Since this first assignment is kinda politically charged, I'd like to establish a few facts. One, I'm gay; two, I'm liberal. At first, I was going to blog about gay marriage--which, god knows, I am passionate about--but honestly, I'm bored with all that kerfuffle.
Instead, I'm going to talk about gays in the media. Or more precisely, the lack thereof.
Nowadays, there's really nowhere to look for positive portrayals of gay characters.
Will and Grace was never that positive and it's long dead.
Grey's Anatomy kicks off its one lesbian character after she makes the best speech I've ever heard about coming out. There's some gay guys on
Brothers & Sisters, but I don't know a single person who watches that. And that pretty much ends the list of gays in primetime. You can watch reality shows;
Project Runway is chalk-a-block full of gay men,
Top Chef has lesbians, and big gay Ruben just won
Dance Your Ass Off.
Is this a problem, that 10% of the population isn't represented? Well, for me it is. Increasingly, I'm finding myself not identifying with straight people. Or at least the straight experience. I'm never going to meet a charming man with whom I share combative chemistry; we're never going to dance around, will they or won't they. It's so removed from my experience that I just can't connect.
And there's no one on TV I can connect with. Which, you know, sucks. I seriously believe that there need to be more queer characters on primetime TV. Have more characters experiment with their sexualities (like Angela on
Bones), or introduce some gay people who are, ya know, people. LOGO should produce something other than soft-core soap operas. Maybe then I wouldn't feel like an outsider everytime I sit down to watch the boob tube.
For more on queers in the media visit
AfterElton.com and
AfterEllen.com
