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Gays in the Media

Love us or not, we are a community. The negative press we used to receive in the 1980's and early 1990's was part of the reason we used to fear hearing about gays in the media. The media usually focused solely on the leather daddies, the cross-dressers, and anything depicting homosexuality in a negative light. Now, I have nothing against cross-dressers - nor do I have anything against leather daddies. The problem I see (with the original take on gays in the media) stems from the fact that our community is so much more than that. People never forget either! Every gay man I know, including myself, has been asked this question - thanks to the misconceptions of homosexuality via the media: "Now that you are gay when are you becoming a woman?"

Just because we're gay does not mean we want to be women! Some gays may be transsexuals, or transgendered. Some gays may be cross-dressers, or may do drag for fun. However, there are some of us who are just happy being men. We don't want to dress up like nancies. Of course, there is nothing wrong with any of these things. Again, the problem is that the media only used to show this one side of the gay culture. Even though it is slowly getting to be more main stream (you now will see every type of homosexual this side of the rainbow on television) - we still are reminded of our sordid past within the media as mainstream society tries to comprehend what it is, exactly, that 'gay' means.

Back in the day it was okay to see a gay or cross-dressing character, but only if they were occasional or re-occurring characters - and not the lead of the television show. Through the decades, we've seen Beverly La Salle, who turned out to be a man, on All in the Family, Billy Crystal's reoccurring 'Jodie' on Soap, and Officer Kate McBride on Hill Street Blues. Of course, many of these characters were secondary so only the television buffs really remember who these characters were - and what they stood for.

It wasn't until 1994 when gay lovers Erick and Ron, of the popular television show Northern Exposure, said, 'I do!' in their television wedding that the world sat up and took notice. This was just the beginning of the gay revolution in television - and otherwise. Writers were finally taking the chance to say, we are here and we're not going to be silenced again. This, of course, meant that the door had been opened. It would only be a matter of time before the entertainment world took advantage of this opening.

I recall watching the episode with a group of friends. The anticipation had been building in 1997. Ellen Degeneres (who we all knew was a lesbian - who was she kidding?!) was going to become the first gay lead character on a television series. What's more, the series was on one of the top three networks, and Degeneres was going to come out on television.

Clutching our popcorn and sodas in awe as we watched Ellen come out as only she could, with humor, we thought that change was certain. Gays and lesbians would soon be seen as equals - not only on television, but across the world. Sadly, we all know that once Ellen came out her ratings dropped and her show was cancelled, but no one forgot Ellen, and today our lesbian pioneer has a successful talk show and is one of the most revered comedians/entertainers in Hollywood.

Since Ellen we've had the fabulous Will & Grace. Gay males could relate to both Will and Jack. They were either us or someone we knew! An entire show focused around a gay male and our culture was quite a milestone after the flop of Ellen. However, Will & Grace just had this little 'something' that was lacking in other sitcoms. We still aren't sure what it is, but we have been in love with it for the past eight seasons!

Gay culture is rampant today. With breakthrough shows like Queer as Folk - in both Britain and in our wonderful American adaptation (with the deliciously sexy Brian Kinney and endearing Justin Taylor) - gay culture was thrust to the forefront in a new way. Surprisingly, one of the biggest audiences was not only gay men but also straight women! We were winning the masses over, slowly but surely, and we will continue to do so as more and more the media helps to show the world that just because we're gay shouldn't mean that we're different than any other person in the world.