In the Uned Stat and beyond, few shifts public opn have been as rapid and wispread as attus about lbian women and gay men. In our recent work, we explore how the media has ntributed to this major change. Our rearch shows that the media n play a transnatnal role shapg polil attus towards sexualy and mori general, pecially affectg the views of more imprsnable, younger dividuals.
Contents:
- HOW THE MEDIA HAS HELPED CHANGE PUBLIC VIEWS ABOUT LBIAN AND GAY PEOPLE
- COMMERCIALS WH A GAY EMPHASIS ARE MOVG TO MASTREAM MEDIA
- HOW GAY RIGHTS WENT MASTREAM — AND WHAT ST
HOW THE MEDIA HAS HELPED CHANGE PUBLIC VIEWS ABOUT LBIAN AND GAY PEOPLE
* gay in mainstream media *
While gay characters were equently ed for lghs or not explicly stated to be queer the earlit mastream Hollywood films, a brief relaxatn Germany's film productn the early 20th century allowed for LGBTQ+ classics like "Different om the Others" and "Mädchen Uniform. In Hollywood, the strict Hays Co forba explic pictns of homosexualy film for three s, durg which there was a slew of queer-d villas.
Later, the New Queer Cema the 1990s flourished as many pennt filmmakers (many of whom were gay) told fluid, empathetic stori about queer dividuals. The film, which featur an all-Black st, was one big step toward makg gay cema that isn't whewashed, featur a range of inti, and don't make s queer characters one-note or vehicl of sufferg.
The history starts 1894, wh the very first gay film, and ends 2021 wh a mastream children's movie featurg a ma character who is queer.
COMMERCIALS WH A GAY EMPHASIS ARE MOVG TO MASTREAM MEDIA
The German film "Anrs als die Anrn" (English: "Different om the Others") is one of the olst survivg movi wh a gay protagonist and was ma durg a rare perd when German film censorship was relaxed after World War I. It centers on a vlist who tak his life after gettg blackmailed for his sexualy and ends wh an appeal for gay tolerance by German gay rights activist Magn Hirschfeld.
HOW GAY RIGHTS WENT MASTREAM — AND WHAT ST
Charl Bryant's adaptatn of gay wrer Osr Wil's play of the same name reportedly featured several queer llaborators—namely, bisexual lead actor Alla Nazimova and set signer Natacha Rambova (her mored lover). In one scene om the 1938 screwball edy "Brgg Up Baby, " the word "gay" was ed a queer ntext for likely the first time (possibly thanks to queer performers' e of "gay" as a slang term). When a woman asks reputedly bisexual actor Cary Grant's character why he's wearg a feathery bathrobe, he rponds, "Bee I jt went gay all of a sudn!
Loosely based on the Leopold and Loeb murr se, Aled Hchck's "Rope" tells the story of two heavily d gay men who murr one of their classmat for the sheer thrill of . "Victim" opens 1960s London, where a man's ath leads the film's gay ma character (Dirk Bogar) to disver a blackmail scheme agast several gay men. Homosexual relatns between nsentg adults were illegal England and Wal until 1967, makg the film a radil cry agast Brish homophobia.
While "The Children's Hour" is notable for prentg a sympathetic queer ma character a time when that was rare, has also been cricized for rercg the "tragic gay endg" stereotype.