‘The Bachelor’ has a troubled history when it comes to gay romance. It’s not alone

“The Bachelor’s” Colton Underwood on Wednesday revealed that he’s gay in an emotional interview with Robin Roberts on “Good Morning America.” Compared with the franchise’s past handling of the subject of gay romance, it was a major step forward. It’s understandable that Underwood hoped his time on “The Bachelor” would lead to his marrying and having a family with a woman; the entire franchise has been built on a rigidly heteronormative vision of happily-ever-after. “Happy to see you stand up and openly live your truth.” “The Bachelor” isn’t the only dating show to make missteps when it comes to queer people and their relationships. Not only was this another instance of a dating show with LGBTQ people involving a gimmick and an element of deceit but Tequila also recently revealed that she was straight all along and played bisexual only for the show.. Other dating shows have also featured individual episodes involving LGBTQ people, but it wasn’t until 2016 that Logo revisited the “Bachelor”-inspired formula with “Finding Prince Charming.” Hosted by out singer Lance Bass, this time, thankfully, there was no cruel twist. More recently, shows like MTV’s “Are You The One?” have made strides to better capture nuances unique to LGBTQ people dating and figuring out their identity.