Silvio Horta

1) Silvio Horta (born 1974 in Miami, Florida) is a Cuban-American writer and producer most notably for adapting the South American telenovela Yo Soy Betty La Fea into the current ABC series, Ugly Betty. Horta serves as head writer and executive producer on the series.

2) In 2007, he accepted the Golden Globe for Best Comedy Series "Ugly Betty", stating "Like most of us up here, Betty is an immigrant and The American Dream is alive and well and in reach of anybody who wants it".

3) Silvio Horta is gay; he came out to his family at nineteen

The fact that he is gay is important because the show also deals with serious issues and Marc has difficulty with saying he is gay to his family. So in this case, characters could reflect personal experiences. 'Ugly Betty' is a programme about being an outcast to an extent and being gay may make people feel like an outcast, so the show is about acceptence of different things such as sexuality and image etc.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvio_Horta