Homosexuality on TV

Gay / Lesbians Group Complains about not being treated as equals on television. Can you imagine what television would be like if 50% of the shows were about gays / lesbians. Television is so morally disgusting as it is, I cannot imagine what it would be like and do not want to.

Let me be frank about this for a minute. I hear so many people complain about the old saying: "God said it, so that's just the way it is." What's to complain about? If God said it, then that is the way it is, or should be anyway. I truly do get sick of hearing so many people talk about how things are all about them, or their life. Nothing about God, just them. Selfishness, greed, always wanting more and more. Trying to live a nice "good to people" life so they can reap everything here on earth and still get to heaven because of their lifestyle. WRONG! You cannot get to Heaven by just being good. You have to repent of your ways and turn to God's way. The problem as I see it is that people think by saying they repent, then that makes it so. WRONG AGAIN! You have to truly repent! Not just say it and that makes it so. You have to start living a different life. One that is fully rounded and grounded in the Word of God. To be fully into the Word of God, one must understand that God is a loving God. He is also a vengeful God. I hear so many people say that God is a loving God, so do not question this or that. I cannot imagine anyone who actually READS the Bible saying those kind of things. I think too many people use their Bibles for research only, meaning that they may be reading a daily devotional or something and have to look up a Scripture and read it and that is the extent of their Bible reading. That is good in itself but it doesn't give them the full Word of God in it's actual proper context and setting.

This brings me back to the Gay / Lesbians / Bi-sexual / Transgender people and their thinking they deserve equal rights. God said that the Gay / Lesbians / Bi-sexual / Transgender lifestyle is an abomination to Him and that is just the way it is. These people and groups can claim different if they want to, but that doesn't change a thing. At the end of the day, after all the complaining, demonstrating, arguing, advertising and everything else they may do to change things, it still remains wrong in the eyes of God. It's the old adage that if it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it must be a duck.

The article below is presented not to justify or to agree or to back up anything these groups have to say, but to give you some information on the way these groups think and act. Please pray that these people would turn their hearts from themselves to God and accept Jesus and their personal saviors while there is still time to do so.

AUGUST 29, 2005 - After a promising network pilot season that saw many new shows developed with gay and lesbian characters, the actual number of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) representations on the six major broadcast networks will comprise less than 2% of all characters on the networks' 2005-06 schedule, according to an analysis conducted by the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD). Once again I must reiterate that 2%, is 2% too much in the eyes of God.

GLAAD counts only 16 "series regular" and recurring gay, lesbian and bisexual roles (there continue to be no transgender characters) scheduled to appear on 14 different scripted programs (out of 110 total) on the broadcast networks. While this number is up from the 11 characters counted last season, the lack of representation is still cause for concern. "Out of 710 'series regulars' that will appear this season on the broadcast networks, gay, lesbian and bisexual characters make up less than 2%," says GLAAD Entertainment Media Director Damon Romine. "This is a shocking misrepresentation of reality and of the audience watching these programs." The reality must be in this particular groups head only, because approximately 95% of the public is NON GAY / NON LESBIAN / NON BISEXUAL / NON TRANSGENDER.

Of these 16 characters, 13 are male and three are female; 13 are white, with one gay character each representing African Americans, Latinos and Asian Pacific Islanders. "If you're looking at network television to see a good cross section of our community, you're not going to find it. What you will find is primarily gay white males," Romine says.

In addition, many of the characterizations of gays and lesbians on the networks fall into minor, supporting or recurring roles, leaving much to be desired in GLAAD's quest for fair, accurate and inclusive portrayals. "The LGBT community wants to see itself represented on television. It's that simple. We want to see our stories told and we want to know that our lives matter," Romine says. "Television is a reflection of society, but the broadcast networks are not doing enough to fairly represent the diversity of their audience. We are still too often portrayed as stereotyped caricatures, and the reality of our lives and relationships is largely ignored." Television is MOSTLY fiction, not real life. Therefore you are not going to necessarily see a balanced display of anything.

Cable, meanwhile, continues to traverse boundaries by exploring our lives, families and careers in multi-dimensional ways. GLAAD counts 25 LGBT characters that will appear on cable series in the 2005-06 season. "At this critical juncture in our struggle for equality, television's potential for driving public understanding of who we are and what we're fighting for is more important than ever," Romine says. "Since network television still captures a much larger audience than cable, GLAAD will continue to advocate for richer and more diverse representations from the broadcast networks." This is typical for cable television as they are more prone to show lots of unacceptable viewing material.

For 10 years, GLAAD has reported on the state of LGBT characters on television. This year, in its most comprehensive analysis of diversity ever, GLAAD examined ethnicity, gender and sexual orientation among all "series regulars" scheduled to appear on the broadcast networks during the 2005-06 season, based on information the networks provided by Aug. 29, 2005.

