Gay people ‘almost invisible’ on TV for young people
July 22nd, 2010 by Chloe.Setter
Of the most-watched programmes on TV, the realistic and positive portrayal of lesbian and gay people accounts for a shocking 0.6% of coverage, new research has found.
The Unseen on Screen research, by charity Stonewall, found gays and lesbians in the top 20 programmes most watched by the UK’s young people were “almost invisible”.
Just 46 minutes of 126 hours worth of output portrayed gay people realistically and in a positive manner and three-quarters of all the coverage was confined to four programmes: I’m a Celebrity…, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and How to Look Good Naked - which all feature on C4 and ITV1.
BBC1 managed a paltry 44 seconds of realistic and positive portrayal from a total of 39 hours of programming.
Young people told researchers that, despite relying on television to learn about gay people, most believed gay people on TV are “largely stereotyped”, “leading unhappy lives” and “bullied and rejected”.
One 16-year-old told Stonewall: “TV gives the wrong view of gay people because every storyline is about them being beaten up and discriminated against. They are never accepted by their family. In real life, they just want to fit in.”
Unseen on Screen also revealed that half of all portrayals of lesbian, gay and bisexual people was stereotypical, depicting them as “figures of fun, predatory or promiscuous”. It added that when homophobia was displayed, three-fifths of it went unchallenged.
Stonewall’s chief executive Ben Summerskill said: “Of course, it’s welcome that some of the most obnoxiousness unpleasantness of people such as Jeremy Clarkson is now being edited out before transmission. However, it’s hardly surprising that there’s still almost endemic homophobic bullying in Britain’s secondary schools when, even if gay people do appear on TV shows watched by young people, they’re depicted in a derogatory or demeaning way.
“It’s tragic that in 2010 broadcasters are still underserving young people in this way.”
The charity’s report recommends that broadcasters work more closely with Ofcom to develop storylines that are most positive and authentic.
There’s a sort of okay lesbian story going on in Coronation St atm. But it’s a secret relationship, and it’s usually the only reason those two characters are on screen. There’s no depth to the story either. The only thing going on is that they’re together and they don’t want people to find out. BORING
Peggy ∼ July 22nd, 2010 5:10 pmalso skins, which was terrible. again it was a secret relationship, where the family are not accepting and the character is told she’s “not gay, just stupid”. it’s terrible.
ginny ∼ July 23rd, 2010 12:44 amThis has annoyed me for a while. But I’m going to start a series of short films based aroung LGBT teens :) xxx
Finley-Marie ∼ August 10th, 2010 8:22 pm