Why Justin Suarez From Ugly Betty Still Matters: What Most People Get Wrong

If you grew up in the mid-2000s, you remember the "B" on the poncho. You remember the braces. But if you really watched Ugly Betty, you remember the kid who stole every single scene without even trying. Justin Suarez wasn't just a sidekick or a punchline. He was a revolution in a sweater vest.

Honestly, it’s wild to think about how much weight that character carried. At just 11 years old, Mark Indelicato stepped onto our screens as Justin, the fashion-obsessed nephew of Betty Suarez. Back in 2006, TV didn't really know what to do with a kid like him. He was "effeminate"—that was the word the casting calls used. He loved Mode magazine. He could identify a vintage Chanel from fifty paces. He was flamboyant, sure, but he wasn't a caricature.

And that's where the magic was.

The Justin Suarez Impact: More Than Just a Fashion Kid

People like to simplify Justin. They see the musical theater obsession and the "Good Morning Baltimore" subway performances and think, "Oh, he's just the gay kid." But that’s actually what most people get wrong about Justin Suarez. For three full seasons, the show refused to put him in a box.

While the audience was shouting at the screen, "He's gay! Just say it!", the writers did something much smarter. They let him just be.

He was a son, a nephew, and a grandson. His family—Hilda, Ignacio, and Betty—never tried to "fix" him. They didn't stage an intervention to get him to play football (well, Santos tried, but we’ll get to that). They just loved him. In a world that usually demands kids "pick a lane" early on, Justin was allowed to exist in the gray area of adolescence.

It was groundbreaking. Seriously.

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That Heartbreaking Moment with Santos

We have to talk about Santos. Justin's father. The guy was a "man's man," a tough guy who clearly didn't get his son. The tension between them in Season 1 was palpable. You could feel Justin shrinking every time Santos looked at him with that mix of confusion and disappointment.

But then came the Season 1 finale, "Oh, Blue Eyes."

Justin is performing in West Side Story. He’s playing Tony. He’s singing his heart out. And in the audience, Santos is finally, truly seeing him. He’s proud. He looks at his son and doesn't see a "fairy" or a "weak kid"—he sees a star.

Then, the tragedy hits. Santos is killed in a convenience store robbery while Justin is still on stage.

The way the show mirrored Justin's "death" on stage with Santos's actual death was brutal. It changed everything. Justin didn't just lose a dad; he lost the chance to ever truly know if his father accepted him. That's a heavy narrative for a kid character, and Mark Indelicato played the grief with a nuance that put most adult actors to shame.

The Slow Burn of Coming Out

When Justin finally did come out in Season 4, it wasn't some "After School Special" moment. It wasn't a tearful confession in the kitchen.

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It happened at Hilda's wedding.

Remember the scene? He’s there with Austin, the boy from his acting class. There’s no big speech. No "Mom, Dad, I have something to tell you." He just takes Austin's hand and leads him onto the dance floor.

It was quiet. It was dignified. It was basically Justin saying, "I don't owe you an explanation for who I am."

Looking back, Indelicato has mentioned in interviews that the press back then was actually pretty "nasty" about the storyline. It was 2010. A gay kiss between two fifteen-year-olds was still "controversial" for network TV. But for the kids watching at home—the ones who felt like they didn't fit in—it was a lifeline.

Why Justin and Marc St. James Worked

If Justin was the heart of the show, his bond with Marc St. James (played by Michael Urie) was the soul.

It wasn't a typical mentorship. Marc was often shallow, mean-spirited, and obsessed with Wilhelmina Slater. But when it came to Justin, Marc was the "gay big brother" everyone needs. He gave Justin the tools to survive a world that wasn't built for him.

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One of the most underrated moments is when Marc helps Justin deal with being bullied at school. He doesn't tell him to toughen up. He tells him to be more himself. He teaches him that his "flaws" are actually his armor.

The Legacy of the "Fairy Tale"

Justin Suarez paved the way for characters like Kurt Hummel on Glee and the kids on Heartstopper. He was the blueprint.

But what makes him stand out even today is the Suarez family. Most queer stories in the 2000s were about rejection. The "kicked out of the house" trope was everywhere. Ugly Betty took a different path. They showed a traditional Latino family in Queens that chose their son over their prejudices every single time.

Ignacio making rainbow cookies? Hilda threatening anyone who looked at her son sideways? That was the real revolution.

What We Can Learn From Justin Today

Justin Suarez isn't just a nostalgia trip. His character arc offers some pretty solid "real world" takeaways for anyone navigating identity or supporting someone who is:

• Acceptance isn't a "one and done" event. It’s a series of small choices. Every time the Suarezes let Justin be himself, they were choosing him.
• Representation matters, but depth matters more. Justin wasn't just "the gay nephew." He was a fashion prodigy, a grieving son, and a fiercely loyal friend.
• Quiet moments are often the loudest. The dance at the wedding proved you don't need a megaphone to stand in your truth.

If you’re looking to revisit the brilliance of Justin Suarez, start with the Season 1 finale and work your way through his Season 2 "rebellion" phase (the one where he tried to be a "thug" because he missed his dad—heartbreaking stuff). You’ll see a character that wasn't just written for the mid-2000s, but one that still feels incredibly modern and necessary today.

To dive deeper into the show's impact, you might want to look up Mark Indelicato's recent interviews about his work on Hacks, where he discusses how playing Justin shaped his entire career and his view on queer representation in 2026.