Do you think most TV shows, movies should have at least one LGBT person in it?

No, television programmes don't have to follow the Discrimination Act [Human Rights 1998]. For example, in 2014 Annie, the casting director wanted an African-American girl to play Annie, this isn't discrimination/racist to other races. [I know I'm using UK law to cover an American film, but I'll stick with it unless someone familiar with American law can state otherwise].

It would be nice, but I don't think they should have to do something just so they have 'covered' it. I think if they're doing it just to 'cover' it, then it might not fit with the story line or not be best presented if they're just doing it for the sake of it.

A writer should hold meaning to their characters, like how most of my characters are LGBT as I connect more with that than cis-het so it just makes more sense to me to write about what I know. It can work both ways, a writer shouldn't have to put one 'covered' cisgender and/or heterosexual person in a predominatly LGBT book just to 'cover' it. When I write a cis-het character, or anything I'm not familiar with, I fear I might have gotten their character wrong which I don't want to do because I might upset someone.

I mean, if you look at GLEE, amazing show, but the amount of LGBT characters just doesn't seem real. Not trying to offend anyone, but if you look at the 90%/10% for sexuality and 99%/1% for gender [UK numbers] and that there is 4 LGB characters and 2 T characters [in the school], it just seems to deviate away from that. On the plus side, I enjoyed the relationships so whatever about it being true to % life.

I do like your idea of presenting the relationship/gender identity, as I feel at least my experiences in modern day reflect that, I know that isn't the same for everybody, but I feel like it's the 21st century and people shouldn't have to 'come out' in the whole conversation 'I'm gay etc.' way and just talk about who they're with/ a kiss.

 

I actually think this is already the case mostly, most shows have at least one LGBT character. I would like to see more trans characters, maybe more trans male. It seems that when there is a trans person it is usually a trans woman.

Really I just want more diversity all around on TV. More PoC, more people of different religions, of different nationalities, sexual orientations, gender identities, etc etc. Show feminine men who aren't gay/bi/pan for a change, and masculine women who aren't lesbian/bi/pan.

I kinda see TV/Theatre/Books/Media as this force that can change the world and how people view the those who are different from them. And its only recently that this force is being used to make people aware of all these other kinds of people.

Not sure if I'm getting my point across xD

 

As much as I would like that, I think TV show producers should be free to choose whatever and whoever they want in their program.

 

I think it really should depend on the setting and the show itself. Like, for example, if it's a show/movie with a very small cast or it's set in a time where not a lot of people are out and open about their sexuality, then it's not as likely for characters to be LGBT than it would be in a thing with a bigger ensemble cast. I'd definitely like to see more diversity in the media but I also want the representation to feel organic and geniune, not forced because the producers need a token gay character.

Orange is the New Black is an awesome example of a show that gets it right. The characters are (for the most part) three-dimensional. Their character traits don't just revolve around their gender, race and/or sexuality.

One of my favorite terrible, terrible examples has to be the House of Night series by PC Cast. Two of the characters, and all the characters are teenaged vampires-in-training, are, respectively, a black girl and a white gay guy. None of the characters in this book really have much of a personality but these two characters are basically blank slates. The black girl, for example, is only talked about by the other characters thanks to the color of her skin. She has no personal life, no positive or negative character traits. She's just 'black' and 'looks like an African princess'.

The gay guy is even worse. His only character traits are that he's gay and a little flamboyant. Like the black girl, he really has no inner life. Both of these characters basically feel like they were just plunked into the story in order to make the authors (a mother, daughter team) look more enlightened and worldly.

I don't want tokenized LGBT characters. I want three-dimensional characters who happen to be LGBT.

 

Personally I get irritated with most of the TV series when I spot the token gay/black/other minority character. Not every movie or TV series have to be politically correct and celebrate diversity. Then again it is important that there are shows that deal with minority matters too.

 

I think that they should be able to cast whoever they want.

 

I wonder if it's too soon to have some writer make a step forward with a transgender character who breaks the tragic transgender narrative, someone who made it, someone who is smiling at the screen and charming everyone with his happiness.

 

That's pretty much the norm on UK TV. Every soap has, at least, one gay person, one Muslim, one black person, everyone else white and straight. I think on my last count, Emmerdale had five (now three), Corrie had six (now four), Eastenders is like a conveyer belt of gays but there's currently two gay guys and a trans guy. I think.

 

Nah i think that would be pushing it. It would be forced. Just like how every commercial seems to have minorities in it nowadays, to a disproportionate amount. Its unnatural and kind of funny to force it so much

 

Being a biracial person I think that the representation of POC is seriously lacking in today's tv shows. If they do happen to have a POC they're usually a stereotype or they get killed off. I also think that there should be more LGBT characters in the tv shows as well so more people can relate to them. Not only am I biracial, I'm also bisexual and "bisexual" character is usually referred to as the "gay" or "straight" character. Which isn't too bad if bisexual erasure wasn't a big deal.

 

No, it would be pointless and stupid to shoehorn it into everything to fill some quota. Don't give your character a sexuality unless they actually have balls. I hate the recent trend of 'implicitly' gay characters, I think it's shallow characterization at best and shameless pandering at worst.