Bianca Rodriguez
Professor Ciervo
Composition I
1 December 2021
The LGBTQ+ Community’s Struggle with Representation
A universal way people learn and understand the world is through the varying forms of media available to them. One of the key ways that one understands and perceives a topic is likely learned through media representation. Along with this, it is crucial that the varying forms of media do not bring harm upon minority groups. As the LGBTQ+ community has slowly begun to be accepted into society, the ways in which members in the community have been portrayed in media is everchanging. In the early days of Hollywood, a scene of two women kissing would have been shock to most audiences, but would only have been acceptable if it was played off as comical. Decades later, a bisexual man could have been more acceptable to be shown in films, perhaps, but only if he was only shown dating women and his interest in men was never mentioned. And today, the existence of the LGBTQ+ community is far more accepted, but perhaps a trans woman would still not be included in a beauty pageant because she was not feminine enough to pass as a cisgendered woman. The media has certainly come a long way in terms of its willingness to include the community, but there is undoubtedly more progress to be made. The LGBTQ+ community’s journey of becoming integrated into popular culture and society has been long, no thanks to the stereotypes and misrepresentations placed onto its shoulders by the media over time. The LGBTQ+ community’s image struggles due to its limited opportunities to be included in media.
Representation is significantly important in mediums such as television because of its easy-to-digest nature. A fictional television program is more likely to provide insight into an LGBTQ+ person’s life in a way that audiences can gravitate toward. In 2021, GLAAD, a well-known LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, conducted an analysis of different demographics that are represented on television. GLAAD found that “Of the 773 series regular characters scheduled to appear on broadcast scripted primetime television this season, 70 (9.1 percent) are LGBTQ” (Townsend and Deerwater). Based on this information, it is evident that LGBTQ+ characters hold a small space in the primetime sphere. This limits the audience’s opportunity to witness a LGBTQ+ character and LBGTQ+ topics that may come along with that character. And, in the slim chance one does stumble across a LGBTQ+ character in their favorite television show, the character is not likely to represent the community well, nor are they likely to make long enough of an appearance to impact the audience.
Similar to television, film holds great significance in popular culture. Jessica L. Huth, author of the journal article “Poster Queers: A Visual Analysis of an LGBTQ+ Film Festival,” discusses representation from within the LGBTQ+ community itself. She delves into the history of The Chicago LGBTQ+ Film Festival (Reeling) and its portrayal of the community since its founding. She found that the festival tended to advertise a particular, and more generic, demographic of the community:
While the films that make up the festival’s yearly offerings are diverse and celebrate a multitude of voices and perspectives, their posters ascribe to a significantly more mainstream version of homosexuality, more in step with how traditional media outlets have imagined queer people than what the festival itself has tried to construct through its curatorial choices. (Huth 40-41)
She also describes the demographics within the community that the festival seemed to neglect in its marketing. The festival struggled to highlight members of the community who have faced AIDS (Huth 34-35), who are people of color (35-36) and who are transgender or nonbinary individuals (36-37). The community is made up of many genders, races, and identities. The Chicago LGBTQ+ Film Festival, intentionally or not, is excluding many from a community that is diverse. This leads to a great portion of the community feeling dissatisfied and unwelcomed. The community, who are already underrepresented by mass media, is further underrepresented by its failure to present a realistic perspective of diverse LGBTQ+ lives.
So, what can be done about this problem? There is not necessarily a simple solution to this, as is it impossible to change the ways in which the community is represented overnight. There needs to be a change in the public’s fundamental understanding of LGBTQ+ issues and history. Brian K. Marchman, an Assistant University School Professor at P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School at the University of Florida, Gainesville at the time, shares his experience in an article titled, “Teaching About Homophobia in a High School Civics Course”. He describes his success in incorporating LGBTQ+ topics into his classroom: “’Homophobia Prevention’ seems to my students and me to be a unit worth teaching and learning, in that it fosters a greater awareness among my Civics students about the destructive consequences of homophobia” (Marchman 305). He shows his class several LGBTQ+ films, short stories, and documentaries to educated them on the community’s history and struggles (Marchman 304). His students are able to grasp a better understanding of LGBTQ+ identity and history, which allow them to empathize with the community.
Marchman’s method is a response to the deficit of LGBTQ+ topics in popular media. An academic setting, such as the classroom, is the perfect place to shine light onto the community. His students, prior to taking his Civics class, were not equipped with the proper information about the LGBTQ+ community. By giving students access to this knowledge early on, they are more likely to carry this information with them for the rest of their lives. The future doctors, filmmakers, and journalists are far more likely to bring LGBTQ+ topics to the forefront if LGBTQ+ topics are covered in the classroom.
Perhaps one day, LGBTQ+ characters will be seen in hit television shows more often. Maybe, more people of color will be included in the conversation. There are many stories to be told about the community, and they can be told with the right tools. With the proper education, awareness, and opportunities, a scene of two women kissing would never be questioned. A bisexual man’s story can be told, without his bisexuality needing to be hidden. A trans woman can win a beauty pageant, no matter how feminine-presenting she is. A bright future for the community is certainly possible, as long as there are enough people with the knowledge to make this a reality.
Works Cited
Townsend, Megan, and Raina Deerwater. Where We Are on TV Report – 2020. GLAAD Media Institute, 2021, https://www.glaad.org/sites/default/files/GLAAD%20-%20202021%20WHERE%20WE%20ARE%20ON%20TV.pdf . Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.
Huth, Jessica L. “Poster Queers: A Visual Analysis of an LGBTQ+ Film Festival.” Visual Arts Research, vol. 46, no. 1, 2020, p. 30. https://doi.org/10.5406/visuartsrese.46.1.0030. Accessed 30 Nov. 2021.
Marchman, Brian K. “Teaching About Homophobia in a High School Civics Course.” Theory & Research in Social Education, vol. 30, no. 2, 2002, p. 302- 305, https://doi.org/10.1080/00933104.2002.10473197 . Accessed 1 Dec. 2021.