Gay characters on TV

Gay characters on TV?
The Vampire Diaries Season 4 DVD
It seems lately (or at least within the last couple years), Dexter Season 7 DVD shows have started featuring gay characters more. I'm curious what everyone else thinks about this as well as the ways shows have introduced this.
Personally, I like the idea of encouraging acceptance. (White Collar Season 4 DVD)But some of what I've seen seems a bit too forced and ultimately seems like it would be of minimum value in trying to sway someone to be more accepting while simultaneously making the episode worse (True Blood Season 5 DVD). While I appreciate the efforts, there seem to be a lot of times when I'd really rather they just didn't do it at all.(Breaking Bad Season 5 DVD)
For example, on NCIS Season 10 DVD, they had Dorneget come out to McGee. The scene just seemed a little awkward and felt they were trying to force the scene and the idea of acceptance. At this point, it seems like even more of a joke because Dorneget is now only referenced here and there but not actually seen, making him seem like he was just some sort of embodiment for gay rights or something, rather than an actual character.(Grey's Anatomy Season 9 DVD)
There was also an episode of The Pretty Little Liars Season 3 DVD where a teen was gay and a drag queen. It had appeared during most of the episode that the teen was murdered, and lived a hard life as his father was homophobic. Near the end of the Doctor Who Season 7 DVD episode, Lisbon was saying how awful she felt for the boy, and seemed unusually empathetic for this particular person, despite all the other awful cases she's dealt with. That alone made it seem pretty forced...(How I Met Your Mother Season 8 DVD)I mean surely this wasn't the worst thing for her to have encountered?