The report finds that male characters outweigh females 57% to 43%, and that the faces on network scripted shows continue to be predominantly white at 76%. African Americans make up 14% of the characterizations, Latina/os 6%, Asian Pacific Islanders represent 3%, with less than 1% making up other ethnicities. According to Wikipedia, the percentage of white persons in the U.S. is 67.7%, which includes Middle Easterners, North Africans, and others who checked "Some other race" in the Census. The percentage of Latin American persons in the U.S. is 14%. The percent of African Americans in the United States is 12.9%. The percentage of Asian Pacific Islanders in the U.S. is 0.2%. The percentage of American Indians in the U.S. is 1.5%. The percentage of Asian persons is 4.2%.

After eight seasons, "Will & Grace" is scheduled to end in May. During its successful run, other gay-centric sitcoms attempted but failed to reach such a large mainstream audience. "You can't deny that 'Will & Grace' was groundbreaking and proved that a show about a gay person can be entertaining and successful," Romine says. "This series has been tremendously important in introducing a broad audience to gay and lesbian characters." Unfortunately I agree that is has, much to the dismay of our Lord I am sure.

It is encouraging to note that four of the networks' new situation comedies have ensemble casts that include gay or lesbian characters in substantial roles: CBS has the fall series "Out of Practice" and "Love Monkey" at midseason, while ABC offers up both "Crumbs" and "Emily's Reasons Why Not" at midseason.

With a new crop of procedural crime shows debuting this season, LGBT "series regulars" remain missing in action, yet they continue to be fodder for those shows' "mystery of the week." "It's a great disservice to the LGBT community when our only representation in the entire crime genre is as victim or villain," Romine says. Fox's new crime drama "Killer Instinct, " for example, is actually set in the heavily gay-populated San Francisco and features the rape and murder of a lesbian in the pilot episode-yet features no LGBT "series regulars" to investigate crimes. "These shows will not be fairly and accurately portraying gays and lesbians until they also include us as cops, lawyers and forensic scientists. Only then will these programs represent the reality and diversity of our community." In promising news that reflects LGBT diversity and families, NBC's new fertility drama "Inconceivable" features a Latino supporting character, played by actor David Norona, who, with his partner, has a child by surrogate in the first episode. Sadly, though, NBC's "ER" has reduced its lone lesbian character, Dr. Kerry Weaver (Laura Innes), to recurring status. This type of complaining doesn't warrant much of a comment except to say, while I disagree with this group, their lifestyles and what they stand for, they certainly do a lot of complaining for someone who supposedly had no representation at all a few years back. Much to my dismay, they have come a long way baby.

Many young people are growing up in a time when LGBT issues are not considered taboo, and popular shows like "The OC" and "One Tree Hill" reached out to this audience last season with lesbian and bisexual storylines. This season, "Desperate Housewives" will continue telling the story of Bree's troubled teen, Andrew (Shawn Pyfrom), who has identified as bisexual. The role has been upped from recurring to "series regular" this season. In daytime, the NBC soap opera "Passions" revealed in August that one of that soap's core young characters is a lesbian - an African American lesbian, making this a daytime first. (emphasis mine) Unfortunately they are correct in saying that this is a "time when LGBT issues are not considered taboo". In Sodom and Gomorrah LGBT issues were not taboo either, but need I remind you of what happened to those cities? Ok, for those who do not remember or never did know, this is directly out of the Holy Bible, Genesis 19:24,25. "Then the LORD rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the LORD out of heaven; And he overthrew those cities, and all the plain, and all the inhabitants of the cities, and that which grew upon the ground." Do we really think we are any better today than Sodom and Gomorrah was in that day?

One of the most popular teen shows on cable television is The N's "Degrassi: The Next Generation," which features gay high school student Marco and his boyfriend. This fall, The N will introduce a new teen drama series, "South of Nowhere," a high school-set story where two female students explore their friendship and feelings for each other. ABC Family, meanwhile, has the comedy "Just a Phase" in development, a story about a teen boy discovering his sexuality and same-sex attraction. Speaking of High Schools and the way thing have gotten out of hand, please read the article on Cross Dressing Contest at Local High School.

"The power of these stories is that they give many young people in small towns and big cities alike a chance to see their lives, or the lives of their friends or family members represented," Romine says. "It's clear there is an audience hungry for this programming, and whether they're gay or straight, young viewers can be both entertained and educated by stories that reflect the diversity of families and communities across the country."

