomas Mann's daughter Erika in 1935 in what was purely a marriage of convenience to allow her to escape Nazi Germany. Despite hardly knowing each other at the time of the marriage and never living together, the pair became lifelong friends.
%% * Music/RufusWainwright is this to Lorca Cohen, daughter of Music/LeonardCohen. They conceived their daughter Viva Cohen through IVF and Lorca later served as the best man at Wainwright's wedding.
%% * Creator/{{RuPaul}} is this to ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' co-star Michelle Visage. They go way back to their pre-fame days.
* A strange twist on the trope occurs on the podcast ''Missing Richard Simmons'' with Richard and his housekeeper Teresa Reveles. Reveles is initially portrayed as morally suspect on the podcast, but [[spoiler: it turns out she has been his lifelong protector and friend.]]
%% * Chris Kelley and Sarah Schneider, the writers and creators of the sitcom ''Series/TheOtherTwo'' have this kind of relationship, and it’s reflected in the relationship of the brother-sister protagonists of their show.
* {{Enforced}} in 18th century Italy, where it was not uncommon for rich noblewomen to have ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicisbeo cicisbei]]''-- the SpearCounterpart to a mistress. They were more tolerated if the ''cicisbeo'' was a homosexual and was therefore only around to be the lady's friend and companion, not a lover.
[[/folder]]

[[caption-width-right:184:Such a caring friend]]

* Bob, Saiga's neighbor and friend (who openly crushes on Saiga) from ''Anime/SpeedGrapher''.

* ''Manga/UchiNoMusumeNiTeODasuNa'': Clara is best friends with [[BridgeBunnies Risa, Kisara, and Jun]], all three being heterosexual. However, Clara's sexual orientation isn't revealed until the epilogue doujinshi chapters, which show she's [[StraightGay a lesbian.]]

* ComicBook/ScottPilgrim's gay best friend and roommate, [[HardDrinkingPartyGirl Wallace Wells]]. (Also applies to TheFilmOfTheBook.) Downplayed in that his (very active) sex life clearly exists, though it doesn't get much attention due to Wallace's fairly small role in the series.
** Ironically, Scott is more like Wallace's Straight Best Friend, since Wallace is the only one paying the bills. However, they're best friends, and Wallace occasionally cracks jokes about him being Scott's sugar-daddy.
* In ''ComicBook/KickAss'', [[AlphaBitch Stuck up]] Katie will only associate with Dave because she thinks nerdy, unpopular Dave is gay (a fact that Dave has shamelessly [[InvokedTrope exploited]] in order to be allowed to hang out with the woman he crushes on). When she finds out, she has her boyfriend savagely beat him and then sends him sexually explicit photos to torment him with the fact that she'd never be romantically involved with him.
* David in ''ComicBook/StrangersInParadise'' is the heterosexual pet of Katchoo.
* ''ComicBook/BlueIsTheWarmestColor'': Valentin for Clémentine.
* In ''ComicBook/JonSableFreelance'', Jon's girlfriend Myke shares her apartment with gay choreographer named Grey who is her best friend. To his surprise, Jon also becomes friends with him.

* Simon from ''Film/AsGoodAsItGets'' is a {{Deconstruction}} of this character type: [[spoiler:essentially what happens when the Gay Best Friend has a HeroicBSOD and [[TheDogBitesBack starts biting back]]. ]]

* The female lead's best friend in the film ''Film/MustLoveDogs''.
* Dan in ''Film/OverHerDeadBody''. [[spoiler:Subversion; he's not actually gay. Ashley assumed he was, and he went with it to stay close to her. She treated him like a Gay Best Friend for years, though.]]
* Damien in ''Film/MeanGirls''.
* ''Film/LAStory'' is a rare example of a straight male lead with a ''Lesbian'' Best Friend (technically her orientation is never mentioned but it is clear which way she swings). In an interesting and revealing contrast to the standard Gay Best Friend, Ariel's sex life is never discussed on screen but she is shown living with a partner.
* Hollywood Montrose from the ''Film/{{Mannequin}}'' movies is a particularly cartoonish (and yet, somehow sort of awesome) example.

* Flame from ''Film/SoulPlane''.
* Gabriel from ''Film/ThePeopleIveSleptWith''.

* George, confidante of the female lead in ''Film/MyBestFriendsWedding''.

* Similar to the ''Film/LAStory'' example above, ''Film/TellNoOne'' has a GenderFlipped version, with Helene being the lesbian best friend of main character Alexandre. Also like that film, Helene never talks about her sex life, but lives with a partner, Alexandre's sister (whom she refers to as "my wife"). However, she's also a well-rounded character in that she's the one who hires a lawyer for Alexandre when he's falsely accused of murder, and she's the one he confides in when [[spoiler: he thinks his dead wife is still alive]].
* ''Film/TheWomanInRed'': Buddy (Charles Grodin), who is gay but basically acts not very differently from Joey or Mikey.

