About Gay Representation in Media

The society that we live in is constantly changing. Twenty years ago, the LGBT community was not able to have the proper representation in the media like those who are straight. They were focused to be be quiet about themselves. As the years have gone on, the representation for those who have different views from others have been growing substantially. Across all different forms of media, the community is being represented. According to GLAAD, 43 series regulars in TV shows identified as LGBT. It may not be a lot, but they are being represented. It is my job to scope them out.

This blog is to celebrate and honor what those representations mean and how they come across. Is the character being portrayed correctly? What could the show/movie/song do different in order to help support the LGBT community more or less? Is the representation too much? Too fake? Not real enough? Cliche? All of these are questions that will be answered and discussed in this blog. It is important to make sure those who want to be able to view certain aspects, like a gay or lesbian character being used as a main character, able to see what they should be looking into in order to experience the media portrayal.

Growing up I never really thought much about the LGBT community because I never had to experience it. When I got to junior high was when it hit me full force. I moved to a new school and the first person I friended was a closeted boy. We grew close, and I could see how important it was for him to feel like he wasn't different or less important than those around us. I supported him my whole high school career. He also taught me so much about the community and how unfair it was in many different aspects. I spent my whole high school career demanding rights for those who did categorize under any category different than straight. I have done so much research on the subject as well. Every opportunity I had in order to do Power Points, speeches, and papers about gay rights, I was right there doing all the work that needed to be done in order to get my point across. I have been successful in changing many's minds because of this.

This blog is another reason to be able to help those who aren't educated or unsure on the subject get informed. This is something I find a lot of interest in too, because searching for media portrayals of LGBT is something that I like to do when deciding on what new show or movie to watch. As always, it is so important for these representations to be celebrated, so that way more and more can be created for the media in the future.

I'd love to hear from others what their thoughts are on this subject. What do they like or not like? Do you agree or disagree with more representation being shown? Let me know what you think!