LGBTQ+ Presence in the Television Industry.

It depends on when you're comparing the current media to. When you compare it to the early 2000s and earlier, there is is *so* much more. They existed but it was extremely rare and often heavily censored. I will say, it does seem like we are sliding back and queer characters are either being dropped from storylines or downplayed (more in movies that need to appeal internationally).

I always forget that a lot of people on Listnook are actual children. Gay representation was basically non-existent in the 90s other than a few guest stars who were often used for either a very important episode or as a gay panic comedy scene. Will and Grace was a major step for representation on tv in the aughts but it was only one show Six Feet Under was big but that was HBO. There’s 1000 times more and better representation than 15 years ago, 100x better than 10 years ago, 10x more than 5 years ago. There’s rate of speed of acceptance of LGBT stuff among the general public has flipped incredibly fast in the last 25 years.

Vito Spatafore

Definitely way more representation, especially in the specific areas of kid’s shows and cartoons (Legend of Korra, She-Ra…) and for shows like Heated Rivalry that have women as a large target demo. 

No because I don’t live in a bubble where LGBTQ+ aren’t common around me. So when I see them in movies or shows it doesn’t even register as something different or forced. But if you’re someone who lives in bumfucksville you may not feel the same.

of course there has been a significant increase but the representation is still quite lacking its almost exclusively an increase in supporting characters so good luck finding any good show where the main character just happens to be LGBT

It is in every show usually multiple times and multiple characters whether it makes any sense or not. I dont really care either way, but it is definitely over-representation at this point.

It's pure commerce, young leftist activists are so into race/gender driven politics which makes it part fo a marketing strategy for streaming services like Netflix to try to get them to watch it. Young people have the most time to binge watch shows and hype them up on social media which is critical. Furthermore if Netflix is rushing writing a show, it's a fast lazy way to give them supporting characters something to do by making them gay or have to deal with racists. Film and tv is also about having characters that visually get your attention and having a racial minority or gender fluid type look is supposed to do a slightly better job making your eyes look up from your phone than a regular white "Create a High Schooler" character.

Its irritating when a person's sexuality is brought up, and it has absolutely nothing to do with the storyline. I don't care what someones sexuality is, I just want to enjoy the story being told.  

The world of entertainment is scattered heavily. If there's something you want, there are creators making it in movies, TV, on YouTube/TikTok, podcasts, video games, stage, standup, etc. It's there. And if you didn't see it, there's a huge backlog of projects available to you to check out and be recommended by algorithms catering to your wants. Because so many people have access to cameras and microphones and audiences and technology, they're not limited by anything other than how many eyeballs they can get on a project. And they're more adept at using their phones and the technology. In that sense, there has been WAY more representation across all media than there was 10 years ago. One thing to note to is film festivals. So many of them now have categories specifically to get underrepresented voices in there. And people are making that type of work. I always suggest that if people aren't seeing what they want on large media, go to the people making it and support these creators. They're the voices people are often asking for. On shows and movies, people note recently that a lot of these projects represent a lot of diversity moreso. Part of that was industry-wide initiatives to diversify on-camera players. For some it's that need to capitalize on it, as well and have the gamut of backgrounds to show representation and appeal to audiences. For a lot, there's a sincere effort to make sure minority actors aren't just the same five stereotypes over and over and can play on big parts. It's a mixture of a lot of different things going on. There have always been big projects that captured the average zeitgeist in terms of representation. Last decade Modern Family was one of the biggest. Ellen was a big part of network TV representation. There have been a lot of examples and a lot more now that there is a LOT of content. Heated Rivalry is interesting because it has a lot of the elements people REALLY want out of a show. It stars two people who went from serving tables to being superstars and deservedly so. Them, the show runner, the other actors, all seemed to go for broke and give every moment on screen their all. And they pull it off masterfully. This show on Crave TV in Canada managed to be a massive hit in the US. It's a great show. The messages are hopeful without talking down. You just experience these interesting stories. You find yourself loving and hating the characters for their strengths and flaws, their struggles and triumphs. Their tales of love break your heart and pull you in. It is not just the biggest show in the LGBTQIA+ community at the moment, but it's just wildly popular overall to those who have seen it. And it has its heart out to everyone it seems to know it's going to reach. Overall, there's just so much out there for people who want to see something from other LGBTQIA+ people or who tell stories unique to their journeys. And that's cool.

There's less now than a few years ago because the way it was incorporated was very unintuitive and it was easy to push back with lots of shows failing for being hyperfixated on it. People would also be a lot more open to these conversations if they were had in a civil and rational manner... instead it's become very trendy to just witch hunt and accuse anyone that doesn't fully agree of being a bigot.

Bella Ramsey representing the non-binary community in The Last of Us and elsewhere

unfortunately, TLOU didn't cast a trans character to play Lev, who is a trans masc boy

I DONT CARE