Racial Diversity In Tv Shows

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“Television has played an important role in perpetuating stereotypes about gays and lesbians. For years, portrayals of gays and lesbians on television were quite rare- and typically negative. In recent years, this has started to change, with more shows offering positive representations of homosexual characters.” Homosexual Characters on television has changed significantly since it was first televised over 50 years ago. The representation of sexual issues related to gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals was once ignored. Before 1970, almost no gay characters could be found on television. In recent years, the number of shows with leading or recurring gay characters has varied. Gay and Lesbian characters are still quite small compared to the number of characters appearing on television shows. …show more content…

Don’t get me wrong I am not criticizing those who do choose the lifestyle of being homosexual because I believe that everyone deserves to be happy. In fact Ellen was the first television show to have a gay leading host.
The change in representation of racial diversity in the LGBT community is advancing. In the early stages of television there was hardly any media representation of people of color or people of the LGBT community. Studies have found that television programming overall has become more racially diverse. 33% of people on television series are people of color but the majority of LGBT characters on television are Caucasian. The media and its audience are evolving by showing more racial diversity on television. This attempt at equality is to make people of all gender; race, class, ethnicity and sexual orientation feel as though they are represented fairly and evenly. Steps taken towards this goal are the use of different diverse characters on television whether its gender, race, or sexual orientation. The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) are making it a point that