18 Important LGBTQ+ Moments From "Survivor" History
buzzfeed.comSpoilers below***Survivor, the CBS reality TV show which maroons strangers together on a deserted island just to watch them vote each other out one by one has been a queer show from the very beginning; the first player voted out was gay.
The first winner was gay. And, over the following 41 seasons, some of the show's most notable players to get their torches snuffed — challenge beasts, strategists, heartthrobs, and animal rights activists — have been part of the LGBTQ+ community.
While the show has always felt undeniably queer it hasn't always embraced its queerness like it does today. In its first few seasons (which aired in the early 2000s), it was evident that casting directors saw LGBTQ+ castaways as little more than opportunities to produce "button-pushing" TV, bringing on one or two (typically white) gay men in hopes of getting a brawl or, better, an unlikely friendship à la Rudy Boesch and Richard Hatch.
But as Survivor evolved with the times and eventually committed to including 50% people of color in its casts, the representation of its LGBTQ+ castaways in effect became more diverse, too.