Unscripted reality television continues to be the most inclusive television genre and represents a spectrum of LGBT diversity. On the broadcast networks, the new seasons of UPN's "America's Next Top Model," and CBS' "Big Brother" and "Survivor," include gay and lesbian contestants. And for the first time, NBC's "The Apprentice" will feature openly gay participants on both the Donald Trump and new Martha Stewart versions.

"Reality TV is where you tune in to see real LGBT people," Romine says. "Gay people and our families are nearly invisible on dramas and comedies on the broadcast networks, but we continue to be well-represented by a genre that realizes the importance of diversity and value of telling our stories." I do not believe for one minute that the producers of the shows realize any importance of diversity or value of telling their stories. The producers are only reacting to the fact that being gay or lesbian is becoming more open and there is money to be made broadcasting it. If it won't make money, the shows will not remain no matter what diversity or value of story telling is involved.

The recent departures of both "Queer as Folk" and "Six Feet Under" has left a tremendous void for gay and lesbian characters in leading roles. Overall, though, the actual number of LGBT portrayals on basic and pay cable remains strong in contrast to the broadcast networks. GLAAD counts 25 LGBT representations announced for the new season - 10 lesbians, seven gay males, five bisexual females, two bisexual males, and one female-to-male transgender character who will be introduced this season on "The L Word."

In addition to these portrayals, HBO's new series "Rome" features both male and female characters - historical and fictional - who don't self-identify as gay or straight but are portrayed as having both same-sex and opposite-sex relationships. "Deadwood" creator David Milch has said in interviews that he will likely add a gay or bisexual character to the popular HBO Western series this season.

It's important to note that the past year brought three new niche cable networks, here!, Q Television and Logo, which program specifically for the LGBT audience. These networks reflect a large public interest in programs that more accurately represent LGBT lives. Q Television is a new channel. Here is a brief description. The gay TV craze continues with the launch of a 24 hour, 7 day a week gay and lesbian TV network called Q Television. Q Television promises to attract a diverse audience that goes beyond the gay and lesbian population. Q Television will air feature programs, GLBT movies, and special features for a gay and lesbian audience. Disgusting in God's eyes for sure.

"Cable remains the place where we can find multi-dimensional, complex LGBT characters, as well as gay and lesbian people of color," Romine says. These characters face real-life issues concerning our community, such as marriage, parenting, workplace discrimination and religion.

"There continues to be a big disconnect between cable and the broadcast networks. Successful and popular cable programs seamlessly weave our stories and relationships into the fabric of shows that have a broad and mainstream audience, reflecting how our lives intersect with the larger culture," Romine says. "This holistic approach to character development leads to richer, more diverse representations - the kinds of images that help Americans understand and embrace their LGBT family members, friends and neighbors in a more meaningful way." May be it's time to turn off the "cable television" connection to our homes.

"GLAAD" and "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation" are registered trademarks of the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation, Inc. This report may be freely distributed and reprinted in all forms of media under the condition that any text used carries the full attribution of "Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD)."

The following article is from AVERT.org. AVERT is an international HIV and AIDS charity based in the UK, with the aim of AVERTing HIV and AIDS worldwide. There is still no cure for HIV/AIDS, and many millions of people around the world are dying each year. More effective treatment is needed, and so AVERT continues with HIV/AIDS medical research to contribute to this.

It is very difficult to calculate even the approximate number of gay people, and in estimating even roughly how many gay people there are anywhere, the following points have to be kept in mind:

How many gay people are there in Britain?

Between 1989-1990, a National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles (NATSAL) of nearly 19,000 people was undertaken in Britain. The survey examined a cross section of people throughout the country, and looked at their sexual attitudes and behaviour, including people's same sex sexual experiences. The NATSAL survey was repeated between 1999-2001; this time the subject group involved less people, at just over 11,000. The results of the study provide us with an interesting comparison of how same sex sexual behaviour is changing in Britain.

The differences in the two NATSAL surveys clearly indicate the changes that have been occurring in people's same sex sexual attitudes and behaviours. The greatest change is highlighted in the increase in women who have indicated that they have had a same sex sexual experience, not necessarily including genital contact, as this increased from 2.8% in 1990 to 9.7% in 2000. More men said that they had had a same sex sexual experience too, up from 5.3% in 1990 to 8.4% in 2000, thus showing that either same sex sexual behaviour is either on the increase or that people are more willing to report it.

When looking at same sex sexual attraction, and not necessarily sexual experience, the figures have also changed over the ten-year period, with women showing the most significant difference. In 1990, 93.3% of men said they had only ever had sexual attraction towards the opposite sex, whilst by 2000 this had fallen to 91.9%. 93.6% of women in 1990 said they had only ever been attracted to men, but by 2000 this had dropped to 88.3%. From this we can therefore deduce that 11.7% of women and 8.1% of men have felt a sexual attraction towards the same sex at least once in their lives.^{1,
2}

How many young gay people are there in Britain?

