Media milestones & GLAAD

From Mark Segal of Philadelphia Gay News: There were two events this week of great magnitude to the LGBT community that mostly were just seen as everyday occurrences, but I assure you they were not.  Both are media related and if we've learned anything in our community, being out changes the world, and being out in media reaches the masses and educate the general public on who we are and what we are all about… and let's not forget that there are many places in America that still don't know us and we don't reach, but media certainly can and will.

As someone who is in media and has fought for changes in media for almost 50 years now, this week is almost monumental.  Why?

In movie theaters across the country a film call "Love Simon," opened.  It's the story of a young gay man coming to terms with his gayness and guess what, it has a happy ending.  That may seem trivial to you but here's a shocker, it's the first time in history it's happen coming from a major American studio with wide release, and having a promotional budget which small movies which I adore like "Big Eden and Broken hearts club didn't have.  Up to this point we've had "Boys in the band, where we were a sad group of gay bitter sad men hating themselves, Philadelphia, where we were dying, Brokeback Mountain where we were gaybashed, killed, closeted and left to due along.  Mind you each was a trailblazer for their time, but thanks to activists times and now movies have changed.  By the way "Love Simon" was number 5 at the box office this past week end.

Then there's TV, an area that has had my attention since 1971.  It is the most important way to reach people in those places were we activist just don't reach or where they do not relate to us.  But TV does that in ways we can't.  Entertainment can spotlight something without being a giant searchlight.  Take Will and Grace for example.  Rachel Maddow, or even Ellen.  They make the point that LGBT people are in simple terms not a threat, they are just like us.

CBS Sunday Night premiered a new TV series starring Allen Cummings called "Instinct."  A drama/ who done it, starring a OUT gay man, Whose character is a OUT gay man.  That has also never happened before.  We've always been comical figures, like Will and Grace or Modern Family.  But the major starring role being a serious one…. never before on TV.  Yep, we've been co-stars or featured and some of them have been trailblazers like NBC's Nightshift or Major Crimes, One where the gay character plays a Iraq Veteran, the other a troubled gay youth.  But the major character, being a gay man in real life, and on a major network in a serious role, this is history… and a good show which CBS gave a great lead in, 60 minutes.

These are incredible changes for many of us who come from a time when we didn't even appear on TV, let along star in a comedy, drama, or news anchor.  That history is lost, maybe GLAAD should do something about that, but hey the people who pioneered this are old, and GLAAD is about current issues not how media came to where it is today on LGBT issues, and let's not forget they make there living out of current celebrity.

About the Author

Mark Segal Mark Segal is an American journalist. He is the founder and publisher of Philadelphia Gay News and has won numerous journalism awards for his column "Mark My Words," including best column by The National Newspaper Association, Suburban Newspaper Association and The Society of Professional Journalists.