They're Here and Queer...Gays in the Media

On November 16th, 2011, Parkside's LGBTQ organization came and spoke to our Communication class in regards to how LGBTQ is being represented in the media today and how it is changing over the years. Ana Guerriero, the director of LGBTQ, first spoke to us about how the LGBTQ community is portrayed in the media, now. She spoke about how shows that are some of the most watched are ones that have the best understanding of gays. Some of the main shows that have characters that are gay are: The Ellen Show, Glee, and Modern Family.


Shown below is a song from Glee that is performed by the character Santanna. Santanna is a "closet gay" who has feelings for her best friend Britney. Britney and Santanna have had sexual tension throughout the whole show. Although they have had several boyfriends throughout the seasons, it is known that they are gay. However, while Britney excepts her sexuality, Santanna does not. She feels as though she won't be looked at the same if she comes out. In the video below, you will see how she thinks she will change, and how she does have feelings for Britney but wants to make sure that they stay concelled.

(this video was taken from YouTube)



Glee is one of the top shows on TV now. This show is one that tends to push the limits on the "norms" of television. While it is one that everyone tends to enjoy, it is also the one that has some of the deepest messages that it is trying to portray.

Another show that the LGBTQ group talked about was Modern Family. Modern Family is a new show that has a great rating on TV. It is about a family who is all connected through each smaller part of the groups. One of the families includes 2 gay fathers who care for their adopted daughter. While they do tend to face many difficulties of being gay, the 2 gentleman mostly have normal lives. The one man is the "man in the relationship." He is the one who goes to work everyday and makes sure that everything is taken care of. Cam on the otherhand, the other gay man, tends to be the woman in the relationship in the sense that he stays home with their daughter and takes on most of the woman roles. Below is another video...this one from Modern Family, which shows the two men interacting about how Cam takes on the "woman" in the relationship. While he believes he doesn't, all the mothers that they family hangs out with, reassure him that he does.

On a more serious note during the presentation, the members of the LGBTQ club opened up and shared their own coming out experiences. Some were very touching, making the atmosphere in the room quite tense. I really enjoyed hearing each and every one of the experiences that they shared, because this topic is very close to me. My sister is gay and she recently came out a few years back. I find it hard for people to talk about, because these are some of the most hard times in their lives. My sister used to be teased about certain issues, and I know that that made it much more difficult for her.

While reading throught the book from class, Gender, Race, and Class in the Media, I found many of the short articles to be very fitting to the topic of homosexuality. In Chaper 37. The Limitations of the Discourse of Norms, there is a section in which people sugest that gays should be "quietly gay" and not flaunt it to the world. They believe that the parades that are held during "gay pride week" are too much for many people to face. In another chapter within the book "Resisting, Reiterating, and Dancing Through" Ellen DeGeneres is the main topic of writing. Ellen is a famous talk show host who is openly gay. However, in this chapter there is a section that basically questions why she isn't someone who flaunts during the show that she is gay. Guinevere Turner, a famous lesbian actress states, "How could you dance like that and not be gay? That's a way of saying with every opening representation, I'm Gay!"

While I do believe that people should be able to speak openly about being gay, I do have to agree that there are other ways of showing it. I find it interesting, because there are many people who are in the media who are gay, and we know it without them even having to say so. This is the difference that the book shows. The TV shows like Glee and Modern Family do a great job of depicting gays, through their actions, words, and feelings...They don't have them stating every 5 minuteds that they are indeed, gay.

Works Cited

Clarkson, J. (2011). The Limitations of the Discourse of Norms. In. G. Dines & J. Humez (Eds.), Gender, Race, and Class in Media (pp 335-340). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, INC.

Moore, C. (2011). Resisting, Reiterating, and Dancing Through. In. G. Dines & J. Humez (Eds.), Gender, Race, and Class in Media (pp 531-540). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, INC.