By adding the three figures for each category in NATSAL II, and getting an average percentage, we can at least gain some comparison between the two sets of data. The differences are again most apparent in women, especially in the sexual experience category, with the figure rising from only 3.0% in 1990 to 9.1% in 2000. The differences in men are less obvious, with the average for sexual experience for 2000 being the same as 1990, at 4.3%. What you can deduce from the male data is that same sex sexual experience does increase more rapidly over the age of 18 years; the data for 18-19 years and 20-24 years, at 5.6% and 6.3% respectively, is higher than the whole 16-24 year average of 4.3%.

How many gay people are there in America?

As well as the problems outlined above in estimating the number of gay people, the geographical size and dense population presents an additional problem for anybody trying to calculate the number of gay people in America.

However, Alfred Kinsey carried out research in the 1940s and 1950s into the sexual behaviour of 12,000 men and women in America. Although his work has been heavily criticised it remains a rare and relatively authoritative study of sexual behaviour in America.

From these results Kinsey realized that not only were few people exclusively homosexual, but also far from the vast majority, particularly of men, were exclusively heterosexual. This led him to develop an orientation scale, which had exclusively heterosexual and exclusively homosexual at opposite ends with a wide middle range to cater for the majority of people who were neither.

More recently, data has been collected in America, during the ten-year national census, on married and unmarried-partner households. They did not ask the actual sexual orientation of the respondents, so there is no measure of single gay people, nor is their a measure of those gay people in committed relationships but not living together. Whilst the census cannot give us a figure for the number of people who are gay in America, it can inform us on how many same-sex partnership households identified themselves in the survey. The 2000 census tells us that

This can be interpreted as there being nearly 1.2 million gay people living with a same sex partner in America. This is a huge increase from the 1990 census, which identified only 145,000 same sex unmarried households. As with the NATSAL survey in the UK, there is undoubtedly a large amount of under reporting in these sorts of surveys. Possible explanations of this include continued prejudice and discrimination against gay people.³

There have been various other surveys in the US that have tried to measure numbers of gay people. An analysis of these surveys by the Human Rights Campaign came up with this conclusion.

'In the last three elections, the Voter News Service exit poll registered the gay vote between 4 percent and 5 percent. While concluding that the Census 2000 undercounted the total number of gay or lesbian households, for the purposes of this study, we estimate the gay and lesbian population at 5 percent of the total U.S. population over 18 years of age, (209,128,094). This results in an estimated total gay and lesbian population of 10,456,405. A recent study of gay and lesbian voting habits conducted by Harris Interactive determined that 30 percent of gay and lesbian people are living in a committed relationship in the same residence. Using that figure, we suggest that 3,136,921 gay or lesbian people are living in the United States in committed relationships in the same residence. '⁴

So, if we accept that the data presented by the Human Rights Commission is indeed indicative of the real numbers, then it shows that the census data is only showing up a small percentage of the actual number of gay people living in America. Until, however, a nationwide survey is done, asking questions on sexual attitudes and behaviour, then we can only use data and analyses, such as the ones above, to work out an answer to the question of gay people living in America.

Is homosexuality more common now?

Throughout history there have always been people who have had homosexual feelings and experiences. In fact, in some cultures, at some times, these feelings have been celebrated or at least accepted rather than stigmatised. However two major changes in most of Europe and America have taken place, which may have given the impression that homosexuality is now more prevalent than at any other time.

Text adapted from "Talking about Homosexuality in the Secondary School" book. The book can be downloaded for free from our education section.

Resources

'National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles I', Kaye Wellings, Julia Field, Anne M. Johnson, et al, Penguin, 1994, 0140158146
'National Survey of Sexual Attitudes and Lifestyles II: Reference Tables and Summary Report', Bob Erens, Sally McManus, Alison Prescott, et al, National Centre for Social Research, 2003, 1904599028
'Married and Unmarried-Partner Households by Metropolitan Residence Status: 2000', United States Census 2000, US Census Bureau, http://www.census.gov
'Gay and Lesbian Families in the United States: Same-Sex Unmarried Partner Households. A Preliminary Analysis of 2000 United States Census Data'. August 22, 2001, David M. Smith, and Gary J. Gates, Human Rights Campaign, www.hrc.org

We do pray that the above information has helped you to better understand the seriousness of the condition the world is in. We as a human race have become so much like Sodom and Gomorrah of old that one can only wonder how long the Lord will tarry before He decides enough is enough. Please pray for our nations leaders, the people of our different nations that they will find the Lord and His righteousness soon and very soon.

Forgotten Word Ministries	Homosexuality - Rampant degrading of a culture
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