The Gay Agenda: LGBT Leading Characters on Primetime TV

I. Introduction In 1997 Ellen DeGeneres came out on national television. I was 14 years old, watching that historical moment in complete rapture. I remember thinking that the world had just changed forever; that my world had just changed forever. Unfortunately Ellen’s moment didn't last too long as her show was soon canceled, her career seemingly over. Fast forward 17 years and Ellen’s courageous moment seems so long ago, as we have progressed so much since then, that it can easily slip the mind. Ellen is back on top with a smash hit talk show, and a bevy of LGBT identified folks and television characters are right along with her at the top. Gay rights are the hot button “issue” of the current time. You could argue that it’s a the new civil rights movement, an abomination of “traditional family values”, or simply an elaborate horse and pony show to distract us from the real issues. Regardless of how you view it, the point is, you are still talking about it. As an LGBT identified person myself, and one who lives in a politically liberal bubble, I know that my perception of this movement is somewhat skewed. I have the privilege of living my life in the open and along the way exposing all kinds of folks to a new or unfamiliar way of life. However I often wonder what it is like to live in Middle America. What is it like to go to the grocery store, pick your kids up from school, or on a date and never see an LGBT identified person. If you live in an area where being closeted is still a way of life, how do you ever find ways to expand your idea of whats “normal”? It seems to me that this is a situation where the entertainment industry is in control. Free national broadcast television is seen in ## homes in America, and LGBT identified folks are regularly being broadcast into these homes. For many Americans