Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson is aware there are those who think that his character of Mitch and TV husband Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) aren't a positive representation of LGBT people.

He begs to differ.

As the Illinois state legislature ponders whether to pass a marriage equality bill next week, Modern Family star Jesse Tyler Ferguson is in the state trying to drum up public support for Illinois to become the 10th state in the US to allow gay marriage.

On the ABC sitcom, Ferguson portrays Mitchell Pritchett who is raising a young daughter with his spouse Cameron Tucker who is played by Eric Stonestreet.

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association unveiled the nominations for its Golden Globe Awards on Thursday (13 December) and they included some nods for LGBT artists and characters.

Among them are Jim Parsons, the openly gay actor who stars on the CBS comedy The Big Bang Theory. Parsons was nominated for best actor in a comedy or musical television series. 

Parsons won the Globe in 2011 and has also won two Emmys for his portrayal of the straight character of Sheldon Cooper.

On ABC's Modern Family, Ty Burr's character of Phil Dunphy has a brother-in-law who is gay and is raising a young daughter with a male partner.

Those characters, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) are among the show's most popular and Burr says that he believes they have helped the gay rights movement in some ways.

At Sunday night's Emmy Awards, Jesse Tyler Ferguson appeared moved when Modern Family co-star Eric Stonestreet paid tribute to him after beating Ferguson for the supporting actor in a comedy prize.

But during an appearance on ABC's Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday (24 September), Ferguson appeared to allow himself to be egged on to being a sore loser by the host.

Modern Family, which features a gay couple as two of the central characters, has won four Emmys including outstanding comedy series.

This is the third year Modern Family have taken the outstanding comedy series prize, this time beating competition from 30 Rock, The Big Bang Theory, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Girls and Veep.

The show also took the comedy series awards for outstanding director (Steven Levitan), supporting actress (Julie Bowen) and supporting actor (Eric Stonestreet, who plays gay father Cameron Tucker).

Cam and Mitch want more money.

Well, at least the actors who portray the gay couple on ABC's Modern Family do.

Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet have joined castmates Ty Burrell, Julie Bowen and Sofia Vergara on Tuesday (24 July) in suing to void their contracts on the Emmy winning show.

ABC's sitcom Modern Family has won the best TV comedy prize at the Writers Guild of America Awards for the third consecutive year.

The critical and ratings hit prominently features gay couple Cam and Mitch (played by Eric Stonestreet and Jesse Tyler Ferguson) who are raising a young daughter.

After the Sunday (19 February) night awards ceremony in Hollywood, Stonestreet sent a humorous congratulations tweet out to the writers: 'The writers won! congrats to you all! again, without your words, we actors are just hot, sexy hunks of silky, supple flesh.'

With Modern Family stars Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet in attendance, the Family Equality Council raised more than $400,000 over the weekend at a gala dinner kicking off the group's 30th anniversary.

Ferguson, an openly gay actor who plays Mitchell on the ABC comedy, performed at the dinner while Stonestreet, who plays Cameron and is straight in real life, presented an award at the event held in the Globe Theatre at Universal Studios in Los Angeles.

Actors Jesse Tyler Ferguson and Eric Stonestreet, who play gay couple Cam and Mitch on ABC's Modern Family, reacted in character when 9th District U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional.

Stonestreet, who is straight, posted a photo that he took with the openly gay Ferguson in which they are holding a sign which reads: 'Wouldn't you like to see us get married?'

They play a gay couple on television but in real life, Eric Stonestreet is straight and Jesse Tyler Ferguson is not.

But Barbara Walters, who interviews the pair on her annual 10 Most Fascinating People of the Year special which airs on ABC tonight, says she learned the two 'have a great deal in common besides what they play' on television.

Both share on the special that they were bullied as kids.