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As the Supreme Court hears arguments on same-sex marriage, shows such as "Will & Grace" (which Vice President Joe Biden said "did more to educate the American public than almost anything anybody has ever done") are just one example of the many TV programs featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender characters. Here's a look at some of TV's most memorable LGBT characters:

"Soap's" Jodie Dallas is one of TV's first LGBT characters. Played by Billy Crystal, Dallas was gay but had relationships with women throughout the ABC show's four seasons, which aired during the late '70s and early '80s. Dallas also fathered a child named Wendy.

"Modern Family's" Mitchell Pritchett (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron Tucker (Eric Stonestreet) adopted a baby girl named Lily on the sitcom's pilot episode in 2009. The pair made plans to adopt another child during the third season of the show, which currently airs on ABC.

Dr. Callie Torres (Sarah Ramirez) and Dr. Arizona Robbins (Jessica Capshaw) were married during "Grey's Anatomy's" seventh season in 2011. The pair also have a baby girl they share with her father, Dr. Mark Sloan (Eric Dane).

"True Blood's" Lafayette Reynolds, played by Nelsan Ellis, works as a cook and gay prostitute on the HBO series.

On "Brothers and Sisters," which aired on ABC from 2006 to 2011, Kevin Walker (Matthew Rhys) proposed to Scotty Wandell (Luke Macfarlane). The pair had two children, Olivia and Daniel.

Wilson Cruz played Rickie Vasquez, a gay 15-year-old, on "My So-Called Life." Despite garnering a cult following, the show only lasted for one season on ABC.

After playing bisexual Alex Kelly on "The O.C.," Olivia Wilde played Dr. Remy "Thirteen" Hadley on Fox's "House."

"Happy Endings'" Max Blum, played by Adam Pally, is openly gay. His friends persuade him to come out to his parents during the show's first season.

"Greek's" Calvin Owens, left, played by Paul James, originally struggled to come out to his Omega Chi fraternity brothers on the show, which aired on ABC Family from 2007 to 2011.

A major storyline in "Pretty Little Liars" has been the discovery by Emily (Shay Mitchell) of her sexuality and her coming out to her family.

Gay characters Kurt Hummel (Chris Colfer) and Blaine Anderson (Darren Criss) and lesbian character Santana Lopez (Naya Rivera) are some shining stars on Fox's "Glee." The teens deal with bullies, coming out and dating on the musical dramedy.

"Glee" introduced its first transgendered teen character in 2012. "Unique," shown here singing, is played by actor Alex Newell.

Critics hailed the realistic portrayal of the relationship between David Fisher (Michael C. Hall, left) and Keith Charles (Mathew St. Patrick) on "Six Feet Under."

Michael K. Williams played "The Wire's" Omar Little, a renowned Baltimore criminal. In March, Obama told Bill Simmons that Little is his favorite "Wire" character: "I mean, that guy is unbelievable, right?"

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(CNN) -- "Will & Grace" star Sean Hayes is leading the way again.

The openly gay Hayes, who played Jack on the NBC series "Will & Grace," is one of the actors credited with helping change perceptions about gay people via that hit show. This fall he is coming back to his former network as the star of "Sean Saves The World" in which he will play a gay single dad of a teen daughter.

But Hayes will not be among as big a crowd of gay leading characters on broadcast television as he would have been had his show premiered last year.

Photos: Coming out in Hollywood

Last fall TV season a plethora of shows burst onto the small screen with leading gay characters in everything from comedies to musical dramas. Many of those series have since been canceled.

Gone are shows like "The New Normal," "Happy Endings," "Partners" "Don't Trust the B---- in Apt. 23," "Smash," "Go On," and "Southland." And it seems to be a bit of irony that while same-sex marriage support has been gaining ground, this year's fall TV season feels -- at least on the surface -- much less inclusive.

"For a lot of people, even still today, the only LGBT people they actually know are on their screens -- on television or in film," said Wilson Cruz, an actor and spokesperson for GLAAD. "So it's a real opportunity for people to meet LGBT people in the comfort of their homes or the darkness of a theater to have an emotional experience and really understand the lives of LGBT people."

That means that a possible wedding between the characters of Mitchell and Cameron on ABC's "Modern Family" in the wake of the Supreme Court striking down the Defense of Marriage Act this summer could have an affect on those who may be still on the fence about same-sex marriage.

Photos: Gay celebs who are married or engaged

"Hearing our stories makes it harder for people not to support us when it comes to the ballot box or the politicians that they choose to support," said Matt Kane, GLAAD's associate director of Entertainment Media. "It is important that our stories get out there and TV is one of the best ways to do that."

When NBC's comedy "The New Normal" premiered last fall, it was heralded by the LGBT community for its plot about a gay male couple trying to have a baby. David Wiegand, the San Francisco Chronicle's TV critic, noted that while that show didn't catch on with fans, NBC Entertainment Chairman Bob Greenblatt said at the Television Critics Association summer press tour that he didn't believe the gay characters on the show turned away viewers.

Rather, as NBC Entertainment President Jennifer Salke pointed out, audiences are less patient these days in terms of giving a struggling series time to catch on.

"The takeaway for all of this is that in 2013, there can be a "New Normal" and it can fail, despite brilliant writing and performances, and there can be a 'Sean Saves the World,' which may fail or catch hold," Wiegand wrote.

Kane said there are some bright spots in the upcoming broadcast TV season, including returning LGBT characters on shows like "Glee," the aforementioned "Modern Family" and "Grey's Anatomy." He said there is greater racial diversity among LGBT characters this year, including Aisha Hinds as half of an interracial lesbian couple on CBS' "Under The Dome" and Andre Braugher portraying a gay police captain on Fox's new cop comedy "Brooklyn Nine-Nine" starring "Saturday Night Live" alum Andy Samberg.

"There will also be an increase in the role for Alex Newell on 'Glee' where he plays the transgendered student 'Unique' which we're very excited about as 'Unique ' will become the only trans regular on television, if you don't count Netflix," Kane said.

GLADD recently put out the Studio Responsibility Index, which found that, with the exception of a handful of movies like "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" and "Pitch Perfect," most big films lack any significant LGBT presence. GLAAD also produces a report, "Where We Are On TV," which Cruz said acts as a resource for networks. He said the trend this season will be diversity and GLADD would like to see even more of that as well as a greater variety of gay roles in various genres such as sci-fi.

Kane said that is why his organization eagerly awaits ABC's new series "Once Upon A Time in Wonderland," which will feature a gay character. He said diversity of characters goes beyond race and gender and means having gay characters of various ages and socioeconomic backgrounds.

"Our community is as diverse as any other," Kane said. "Telling all of those stories is really important. It's important that we be seen as not just a group of gay, white men."