RIP Bea Arthur

One of my earliest childhood memories is watching the "Golden Girls" on Saturday night with my grandmother in her Quincy, Mass., home. It was part of NBC's prime time line-up and Grandma and I would sit on the couch in her den each week. I found myself laughing at each one liner and Bea Arthur as Dorothy Zbornak, in particular, carried a presence that remains arguably unmatched.

I was deeply saddened to learn Arthur passed away Saturday at her Los Angeles home at age 86. A quick and non-scientific Facebook and Twitter survey found many of my gay and lesbian brothers and sisters felt the same emotions I did. Arthur made her mark in theatre and as Maude Findlay before she appeared in the "Golden Girls" alongside the late Estelle Getty, Betty White and Rue McClanahan.

The show broke ground with its frank discussions of sexuality, homosexuality, HIV/AIDS and other socially taboo subjects during the Reagan era. I watched the "Golden Girls" almost each morning as recently as last summer when I lived on Fire Island, and the show -- and Arthur and the rest of the cast -- still have an endearing place in my heart. Thank you for being a friend Dorothy! Rest in peace!