Loading...
|| News ||
Page 1 of 1

Paramedic Comes Out on Trauma

Fittingly enough for an episode that dealt with paramedics responding to Halloween emergencies in San Francisco, first responder Tyler Briggs (Kevin Rankin), of NBC’s Trauma, came out to his partner, Cameron Boone (Derek Luke), in the climax of the show that aired October 26.

KEVIN RANKIN TRAUMA X390 (NBC) | ADVOCATE.COM

Fittingly enough for an episode that dealt with paramedics responding to Halloween emergencies in San Francisco, first responder Tyler Briggs (Kevin Rankin), of NBC’s Trauma, came out to his partner, Cameron Boone (Derek Luke), in the climax of the show that aired October 26.

Briggs and Boone are given the “plum” assignment of monitoring the Castro for the night (Boone finds out later that Briggs requested it), where, predictably, a Halloween drag party goes terribly wrong, with an electrical fire causing a stampede of partygoers, many of whom get injured in their attempt to flee the venue. After tending to the more seriously injured, the judgmental Boone remarks to Briggs that the city is a modern-day Sodom and Gomorrah. Briggs responds by explaining how San Francisco is for many gays the only place they can be themselves, adding that that’s also the reason he moved to the city.

Future episodes will explore how well Boone deals with Briggs's revelation.

Rankin tells GregInHollywood.com that he has no qualms about playing gay. “I’ve played a gay character twice,” Rankin says. “I’ve played transgender. I was excited to take on the responsibility of not playing a stereotype, not making it a deviant thing. I am excited to shoulder that responsibility — very excited.

“My character, Tyler, is more of a peripheral character right now. He’s going to be a mystery for a little while. It could be awhile before we go home with him. I’m excited to see where it goes.”

Rankin has also had a recurring role in Friday Night Lights as well as parts in Six Feet Under and Grey’s Anatomy.

Click here to follow The Advocate on Twitter. Page 1 of 1
Reader Comments
  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 11:23:15 PM
    Hometown: Santa Fe, NM

    Comment:

    One final thought - kids do admire and role model after television actors, athletes and all sorts who are in the public eye. If this gentleman can present a positive role model in this role, then at this point in time, that's great! Again, kids in small town USA don't often have a gay role model out in their community to emulate.

  • Name: Mark
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 11:20:10 PM
    Hometown: Santa Fe NM

    Comment:

    Timothy, good on ya for coming out 20 years ago - that took a lot of courage in the face of a much more judgmental society. That said, in many parts of the country, rural, isolated, people do not often run across a gay person much less have one in the population in a position such as yours. Real or not, television is the means by which many people learn about others and how they live their lives. My own family is in a very rural part of the country and would have no idea of a gay paramedic or police officer, doctor, et. Thus, this does offer them a chance to see someone in that role, even though it is one created by a group of writers and acted out on the screen - big or small. I'm not begrudging anyone in real life telling their story and having it written or done as a documentary, but right now, this is a way of getting the point across and in a non-threatening manner to those who might otherwise not take the time to read such a story or watch a documentary

  • Name: David
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 10:37:36 PM
    Hometown: Canton

    Comment:

    Timothy, a lot of people care. Goody for you that you didn't have any issues coming out twenty years ago. Most of us aren't that fortunate. If you had done more,sooner, maybe we would have all our rights today, instead of being second class citizens in the 21st century.

  • Name: timothy joy
    Date posted: 10/27/2009 7:42:50 PM
    Hometown: ORLANDO

    Comment:

    What?? who cares? why would anyone give a damn about a fictional coming out on a tv show? I mean ...REALLY?? This isn't real life , however our society it seems more and more bent on buying into this fiction as reality. I'm a Firefighter Paramedic , out since the day I started working 20 years ago. Big deal. Lets see the advocate spend more time talking about real people, so that young people have someone real to identify with.



More Online Only
  • Film Teen Spirit

    While Native American cultures have long honored people of integrated genders, a new documentary looks at a shocking hate crime against a two-gendered Colorado teenager.

  • Politicians L.A. Confidential

    What's it like to be 33, gay, and one of the most powerful people in America's second-largest city? Stressful, says Matt Szabo, the new deputy chief of staff to Los Angeles mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

  • Commentary Love Bites for Twilight's Gay Fans

     

    Gay fanpires are sure to flock to New Moon, but with questions lingering about author Stephanie Meyer and the cash she gives to the Mormon Church, Mike Albo wonders if we'd be better off tying a clove of garlic around our necks.


  • Youth Church Opens Doors for Homeless Gay Teens

    A church-turned-shelter for homeless youth in Queens, New York is a far cry from sleeping on the streets after a $200,000 renovation and a partnership with the Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth.

  • Music France's Latest Export

    He's opened for Britney and Katy Perry, kept Dita Von Teese company in the front row at Paris Fashion Week, and gets name-checked on Twitter by Lady Gaga, Miley Cyrus, and Sarah Silverman. So who the hell is Sliimy, anyway?

  • Marriage Equality Triumph in the Tar Heel State

    The loss of marriage equality in Maine was a major blow on Election Night, but down the coast in North Carolina there was an LGBT victory. Pam Spaulding talks to Chapel Hill's mayor-elect, Mark Kleinschmidt.

  • Theater Video Content Flag Puppet Masters

    When performance-art drag diva Joey Arias combines forces with master puppeteer Basil Twist, anything — no, seriously, anything — can happen.

  • News Softball With Oprah and Palin

     

    Dave White recaps as Oprah plays nice with Palin in her exclusive, personality-rehabbing interview. Topics include Katie Couric ("badgering"), Levi Johnston ("Ricky Hollywood"), and step class ("gee, it's fun").

  • News View From Washington: Frank Tells

    This week Congressman Barney Frank laid out a plan and a timetable for repealing "don't ask, don't tell..." and a reminder that he's been saying it would happen in 2010 from the beginning.

  • News Features Where's Mitrice?

     

    Mitrice Richardson is a 4.0 student, a former beauty pageant contestant, and a lesbian. She’s also been missing since September, and her family and girlfriend want answers. 


     

  • Theater Seat Filler

    The Advocate’s queen on the New York theater scene meets bisexual conjoined twins, pits Sienna Miller against Jude Law, tastes Cheyenne Jackson’s Rainbow, and saves up for a rainy day with Hugh Jackman.

  • Art Fairey Good 


    Controversial artist Shepard Fairey spends his creative capital to bring marriage equality back to California.

  • Film Crazy Like a Fox

    Hipster actor Jason Schwartzman gets schooled on his gay fans and the Hollywood closet and reveals why he’s never played a gay role.

  • Television Viki Victorious?

     

    Soap icon and six-time Emmy Award winner Erika Slezak talks about the trials and tribulation of playing Victoria Lord and her run for mayor, gay rights, and the sudden death that rocks Llanview.

  • Commentary Called to Serve

    The military continues to operate under the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which even the Pentagon says is unsubstantiated. As General McChrystal asks for more troops in Afghanistan, one gay Navy vet offers his service to his country in spite of the policy that would deny him.

  • News Features Marriage Foe Tied to Pro-Gay Companies

    Ford Motor Co. and Reynolds American, two companies that receive consistently high marks from the HRC, have ties with Schubert Flint Public Affairs, the firm that was instrumental in defeating marriage equality in California and Maine.

     

  • News Features A Few Good Men

    In honor of Veteran's Day, two of the most famous gay vets -- Frank Kameny and Dan Choi -- share their letters from Uncle Sam.

Most Popular Stories