When “Modern Family” came out six years ago, gay characters on daytime television were hard to come by. But even then, the inclusion of the gay couple Cameron Tucker and Mitchell Pritchett seemed no different—sure, they were a gay couple, but they were also a cookie cutter white, affluent couple with a determined child and a large family. Cam wore plaids, was a musical buff, and loved singing, acting, and performing. His husband, Mitchell, had his clothes pressed pristinely, was a neat freak, and kept a home that looked like it was pulled straight from a Pottery Barn catalogue.
To be honest, the depiction of gay parents wasn’t hard to come by—what was hard to come by were gay characters that weren’t white, that didn’t have great fashion sense, or that didn’t hate basketball as a kid. Prime-time television’s adherence to the middle-class, affluent gay white male has always seemed a little more on the safe side of things. But with popularity of new shows, it seems like Hollywood has progressed from depicting the LGBT community as just a couple of individuals struggling with first-world problems.
It’s been a good six years since the first episode of Modern Family, and a quick look at the TV shows today will reveal that Hollywood has learned a lot—as have 38 wonderful states in America.
This brings me to the TV show “Orange is the New Black.” There were absolutely no bars held in terms of sexual content with “Orange”—within the first few minutes of the show, there are a lesbian kiss and a steamy shower scene. Piper Chapman, an affluent white woman finds herself swamped in a predominantly female cast in “Orange.” However, instead of breaking out the chick fights and septum piercings, Netflix decided to focus on the backstories of each inmate. The stories and reasons behind each inmate bring out the humanity and compassion of such characters, who struggle behind bars and must deal with problems that arise because of their sexuality.
There are definitely a lot of jabs at the lesbian community in “Orange is the New Black,” and the producers pull no punches at making sexual references. Granted, “Orange” was rated for mature audiences, but the genuine portrayal of lesbians really strengthens Hollywood’s depiction of the LGBT community and the rights they fight for.
I had the pleasure of watching Dell from FX’s “American Horror Story” conquer every gay stereotype out there. As the strongman of a 1950’s freak show running in town, Dell struggles between his identification with masculine traits, and his sexual orientation towards men. In a world where straight men are masculine and the majority, and gay men are feminine and the minority, Dell sort of falls in between and ends up being marginalized by both groups.
Ryan Murphy, the producer of this show (and Glee) does an excellent job in portraying Dell as a gay character with difficulties that have transcended throughout time for the LGBT community. Through issues such as suicide, self-respect, and identity, American Horror Story brings the LGBT community and its issues into the spotlight of Hollywood.
Hollywood gets a bad rep for perpetrating so many gay stereotypes: the gay best friend, the fashionable consultant, or the interior designer. But the television industry doesn’t get the credit that it deserves. There are at a dozen different TV shows out there with an LGBT inclusive cast running on TV this season, and most of these characters aren’t your typical cookie cutter lesbian or gay. Since being on the Ellen show, Ellen DeGeneres has donated millions of dollars to nearly fifty different charities.
Laverne Cox has used her fame as a platform to speak out against transphobia, and Ryan Murphy works to integrate the LGBT community into the shows he directs for Fox and FX. These actors and directors are genuine people who work hard, delivering lines and scripts to further their causes.
Although TV’s main purpose is to provide accompaniment to the couch and the ice cream, it’s also a way for Hollywood to do the LGBT community some justice.
