Is TV Gay Enough?

TOPICS: Gay and lesbian communications. USA. Gay people in mainstream media - GLAAD report on US TV. US gay market communications. US gay marketing. Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation - GLAAD. Ugly Betty. Brothers and Sisters. ABC, NBC, CBS, Fox. American gay and lesbian media news. The State of gay TV in America. US TV media. Gay and lesbian appearances on US TV media marketing strategies. GLAAD media TV report released. Major US networks ranked on portrayals of gay people on TV.

Ian Johnson
August 12, 2007

Here's an intriguing question. Is TV gay enough?

Well the leading US gay media watchdog - the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, GLAAD - doesn't think so.

They've just released a new report card on the State of US TV and its portrayals of lesbian and gay characters in TV shows on the small screen.

And the results are quite interesting.

According to GLAAD, none of the major US TV networks scores an 'excellent' grade for the quantity of gay and lesbian content in their TV schedules.

Disney-owned TV network, ABC, scored best with around 15% of their TV shows rated as being 'gay-inclusive' in their on-screen depictions of lesbian and gay characters.

ABC is the US TV network that was first to show a lead character coming out as gay when, in 1997, Ellen DeGeneres' character Ellen came out as a lesbian in her TV sitcom, Ellen.

Fast forward ten years and we find ABC is home to two first season hits - Ugly Betty and Brothers and Sisters - which both include significant roles for gay male characters.

Whilst ABC was ranked as 'good' on the GLAAD scorecard of gay content on American TV, rival networks NBC and CBS scored lower with both ranked only as 'fair' on how much gay content they screen that is considered to be gay-inclusive programming.

The newest of the four major networks - Rupert Murdoch's Fox network - scored a 'fail' rating with gays and lesbians appearing in only 6% of their TV scheduled programming.


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