Will and grace was deeply subversive because it broke every one of dal's rules. Gay characters could kiss, but not much else. And h i v could never come up at all even though h iv was the central issue in gay life in the 19 nineties. The film historian veto so once surveyed 32 hollywood movies from the sixties and seventies that had major gay characters. 18 of those characters were murdered, 13 committed suicide and one was castrated.