LGBTQ Representation

[Music]

hello

now before we begin i’d like all of you

to very quickly close your eyes

and think for a quick moment about a

person who you know

in your life who you feel like you’ve

looked up to and you feel that you

feel represented by in media and

television

so go ahead

okay open your eyes now i’d like to hear

from some of you in the audience

who is someone who you feel like you’ve

been represented by

and what similarities do you think that

you and this person share

it can be your shared gender or race or

it can be anything from a common

interest to a hobby

does anybody would anybody like to share

yes

thank you anybody else

and it doesn’t have to be anything that

i’ve listed so far it can be any kind of

similarity that both of you hold

thank you now i’d like for all of you to

think very quickly

what kind of world would you be in right

now if that person did not exist

what kind of life would you be living

right now would you have gone to a

different college

university or would you have not

attended school after high school

would you be in a different profession

right now what kind of life would you be

living if this person was not in your

life

now putting all of these questions aside

i’d like for all of us to very quickly

think about

television and media and how

representation can have a very

important impact on all of our lives and

more specifically

on the queer community now i’m not

saying that i suffered growing up

because i did not see more gay

characters on television

but what would all of you what i would

like all of you to think about right now

is just for very briefly consult the

importance

of representation in the media

now since the dawn of modern society

humans have developed mindsets that have

lasted for thousands of years

with these mindsets there has been a

common pattern among them

this pattern being a resistance to

change

while all of us may consider ourselves

to be

acceptable to change and more adaptable

to change

we still have a trait built into our

mind that makes us resist this kind of

change

for me it could be moving to a different

home losing one of my pets

or getting a new pair of shoes for some

of you it might be

marrying your partner moving out of

state or going to a different school

than you thought you were going to

and some obviously might find it easier

than others to be

adaptable to this kind of change

but the list can go on forever a

particular change that has become a key

component

in this modern era is lgbtq plus

representation in media

now members of this community have

received very little representation in

history

as culture has developed in human

civilizations over thousands of years

heterosexuality has become the norm due

to human drive to reproduce between a

male and a female

yet a mysterious part of sexuality that

hasn’t been explored

is homosexuality in the ability to

transition and identify with a different

gender

but due to our reproductive drive this

realm of sexuality and gender has almost

never been given focus

this is because of our human intuition

has developed

over time in western culture to consider

normal relationships between

to be between a man and a woman

this ideal has become popularized all

over the world

and it has become the mainstream of

modern culture and society

acceptance and norms stay with the

mainstream and resist

change within the culture of realm of

realm

and of gender and sexuality from these

norms some religions and ideologies have

learned to hate the lgbtq plus community

because of our differences

in terms of sexuality and gender and

oftentimes uneducated people have used

their strength in numbers

to suppress our community now

despite these setbacks we have realized

a new surge

of representation in the 20th century

alone

through movements like the civil rights

movement led by dr king and american

minorities

as well as the stonewall brides led by

african-american transgender women and

gay men

and women we have realized that through

their fighting

has come a new realm of a new genre

of television and media that has been

dedicated towards the representation

of lgbtq plus people we see how

celebrities

like ellen degeneres george takei

lily singh laverne cox

ricky martin sam smith and so many

others

have opened to the public regarding

their gender and sexuality

identification

and through this opening as i have said

has created a new realm of genre

and film and television that is

dedicated towards this community

and it is able to showcase the realities

and struggles

of our community through television and

oftentimes

through drama comedy and humor and with

other

realms of television

a great example in television in my

opinion would be rupaul’s drag race

which is a television show competition

show that is dedicated towards

the elevation of androgyny and drag

and has provided a safe space for queer

men to express themselves freely

another example would be tv shows like

pose and the l word

which have showcased the struggles and

stories as well as the tales

of fictional transgender and gay women

i often i often find myself looking up

to a numerous uh

people within the lgbtq plus community

who have used

their stories uh and they have provided

a safe space for everyone in this

community not just here in the united

states but around the world

to share and hopefully bring light to

several struggles that we face today

i find that i look up to celebrities

like rupaul charles

billy porter and trixie mattel who have

shown me that

it is okay to be gay in a hateful world

and that it is important to spread

love through your art or your passion

for whatever you

decide to pursue in your life i also

find that i look up to people

and along with actors and comedians like

kate mckinnon

joel kim booster and wanda sykes who

have shown me that

if you often times find trouble

expressing yourself you can always use

humor to convey your messages or to

convey

your different emotions to people and

that you don’t have to use humor to

hide who you are or what your emotions

truly are

and with this surge of representation a

spotlight has been shown onto the queer

community

unfortunately this has also led to

several unforeseen consequences

as media conglomerates and television

