Blog 1

Gays and Lesbians are often discriminated against in society.  The article “Out of the Mainstream Sexual Minorities and the Mass Media” by Larry Gross, points out a number of ways that Gays and Lesbians are discriminated against in the media.  He points out that out of thirty two films made from 1961-1976 with major homosexual characters thirteen committed suicide and eighteen were murdered.  Seeing as every single film except one managed to kill off the homosexual shows how the media really discriminated and sent out negative messages to the public about homosexuals.  The media attention that homosexuals were receiving in the 1970’s was mostly positive when the American Psychiatric Association deleted homosexuality off the official list of mental illnesses.  With success also came downfall though.  Between anti-gay protests and the AIDS epidemic there was even more hostility for homosexuals.  The media did not help this either.  Instead of trying to fix the AIDS epidemic many television networks pointed the finger at gays and made numerous shows and movies about it for entertainment purposes.  Even though it was for entertainment many would take it seriously.  AIDS has been associated with homosexuality ever since.  Another issue raised is that many people just go along with what the mainstream media has to say.  It is uncomfortable not going along with what everyone else is saying or doing.  This causes a huge issue for homosexuals when the mainstream media discriminates against them, because many are sure to follow.  Some people try to change who they are to conform to mass media, some try to ignore it.  Either way this would be hard for any gay being discriminated against to do.  Some gays even become isolated as a result of mass media because they are seen as ‘different.’  We need to be careful on how we perceive minorities based on the media.  Before discriminating against an entire group of people a person should make an effort to speak with a few people in that group instead of just hearing about them on television.  Overall, media has gotten better and become more accepting of homosexuals today, but there is always still some discrimination.