OutCasting; Representation of LGBTQ people in the media

lgbt few people don't come from lgbt communities so they have to find information about who they are and what they want to do from other horses which and you want to reach and what immediately which an important role because we're we generally turned to find out about school this is our casting public radio's lgbt q youth program we don't have to be queer to be here are casting as a production of media for the public good a listener supported independent producer based in your online at our casting media dot org hi i'm stephen you've got to spend an hour castings main studio in westchester county new york on this edition about casting out kaster kelly talks with professor larry grayson a professor of communication at the annenberg school for communications journalism at the university of southern california as well as being a pioneer in the subject of gay and lesbian studies professor versus author of numerous books on the subject in this interview professor gross talks

about how lgbt q individuals in issues are represented in the media and why it matters les thank you so much for joining us the social climate for lgbt q people is greatly affected by how the print media news and entertainment film and tv represent lgbt two people and issues in general how do you think the media are doing in terms of lgbt q representation they're doing much better than they did in the past and changes in the way all of the media handled lgbt q people and their issues are very welcome there was a long time coming but they're now doing much better and on the whole doing better than that often do with issues concerning minority groups in society let's talk specifically about the news industry a newspaper headline of an article about the stonewall riots trumpeted hormone asked her a dead

queen bees are stinging that clearly anti gay language about an article that today would be considered unacceptably homophobic a decade later came the aids crisis and it wasn't until the late nineteen eighties that the new york times decided it was acceptable to use the word guy take us briefly through the history of how lgbt q people have been portrayed in the news touching on major events like these you can divide the way that the news media had dealt with lgbt people indicates rather conveniently and we begin with the public explosion of a global event called the liberation movement after the stonewall riots the decade of the seventies is one in which lgbt q people begin to come home for media and demand more equitable and to be covered in a way that was less marginalizing less you quote an example in the new york

post of a story throughout the court would leave it herbert were fairly standard in the story for people in the stores were almost always about how they were being punished fired a restaurant and so forth the early successes of the gay rights movement who are you that it was inappropriate to use certain stigmatizing language in reference to gay people because the official authorities the american psychiatric association had declared that they were not mentally ill at the same time there were efforts to change the law in such a way that they would prohibit discrimination against gay people and housing employment and public accommodations

and these legislative successes which began to occur oh really we'll hear the way you and he issues a claim of apology and criminality to a famous civil rights and social success early fix her from continuing appeal to movement virtually every political leader whether the magicians marginality and some kind of medical legal or moral religious moving forward by the middle of the nineteen seventies a

backlash against lgbt q people and their civil rights efforts began to be felt the backlash was very much part of the emerging political engagement of the christian life by the new family gary wright who became a mother of the bay and the religious right was kind of cemented certainly by the election of ronald reagan in nineteen eighty which debuted victory other efforts for their point of view so that decade of the seventies a decade so late successes but civil rights golf swiftly replaced in the nineteen eighties with the aids epidemic in the historical coincidence in nineteen eighty one of the inauguration a long awaited victory

including the fighting back by the people against the drug companies and the government's lack of response becomes the story of the eighties it all nationally it lowered the bar for acknowledgement of the presence and ubiquity of people across society in a way that nothing had previously been able to do so by the end of the nineteen eighties american society as we selected and formed by the news media weren't acknowledging the presidents of lgbt q people throughout american society

in a way that hadn't happened before and the big change now in one of the lgbt q movement partially away from the eighth grade medical advances began to holte sb the agreement which kind of coincided with the beginning of the clinton administration in nineteen ninety three all right or you know your goal who knew how are you

laurel discrimination by the boy scouts a fight that was lost because the us supreme court ruled that the boy scouts were a private organization and most famously and most notably the fight over same sex marriage which had cropped up as a relief their nineteen seventy seven to the beginning of the gay rights movement but had never really become a primary issue until nineteen ninety four when the whole wise supreme court ruled that the prohibition against same sex marriage with you know

you know more than a year film and television entertainment also play a big role in how lgbt people are perceived tells about how the depictions of lgbt q people and issues and film and tv have evolved well first though we're a media center of society the dominant pattern in the mass media in this country has been to ignore minority to overwhelmingly tell stories that a really about three point where me and to a somewhat lesser degree for white women minority group overwhelmingly african americans

or ethnic minorities going back even farther today latino or or other minorities asian americans the minorities begin to enter the stage test victims and they can be the ones who are threatening the hero and have to be countered have to be defeated but the pattern of minorities who need to be defeated and consistent and also an addict and they can be victims of human victims of ridicule where and talal you or who are all leaving we will

usually do will you really begin to become legalized and this is what happens in the beginning in the nineteen seventies with the successes of the lgbt q movement in changing media patterns what begins to happen is a few examples inserted into television or film content of positive counter stereotypical example where at the point of the story is you know who would've thought this person could be getting warmer fairly were the number one program on american television for several years in the early seventies and a very important program in leaving social issues that television should be avoided for the family didn't want archie bunker this comical discovers

a french jews who was a former and he and this kind of pattern shows up fairly often in the seventies period of the direction in which the message filtering through hollywood is gay people are more prevalent and you think and you you know you'd be surprised you know what is this the role of knowledge or maintain some gay men are our masculine an appearance and that's not a bad thing to some extent the media by saying the people are gay you would never know it kind of lengthy

view of people who are in fact congress and the number of theories which is reaching people typically young people who live in an environment in which there are no visible gay people the message that use ok impossible to be in a way that wasn't otherwise the culture and that's actually the way in which these depictions begin to change social attitudes and social views by the time we get into the nineties there are more defections no gay people than there have been in the past and we begin to have a four more than merely be you know who would've thought you all secondary characters are still characters defined by their gayness as opposed to soldiers and the wisecracking gay best friend who

