Mixed Media

FROM THE ARCHIVES (Daily Nebraskan columns)

Mixed Media

Gays, lesbians have gained television ground, but they have a long way to go

Jeremy Patrick (jhaeman@hotmail.com)

February 21, 2000

In media circles, 1999 will be remembered as the Year of the Queer. Gays and lesbians seemed to be everywhere on TV. Calista Flockhart shared a passionate kiss with Liu Lang in "Ally McBeal"'s highest rated episode ever. "Will & Grace" became one of NBC's highest rated shows. Teen heartthrob Jack on "Dawson's Creek" came out of the closet.
In fact, there are now 27 gay and lesbian characters on prime-time television, nearing the number of characters from all other minority groups combined (Minneapolis-St.Paul Star Tribune, 11/7/99).
But the prospect of gays on TV might not be as bright as it seems. Recently for example, conservative radio talk-show host and syndicated newspaper columnist Laura Schlessinger was offered her own hour-long, weekday television show by Paramount. Schlessinger, a recent convert to orthodox Judaism, is famous for verbal tirades against single mothers, gays and others who call into her show for "advice."
Schlessinger believes homosexuality was removed from the list of mental disorders by the American Psychological Association 30 years ago only because of pressure from gay lobbyists, not because of scientific evidence. Dr. Laura is a huge proponent of reparative therapy - the belief that gays and lesbians can be "cured" through psychological treatment (Schlessinger's own Ph.D. is in physiology, not psychology).
Discussing equal rights for gays and lesbians, Schlessinger says: "Rights? For sexual deviants, sexual behavior, there are now rights? That's what I'm worried about with the pedophilia and the bestiality and the sadomasochism and the cross-dressing. Is this all going to be rights, too? Why does deviant sexual behavior get rights?" (Advocate, 2/15/00).
Now, in addition to being on 500 radio stations and in 100 newspapers, Schlessinger will be able to bring these "enlightened" views on gays and lesbians to millions of television viewers nationwide in the comfort of their living rooms.
Pat Buchanan is another anti-gay media star. Buchanan got his start co-hosting CNN's "Crossfire." Although he's now on leave from the show for another run for President, Buchanan called for a "culture war" on gays and other "threats" to the "American family." In a column written in June of 1983, during the first months of the AIDS crisis, he said, "The poor homosexuals. They have declared war on nature, and now nature is exacting an awful retribution."
Buchanan has also said, "It was militant homosexuals who first stormed across society's old borders. And it is they who are assaulting positions while painting themselves as victims of social and legal persecution ... their conduct cannot command our respect, because it so violently contradicts our beliefs. If that be 'homophobia,' make the most of it." (San Francisco Examiner, 9/17/94) This is not "compassionate conservatism." Now this man is running for President in the third-largest political party in America, with tens of millions of dollars in federal matching funds at his disposal.
Much of the media, though not anti-gay, remains plagued with confusion about the gay community. Recently, for example, in what was meant to be an objective analysis of the military's ban on openly gay soldiers, a column in the Omaha World-Herald titled "Gays in military: Both sides err" listed as one good argument against allowing gays to serve openly is "Would grizzled Green Berets, for example, be permitted to sashay around in drag during off-duty hours?" This glaring failure to grasp the distinction between sexual orientation and gender identity is a good example of how far the media still has to go.
Still, the trend towards having visible gay characters in television, movies and other media bodes well for the future. Too often I hear from gay friends that they thought they were the only one in high school. Seeing gay characters will help gay adolescents realize they are not alone and that there is nothing wrong with them. It will also show straight kids that being gay isn't such a big deal. The gay teens of tomorrow will be happier and less neurotic than any previous generation, and the straight teens of tomorrow will be more tolerant and accepting.
With these prospects for the future, my only regret is that all the gay media in the world won't have any effect on the bigots already in place.

Copyright 2001 Daily Nebraskan Online (dailyneb.com)