I loved Nancy's reponse on Jo being a Gay Icon:

TVGO: We've gotta ask. Did you know Jo from Facts of Life is a lesbian icon?

McKeon: (Laughs) I haven't heard that, but I think that's a wonderful thing. I think that was helpful to girls our age to have that kind of a role model, to see a girl who was strong and standing up for what she believed in, living her life on her own terms and not bowing to peer pressure and becoming a cookie-cutter person. And it was great to go to work and speak your mind all day long. I got the greatest lines and comebacks!

http://www.oocities.org/mckeon_nancy/transcript-DOD.html

I find it incredible though that she was oblivious to that for all of those years on the show. It seems like since she was getting the most fan-mails that she would be getting 10s of hundreds of mails from young gay kids/adults on how her character impacted and changed their life for the better.

What do you guys feel about all of this? Is Jo a Gay Icon in your opinion?

I too find that very hard to believe. Maybe she had heard/seen things like "gay role model" pertaining to Jo, but just had never heard the phrase "lesbian icon"? I don't know, but yeah, you'd think she would at least know of the generalization.

And yes, Jo has long been thought of as a gay icon.