* Damien in the early ''Literature/TheHouseOfNight'' books. After Jack, who is annoyingly stereotyped, arrives the two of them share this role.
* Lord Akeldama is Alexia's GBF in the ''Alexia Tarabotti'' series, but while his sex life ''is'' off-screen and implied only, there is far more to his character than the typical instances of this trope.
* Patrick from ''Literature/ThePerksOfBeingAWallflower''. His sexuality is a bit more explored than normal for the trope as an entire subplot centres around his rocky relationship with ArmouredClosetGay Brad.

* Mr Humphries from ''Series/AreYouBeingServed'' However, the show milks all the humor it can from "[[AmbiguouslyGay Is he or isn't he]]" -- he definitely ''[[CampGay acts]]'' like it, but mentions dating women more than once. The actor has said that he was a bit of a [[MommasBoy mummy's boy]].
* Gil Chesterton from ''Series/{{Frasier}}'' is a similar character, taken further than Mr. Humphries is. The quirk is later cut entirely at one point when the previously-oblivious Gil finds out about his reputation and angrily declares himself to be a happily married man.
** But on one of the occasions Frasier is MistakenForGay, Gil is there to welcome him out of the closet. His [[TheGhost unseen]] wife is often referred to in a manner that strongly suggests she's TheBeard.
** The plot of that episode was kicked off by Frasier entering a [[WhereEverybodyKnowsYourFlame gay bar]], trying to confront Roz's new boyfriend, who he thought he'd seen walk in. Gil can be seen trying to discreetly enter the same bar during the episode's ending credits.
* Lukewarm from ''Series/{{Porridge}}''.

* Jack from ''Series/WillAndGrace'' is treated as Karen's Gay Best Friend.

** But inverted with Hugo Lombardi from the original ''Series/YoSoyBettyLaFea'', whose constant moodiness prompted that few people wanted to deal with him, and in fact he treats his elderly secretary Ines as ''his'' mascot, for better and for worse.
** The second and third seasons [[CharacterDevelopment developed Marc's personal life]] a bit beyond Wilhelmina as well.
* John, the secretary on ''Series/NYPDBlue'' (At least, by the end of the show, Sipowicz started referring to him as "John", instead of "Gay John".)
* On ''Series/{{Glee}}'', Kurt is Rachel's and Blaine is Tina's. An aversion however because they're both very well established main characters outside of their friendships. Plus, they're not friends ''because'' they're gay.
** Rachel has an ugly habit of calling Kurt her "best gay". When she tries that on Elliot, he immediately tells her he hates it, because it makes him feel like a pet.
* ''Series/SexAndTheCity'' had two. Stanford Blatch was Carrie's from the start and Charlotte later got Anthony, who first appeared as the wedding planner for her ill-fated first marriage but stuck around for the rest of the series. Stanford subverted the trope towards the end of the series by gaining a hot boyfriend, though the boyfriend was nowhere to be seen in the feature film.
** They were shown meeting up at a New Year's Eve party (Anthony appeared to be expecting Stanford) and kissing at midnight. Still, those two characters (who'd hated each other throughout the series) are just slammed together in the feature as the ''only gay men in NYC'' that can be paired together? [[spoiler:And then they're married in the second movie]].
* Gabby in ''Series/BirdsOfPrey''.

* ''Series/UnhappilyEverAfter'' had Barry, one of Tiffany's best friends.
* Sasan on Tori Spelling's semi-autobiographical sitcom ''So Notorious''. The real person that the character is based off of is one of her closest friends since childhood and serves as her business and assets manager.
* Maldwyn Novello Pughe in the 1978 BBC Wales comedy "Grand Slam". He's a camp gay among a group of largely salt-of-the earth heterosexual rugby fans who travel to Paris to see Wales play France. Although this is played for laughs to an extent, he's definitely "one of the gang" and accepted for who he is without being patronised. He's subjected to some good-natured teasing but no more than anyone else, proves he can give as good as he gets, and the viewer is left in no doubt that anyone who messed with him would have the rest of the guys to deal with too.
* Rather bitterly deconstructed on ''Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen'', with a self-declared FagHag character who appears in a few sketches. She blithely describes her gay friends in this manner, while they -- usually played by the openly-gay Creator/MarkGatiss -- roll their eyes and try to sneak away while she's not looking.
** The stage show takes this a step further, with a purely dramatic scene of Gatiss's character breaking up with his boyfriend over an infidelity, before the FagHag shows up to talk about how [[AllGaysArePromiscuous gay men can all sleep with each other with no consequences]]. Gatiss snaps, delivering a pretty excellent [[TheReasonYouSuckSpeech Reason You Suck Speech]].
* ''Series/DoctorWho'': Amy ''thought'' Rory was this when they were teenagers, since he never showed interest in girls. If she had been paying attention, she would have noticed he [[DoggedNiceGuy never showed interest in]] ''[[SingleTargetSexuality other]]'' [[SingleTargetSexuality girls]].
* Shane in ''Series/FakingIt'' is this to pretty much everyone in that school except for [[AlphaBitch Lauren]], including male Liam. Interestingly, Shane is played by Michael Willett, the Gay Best Friend in ''G.B.F.'' in the Film section.