whoa whoa and more news stories that are stuck in any kind of a gay community people are always be odd person helps illustrate a margaret they're always relative you didn't know is a neighbor who has a one good friend who never again never again groups never get families and only begins to happen later in the mind even moving into i would get a lot of credit we are always

alone i really how that warps all the reality tv was mtv real world and the real world has included members of the cast from the first year that very first year of the real world for seventeen york have a young man named norman who was bisexual gay bisexual and every year but the real world has included one or more lgbt q character of the third year of the real world was particularly important one in the program was really built around cuban emigres learn mandarin curriculum or up who would later be positive animated educator and was a very charismatic figure in real life shortly after the program had been cleared bill clinton called into the hospital hit with the public

while stoned jewelry disability old lgbt people throw a cuban american public regarded eight in reality we will go on a lot longer those programs have included lgbt characters from the very beginning of these programs do a lot particularly for the generation of people growing up with reality tv is the major part of their media diet there's a lot to make it clear to people lgbt q people were part of the real world mr morn

no fictional television and fields which are lowered into a reality tv up included a really central role in transforming the understanding no more details this is now testing public radio's lgbt to youth program produced by media for the public good in your online at podcasting media dot org on this edition podcaster kelley is talking with professor larry gross is a professor of communication at the annenberg school for communications and journalism at the university of southern california he's a pioneer in the subject of gay and lesbian studies professor larry groce how their representations of lgbt q people compare with representations of other minorities well all minorities see are the characteristics of being

marginalized what is distinctive about lgbt people is about lgbt q people don't come from lgbt communities they find those communities and rebuild those communities but they're not born into i'm going to same enemy territory they're certainly not born into communities of people who are like them or born into communities with people who expected them to be standard issue heterosexuals win people begin to realize that they are not what they are expected to be in the same of course wilco even more so they don't have the support oh oh in fact they're usually pretty well where that the people around them and their parents their friends or

teachers would not be thrilled to find out about these differences and then they would be challenged in this way so they have to find information about who they are and what that means and what to do from other sources which is one of the reasons why the media plays such an important role because that's where we generally turned to find out about the world and to find out about things and one of the big differences between growing up lgbt q person to date and ten years ago or certainly didn't know there is a lot of information available on the culture very important to you you know which was true fifteen twenty thirty years ago the common experience back then was for young people who'd we were if they were different and have a sense of you know i don't like historical it was the only one

oh because you were and therefore the message would be that issue that's what you are and you are confined to certain stereotypes and to certain negative you will be defined in various negative oh boy we live in war what would have happened in part because we're all much more aware now of variation different than love you people grow up and

clarity and support for mothers the internet during political overtones you i mean if you grow up in a remote arab and nobody else around you you have a formal isolation that can be gay you can reach out to the internet oregon mark you remember where you were everywhere members of the lgbt q minority cross class lines across ethnic line question so they tend to be more diverse have a group that would be the case with other minorities and as a result it's not entirely clear what the phrase lgbt q community would return to because the difference is

within that group can be quite a large differences between him and other people but they still share a common sense a difference and a difference that have consequence is going to understand is it important to include lgbt q people in the process of media production in other words for them to be involved behind the scenes as falls in front of the cameras all the media production from the beginning the difference between people behind the camera and people in front of a camera is very important because it has never been as difficult for people behind the camera to be openly gay certainly not in recent years as it is for people in front of the camera for the actors right now in hollywood the number of openly gay writers and directors and producers is quite large hollywood is a lot more worried when it comes to actors being

particularly what they call enablers factors leading characters because the leading character leaves you have to be credible reliable voters in action and automatically and hollywood is still convinced still convinced that the public will not readily accept an openly gay actor you know you're a character you know call it a hole but not in the leading role but because somebody a bankable actor who can officially open a movie called the audience even for the big opening weekend and particularly with hollywood has more more consumed with comic book derived movies have come out of the comic book world there are even more worried about the

possibility that a doctor would be don't get a vote more work what can we do to foster and improve accurate presentations of lgbt people in the media well one thing you can do with become an active engaged audience member of programs other than good support them go home and in the age of social media the audience gets to have a say in the way you've had never was true before the age of social media between facebook and twitter and all the other social media platforms has changed the relationship between media and audiences in a fundamental way because there's more to a communication now the audience speaks to itself and they speak to the media

in a way they didn't before and the media pay attention because everyone is aware of the power of social media so active and grow audiences who talk back and who both appalled good job oh four vote republican or fourteen overdue vhs la just thank you so much for joining us professor larry groce teaches communications at the annenberg school for communications and journalism at the university of southern california has offered numerous books on the subject of gay lesbian status that's it for this additional testing public radio's lgbt youth program where you don't have to be queer to be here this program has been produced by the outcast and team including new participants alex becca ari samantha skelly injury or macs quinn prove easier lauren dante

lucas briana sarah jami and me stephen our assistant producer is or alex manson josh valley and our executive producers marc service the podcasting as a production of media for the public good listener supported independent producer based in new york more information about podcasting is available at castle media you'll find information about the show listen thanks for all our testing episodes and the podcast went out casting is also on social media to connect with us on twitter facebook and youtube and outcast media if you're having trouble whether its at home or school or just with yourself call the trevor project hotline at eight six six forty eight seven three eight six or visit them online at the trevor projects dot org the trevor project is an organization dedicated to lgbt youth suicide prevention call them if you have a problem seriously don't be scared even have an online chat you can use if you don't talk on the

phone and again the number is eight six six forty eight seven three eight six being different isn't a reason to hate or hurt yourself you can also find a link on our site podcasts and media dot org under our casting lgbt q resources and stephen thank you for listening to see you next time