I find Abraham Benrubi incredibly adorable. He can top this bottom any time.
Answering my own question: JD and Turk on Scrubs are AWFULLY close for two straight guys.
. . . And I had always just assumed Ned and Stacey was an original concept . . .
. . . That’s some heavy overcompensation.
Someone mentioned the character of Shepherd Book earlier, and I have to say I’ve always assumed Ron Glass himself was gay.
With regard to the Olivia Benson character on Law and Order: SVU, I thought her reaction to Alex’s “death” was indicative of a closer relationship between the two than had been depicted on screen.
Lenny and Squiggy from Laverne & Shirley. Really, look at the way they dressed.
Maxwell Smart. Look at how long it took him to figure out 99 had the hots for him. Definitely in the closet and only pretending.
And I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned Skipper and Little Buddy. Shame on you all.
Wait a minute – wasn’t Ares revealed to be Xena’s father, making her a demigoddess? (Not that a little thing like that would stop a Greek god from gettin’ it on, but still – did they really have incest on “Xena”?)
So, what I’ve gathered from this thread is that there’s a very narrow range of gender-appropriate behavior; take one step outside that and you’re assumed to be homosexual (if you’re a tv character, at least). Glad to see we’ve come so far.
[ob anime]
Goodness, you could probably write a book on Japanese homoeroticism. Gay men in manga/anime tend to be either really, fabulously flaming, or at least rather obviously ambiguous.
In General:
*A lot of Akira Ishida roles tend to be a little fruity.
*If the mangaka currently/previously draws yaoi dojinshi (in the case of CLAMP and Kazuya Minekura especially), be on the lookout for massive Subtext.
*Be especially wary of titles where the men are prettier than the women.
*And some fans pretty much ship any two male characters, especially if they’re otherwise unattached.
That said, here’s some titles that made me raise a few eyebrows, at least:
*Peacemaker Kurogane
*Saiyuki
*Trigun
[/ob anime]
This one’s pretty obscure, but Dr. Arcane and Graham on the old Swamp Thing TV series were totally gay. They spent most of the series sniping at each other like an old married couple, and nobody with Dr. Arcane’s hair and clothing choices could be straight. 
I could also see Dr. House and Dr. Wilson on House, though House himself would probably have to be bi given his fondness for hookers.
Lt. Kara “Starbuck” Thrace isn’t lesbian so much as she’s extremely gender-confused, possibly transsexual. It goes back to when her religious maniac mother married Kara’s gay father in an attempt to “cure” him. He stuck it out long enough to father Kara, but then finally ran off with his male lover when Kara was a toddler. Kara’s mother then complicated things by going beserk and spending the next twelve years beating and abusing the “child of sin”. Kara hates her mother and identifies with her father so strongly that she is practically a gay man in a woman’s body.
In this context you might have to say, he is a dildo.
Maybe I’m just stupid but I assumed this thread was all in good fun.
Oh, and Miss Moneypenny, totally gay. She doesn’t want to fuck Bond, she just likes fucking with him.
Nobody has mentioned Geordi’s big crush on Kristy. Classic geek, too wrapped up in his schoolwork when he was a kid to pay attention to girls, so when he’s grown and starts noticing them, he doesn’t know how to talk to them.
Well, he did appear in Janeway’s bed once or twice.
have I missed it or has Kira Narisse really not been mentioned yet?
Yes. Tasha’s whole demeanor is the product of her upbringing, which she briefly describes in one episode, and re-experiences in another episode, either in a dream or while under the mental influence of an alien force (I can’t remember which). Her native planet was apparently an extremely lawless place, and she told of her need to run and hide from “the rape gangs”. Her “butch” appearance and demeanor was an intentional attempt to make her gender less obvious so that she would be a less likely target. Hence, the cropped hair, almost no makeup, and masculine body language. All learned characteristics that she retained after escaping from her home planet. Her fighting skills were also acquired during those formative years, and, though refined through her Starfleet training, still resemble the self-defense techniques taught to women for the purpose of fighting off a potential rapist.
In the encounter with Data, the disease she contracted … no wait, that sounds funny. The encounter with Data only happened because of the disease in her system. It reduced her inhibitions and allowed her to drop the walls she had built around herself. Basically, she let the woman out. Data was merely convenient; if Mr. Mott, the barber, had happened along instead of Data, he would have worked just as well.
I thought so too, at first, but not once the character was more developed. She was definitely straight, and showed it. She had an intense relationship with a male Vedik, and there were hints that she was romantically involved with her rebel cell leader during the Cardassian occupation. Frankly, I’ve rarely seen a more passionate character on a TV show. It just took her quite a while to refocus her passion, from fighting to love. But when she did, it was men she was passionate about.
If anime counts…
Read or Die (the miniseries/movie, and the series). Yomiko Readman has been breaking women’s hearts all over the freakin’ world. 
John Madden. Just ask him about Brett Favre, and you’ll see what I mean.
Ick. If we look at it that way, Tim McCarver has a thing for Derek Jeter.
Evil Intendant Kira from the Mirror universe, OTOH, would go after anybody, male or female.
Including, it seemed, her alternate-self. Man, that would be even hotter than twins!
This was complicated by Garak’s being a Cardassian, a race that seemed to be rather xenophobic in general.
I seem to remember one episode where Garak went off to Bashir about how deeply he really hated being surrounded by humans, Bajorans and assorted other aliens all the time.
DS9 was one of my favorites of the Trek series and the Cardassian characters were always interesting IMHO.