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The Media portrayal of LGBT people refers to the varying and evolving ways in which the media portrays the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered community. LGBT (now also referred to as LGBTQIA) is the initialism of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender,questioning, intersex, and asexual. This LGBT acronym is seen largely in North America and other English-speaking countries; it attempts to include all sexual orientations and variations represented as a shorthand. Although a North American term, the media representation of the LGBT community is on a global scale with varying degrees of tolerance. The portrayal of the LGBT community through media, historically speaking has been negative due to the intolerance seen in cultures; however progress (specifically from the 1990's onward) has made large steps in North America to include more LGBT issues and concerns, as well as a presence in mainstream media. LGBT community has taken an increasingly proactive stand in defining its own culture with one primary goal of achieving an affirmative visibility in the mainstream media. This positive portrayal, or even presence of the LGBT community in media is important to increase the acceptability and support for the LGBT community, create and solidify the LGBT community as a norm and provide information on the topic.〔 ==Overview== Because lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people look just like anyone else, the media often adds images to make the gay community as visible as a difference in skin color. In many forms of popular entertainment, gay men are portrayed as overly promiscuous, flashy and incredibly bold. Gay and lesbian families are commonly misunderstood because society equates sexual orientation with the ability to reproduce. Gay and lesbian, even in the movies, are usually not the main characters. They most of the time fall into the stereotyped supporting characters or portrayed as a victim or villain. There is currently a widespread view that reference to gay people should be omitted from child-related entertainment. When such references do occur they almost invariably generate controversy. In 1997, when American comedian Ellen DeGeneres came out of the closet on her popular sitcom, many sponsors, such as the Wendy's fast food chain, pulled their advertising. Media has hurt the LGBT community but also helped them. Milestones to the gay community such as the book ''Vice Versa'' and Ellen DeGeneres coming out has helped other LGBT come out and feel better about being themselves. Despite the stereotypical depictions of gay people, the media has at times promoted acceptance of them with television shows such as ''Will and Grace'' and ''Queer Eye''. This increased publicity reflects the coming-out movement of the LGBT community. As more celebrities come out, more gay-friendly shows develop, such as the 2004 show ''The L Word''. With the popularity of gay television shows, music artists and gay fashion, Western culture has had to open its eyes to the gay community. This new acceptance from the media can partially be explained by the contact hypothesis, aka inter group contact theory. With more shows promoting the acceptance of gays, people are able to view a more correct depiction of the LGBT community. In the United States, gay people are frequently used as a symbol of social decadence by celebrity evangelists and by organizations such as Focus on the Family. In Québec, ''RG Magazine'' was a major defender of LGBT causes for some 30 years. LGBT in media are highly misrepresented. It usually categorizes all of the LGBT people into just lesbian and gay. Then, people have created stereotypes for lesbian and gay characters. This action contradicts the whole purpose of the fictional characters of LGBT people. It may allow some people to understand that LGBT people are more common than they realize; however, it still reinforces stereotypes and negative stigmas. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Media portrayal of LGBT people」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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