(CNN) -- Whether they're raising their adopted baby girl, dodging homophobic quips from their fraternity brothers or teaching the "Single Ladies" dance to the football team after glee club, it seems gay characters are becoming a vital part of prime time TV. 

With characters like "Modern Family's" Mitchell and Cameron, Calvin from "Greek" and Kurt from "Glee," the number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) characters on scripted programs has just about doubled since 2005, according to the Gay and Lesbian Alliance against Defamation. 

And characters will continue to identify as LGBT as time goes on, such as "Ugly Betty's" Justin, who recently had his first same-sex kiss. But Jarrett Barrios, president of GLAAD said, "We still have a long way to go before we're fully represented [on] TV." 

In addition to the increasing number LGBT characters on scripted shows, which currently represents a little more than 3 percent of all leading and supporting characters on broadcast networks, there are also more openly gay actors and producers working in Hollywood, says Barrios. 

Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson plays the character Mitchell on the ABC prime time show "Modern Family." Like his on-screen role, Ferguson himself is openly gay. 

"The opportunity to play not only a well developed gay character, but a dad, a son and brother was really appealing to me. ... I chose to play him very close to myself and I think that truthfulness was appealing to the creators," Ferguson told CNN. 

However, Ferguson says his sexual orientation does not make him any more qualified to tackle a gay role than Eric Stonestreet, his straight co-star who plays Mitchell's partner Cameron. 
Who else is on the program?
Eric Stonestreet