Joseph Gordon-Levitt has described a kiss between himself
and Topher Grace on That '70s Show as a “proud moment.”
In an interview to promote his upcoming feature film Don Jon,
Gordon-Levitt was asked about the 1998 kiss, widely believed to be
the first gay kiss on North American primetime television.
“Yeah, proud moment!” Gordon-Levit
told Michigan weekly PrideSource. “I was actually just talking
about this with a good friend of mine who's gay. We were saying
there really has been a change. I mean, that was more than 10 years
ago that we shot that episode, and a lot has changed. I do think
that television and movies have played a big part in it. It's
certainly not solely responsible, but that has been a part of it
becoming a more normal and accepted part of our culture – that some
people are gay and that's just how it is, especially for people who
are not used to that or close-minded toward that. There's been a
pretty big change, and we're certainly not all the way open-minded –
I mean, there was a civil rights movement in the '60s and there's
still plenty of racism in the world – but we've come a long way.”
“I certainly am proud to have made that small contribution of
whatever kind to that progress,” he added.