companies have realized how

public opinion towards the queer

community has become more positive

over time they’ve taken the opportunity

to capitalize off of our representation

now while it’s not may not seem to be

a bad thing as any sort of

representation of a marginalized group

is almost always welcome

there tends to be an absent-minded

aspect as to how queer characters are

portrayed on television

due to a lack of diversity in staff

according to the ucla hollywood

diversity report which was completed in

2018

91.9 of men make

up the majority of writing staff

on major films and television shows

86.2 percent of writing staff

are white now

in case if some of you weren’t already

aware of this these statistics

are very alarming just because

this shows that a lack of diversity

can lead to different ideas of how queer

queer characters should be portrayed we

can see how

women here only make up 30 a 13.8

percent just in 2016

which shows that oftentimes men and

particularly white men

often rely on historical stereotypes

which are oftentimes

outdated in order to develop characters

in entertainment stereotypes are a

frequent first step in

character development and with this

little outside knowledge

writers and producers often have times

trouble defining characters with

minority statuses

now take this example from two scenes

from two separate tv shows the real

o’neills and difficult people

in which gay men and particularly gay

men stereotypes

are used in media

so let’s walk you through this i’m a

bear

typically we’re barrel adjusted covered

in hair most comfortable and flammable

got it uh that makes sense that’s an

honor they’re like bears

and we like to float on our backs

[Music]

so some of the terms that you’ve just

heard like bear wolf and dolphin

are oftentimes used in the game uh male

community within the queer community as

a way not of identifying each other but

kind of as like a playful nickname that

we put on each other

but in television it tends to be all

these characters think about it’s all

about

what kind of person am i what kind of

label can i put myself

and while put on myself or and while

these characters have used these labels

as a key component people have often

times

used that in real life i’ve often been

asked what kind of

animal are you are you a bear or a twink

and i’ve often times just ignored the

question because i don’t even want to

answer it myself

other people find it funny and that’s

really up to them for everyone it’s very

different within the queer community

but it’s not a key component in who we

are as people

but according to television and writing

stuff it’s the opposite

now these common tropes that are put on

tv can have negative effects on viewers

while it is good while it is a good way

to introduce people to the tip of the

iceberg that is the queer community

we almost realize that there is the rest

of the iceberg that is still to be

discovered

now the idea of people being able to

empathize and understand certain

characters on television can actually be

witnessed

right here in the parasocial contact

hypothesis which was developed by dr

gordon w alport and was later analyzed

by an mit comparative studies group

and here i’ll just read you this quote

anxiety and hostility that acts as

barriers to intergroup contact could be

removed if the majority group

experiences intergroup contact

vicariously

rather than in person so allow me to

break this down

essentially anxiety and hostility that

act as barriers to intergroup contact

people oftentimes hold hostilities and

anxiety

towards each other a great example would

be how

african american people and white people

often have hostilities towards each

other

due to their difference in skin color

and particularly

for the queer community people have

often times

relied on outdated stereotypes in order

to pre-judge us which is not true

now could be removed if the majority

group

experiences intergroup contact

vicariously rather than in person

if people watch tv shows that have

proper representation of queer

characters they are better

able to understand who we are as people

and

show the rest of the public that we are

not a defined set of characteristics we

are more than what

television uh says we are

and being able to understand and

empathize with characters on screen

particularly queer characters can help

reduce stigmatization

around the lgbtq plus community this is

why misrepresentation can have deep

consequences

when the queer community and any

minority group for that matter are

misrepresented

to a wide range of audience members who

can be swayed easily in terms of their

beliefs via television

more stereotypes can be created

and this can be harmful as queer people

are often denied jobs harassed

and physically harmed due to our

differences from other members

of society painting a better picture

through proper representation

in television can help stereotypes and

misconceptions fade away over time

but why is this so important why is it

so important that characters are

portrayed in a part

in a particular matter according to what

i’ve just shown you today

putting the queer community aside it is

critical that representation in media

and television that properly shows the

stories

and struggles of queer characters and

minority characters in television

as it provides a foundation for a

younger generation

no i do have to mention that while i am

a member of the queer community i cannot

speak for

everyone i only represent a very very

small

aspect of what this entire community

represents i cannot speak

on lesbian or transgender male or female

issues as i’m not part of their

community

what i can do however is shine a

spotlight and hope that all of you have

seen that

representation can have a bigger impact

than what we think it is

what i can do yeah so what i can do

right now is

just show the importance of all of this

when we see ourselves and other people

we are better able to understand and

learn and grow in a world that is

increasingly divisive

by seeing people like myself in

television and media i was better able

to cope with my differences from the

rest of society

and i hope the rest of you will learn

more and grow as well with me

thank you very much

[Music]