* Felix Dawkins, Sarah's foster brother, serves as this to the all-female "Clone Club" on ''Series/OrphanBlack'', especially to straight-laced Allison. He does at least get attempts at a love life and being played for sexy rather than ''only'' for comedy.
* The premise of ''Series/OneBigHappy'' is a straight guy his lesbian best friend deciding to have a baby together.

* Kenny from ''Series/MyNameIsEarl''.

* In French sitcom ''Series/LesFillesDaCote'', CampGay gym manager Gérard is the GBF to the three girls who share the apartment. He also manages to be this to Daniel and Marc in the flat next door.

* ''Series/InTheDark'': Jess, who's a lesbian, is Murphy's, along with her housemate.

* Bang from ''Webcomic/{{Blip}}''. However, his relationship with K is a bit more [[WithFriendsLikeThese vitriolic]] than usual.

* Szark from ''Webcomic/DominicDeegan'' became one of these over his run. He still gets to handle important plot points regardless. ("Battle For Barthis", for one -- where he was vital to the plan -- took place well after his transformation started.)

* ''Webcomic/MenageA3'' had a minor version of this at times between Zii and CampGay Dillon, although he didn't give her much advice (and he's fairly sexually active in the comic), and later a more significant friendship between Amber and Dillon, which became central to spin-off comic ''Webcomic/StickyDillyBuns'' -- see the note on that below.
* Tai from ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'', in her earlier appearances.

* Parodied/homaged by [[http://www.theonion.com/articles/supportive-gay-friend-to-counsel-american-people-o,443/ this article]] of Website/TheOnion.

* ''WebAnimation/TheMostPopularGirlsInSchool'', a very queer-friendly StopMotion show:
** [[CampGay Tristan McKie]] to Brittnay Matthews.
** [[ManlyGay Tanner Christiansen]] to Matthew Derringer.
* Parodied in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wd1CAEeKWww this]] WebVideo/NostalgiaChick video.
* WebVideo/TheCinemaSnob review of ''Dear Santa'' featured "Bearyan", a parody of this trope who gives terrible advice to people of all genders [[spoiler: which apparently often results in encouraging them to commit axe murders]]

* Xandir from ''WesternAnimation/DrawnTogether'' (although he and his sexuality were the focus of at least one story, so he's not quite always a supporting character).
* {{Inverted|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/SouthPark'' with Sparky, Stan's gay dog. But played straight with Mr Slave, a walking parody of virtually all the QueerAsTropes.

* Michael Collins from ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily''. This being Disney, [[AmbiguouslyGay he is not explicitly stated]] as being gay but it's hard to view him as anything else.
* Played literally in the ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' episode "Road to the Multiverse", where Chris wins a "genuine living homosexual" at a carnival. (The original trope name was Pet Homosexual.)

* Jonathan Groff is this to Creator/LeaMichele.
* If we go by what ''Series/{{Feud}}'' said, than Victor Buono was this to Creator/BetteDavis.
* Adam Lambert is this to Creator/AnnaKendrick.
* Murdered SilentFilm director William Desmond Taylor is thought to have been this to actress and director Creator/MabelNormand, who was the last person to see him alive.
* Creator/DanielLevy is this to his ''Series/SchittsCreek'' co-star Creator/EmilyHampshire, in a situation that mirrors their characters even though their real-life personalities are very different.
* Noel Coward was said to be this to [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseofWindsor Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, The Queen Mother]] and actress Gertrude Lawrence.

* Robert Reed was this to his ''Series/TheBradyBunch'' co-star Florence Henderson, and she passionately defended him after his death from AIDS.

* Creator/RockHudson was this to frequent co-star Creator/DorisDay, adding a delicious layer of queer subtext to their films.
* Music/ColePorter married his best friend, socialite Linda Lee Thomas, who was well aware of Porter's sexuality. The marriage was mutually advantageous, and they were platonically devoted to each other for the rest of their lives.
* Poet Creator/WHAuden married Thomas Mann's daughter Erika in 1935 in what was purely a marriage of convenience to allow her to escape Nazi Germany. Despite hardly knowing each other at the time of the marriage and never living together, the pair became lifelong friends.
* Music/RufusWainwright is this to Lorca Cohen, daughter of Music/LeonardCohen. They conceived their daughter Viva Cohen through IVF and Lorca later served as the best man at Wainwright's wedding.
* Creator/{{RuPaul}} is this to ''Series/RuPaulsDragRace'' co-star Michelle Visage. They go way back to their pre-fame days.

* Chris Kelley and Sarah Schneider, the writers and creators of the sitcom ''Series/TheOtherTwo'' have this kind of relationship, and it’s reflected in the relationship of the brother-sister protagonists of their show.