The Influence Of Homosexuality In Television

As time goes on, television continues to grow more accepting of groups that are considered to be minorities as they introduce a new variety of characters- except ones that appeal to the LGBTQ+ community. While networks have definitely released more openly gay characters, they unfortunately have not provided the best form of representation for the community. Producers seem to believe that if they throw in one openly gay character, they will receive a check mark for diverse inclusion so that their show will continue to to get good ratings. In the past, while television was still in its early days, viewers only received vague hints of a character possibly being queer. This trend continued until around the nineties, where viewers were introduced …show more content…
Viewers eagerly await new episodes of shows such as Glee and Modern family, which both host openly homosexual characters. Modern Family even goes as far as to reveal that Cam and Michelle are married with an adopted daughter. While this progression is wonderful and has greatly helped the LGBTQ+ community to be seen in a positive light, there are still several flaws with how television is adhering to its queer audience. One pressing matter is the issue that networks have only presented characters who identify as homosexual. This causes people to assume that heterosexuality and homosexuality are the only possible sexualities one can identify as, when in reality, sexuality is a spectrum. Sexualities such as bisexuality( the attraction to only two genders) and pansexuality(the attraction to all genders) exist, along with asexuality(the lack of sexual attraction), exist and are highly neglected by the small screen …show more content…
However, life is not always ideal, and it will always present new issues. Meaning, television will most likely be in the same overall state as it is now. As much as producers claim to value their viewer’s opinions, they are often listening with deaf ears. When television producers assume that something might hurt their ratings, they will not hesitate to turn down the idea(even when it would greatly increase the views, as the audience is reviewing what is desired). Despite people’s best efforts, some television producers will not budge on the idea of having characters identify as anything aside from heterosexual or homosexual. While there has been a small increase in the amount and diversity of queer protagonists, it does not seem like this trend will increase more than it already has. Other members of the community will continue to beg for the simplest form of representation, and yet they still will still be