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Gay News: Stonewall report reveals gays are shown positively in just 46 minutes of 126 hours of TV
By: Nigel Robinson
Hollyoaks was one of the shows monitored
Hollyoaks was one of the shows monitored
Gays on TV predatory, promiscuous and comic
Researchers for the Stonewall report Unseen on Screen watched the twenty most popular TV shows among young people for sixteen weeks between September 2009 and January 2010.
Out of the five hours and 43 minutes in which gay people appeared, they were portrayed positively and realistically in only 46 minutes.
Gay people were mainly presented as being predatory, promiscuous, or as figures of fun.
Three quarters of portrayals appeared in I’m a Celebrity…, Hollyoaks, Emmerdale and How to Look Good Naked, which are produced by C4 or ITV1.
BBC1 showed only 44 seconds of positive portrayals of gay people in more than 39 hours of programming.
Where incidents involving homophobia were broadcast, three fifths went unchallenged.
Young people interviewed by researchers across they country said that gay people on TV are largely stereotyped, leading unhappy lives and are bullied and rejected by their families.
They also said that they relied on television to learn about gay people.
Ben Summerskill, Stonewall Chief Executive, said: “Of course it’s welcome that some of the most obnoxious 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, particularly when young people themselves say they want to see real gay people’s lives on TV.”
The report recommends that broadcasters should work with communications regulator, Ofcom, to develop guidelines to ensure more positive portrayals of gay characters.
It also proposes that broadcaster should monitor their output to ensure lesbian, gay and bisexual representation.
View the report Unseen on Screen from Stonewall here
