Did you ever realize the media could be affecting your vision on LGBTQ-people? Think about how the media portrays LGBTQ characters on your TV-screen. Was it always neutral? It seems like broadcasters are trying to make it a more normal concept throughout a broad audience. But are they really making it more normal? Or are they just marginalizing it instead?
The Flemish public broadcasting company, VRT, aired a new TV-show, ‘De dokter Bea show’, about sex education for children. Looking trough the comments on the show, you see a lot of arguments about the importance of sex education for young children.
While taking into account that people like to argue about sex education, nobody ever talks about the lack of information concerning LGBTQ in such educational programs. In the show they talk about being gay in only ONE episode. They took one whole episode to talk about this theme. I think none of the makers of the show realized that by talking explicitly about it, they were making the subject only more special, more peculiar and less normal. Maybe they thought that using a whole episode for this subject must have been a cheaper solution than including it in the other topics of the show.
Another show called ‘Thuis’ (also aired by the VRT) shows a lot of diversity and inclusion. There is a transgender character in the soap, a refugee, a lesbian couple, and so on. You’d think they deserve a very big ‘thumbs up’ for these achievements, right?
Well, in one of the last episodes of the soap they made a character ask a lesbian mother if her daughter “wasn’t missing a father figure in her life”. The character didn’t even question what he said; he just posed this statement as being the one and only true vision on how to raise a child. It are scenes like these on TV that make me want to throw my television out of the window and never look at it again. Regarding the popularity of the soap, I wouldn’t doubt the fact that a lot of people will now see this statement as ‘the big truth’ about gay parenting.
I ask myself: Why is it so difficult for one public broadcaster to give out a clear vision about the topic? They constantly go from one vision to another instead of sticking to one.
Maite Frey Alvarez 
I fully agree with the fact that too little information is given about LGBTQ community through the media. Of course, there has already been a lot of improvement with the fact that people have paid more and more attention to this topic in the recent years. But how they are represented, does concern me quite often. These characters are still too often stereotyped. For example, transgender people must change completely to the opposite sex. Transmen suddenly have to become the tough ones and the transwomen need to become the women everybody dreams of, with everything included like big boobs and of course the sex surgery. Different types of roles in the LGBTQ community could break the stereotypical idea. I also think that the children at a young age should be made aware of the fact that there are not only heterosexual people. ‘De dokter Bea show’ can certainly help with that by raising awareness.
You quote the statement that, even though they include LGBTQ-characters, they still consciously and unconsciously assume that a family consists of a father and a mother. I definitely agree but changing this thought will not be easy. This idea has been dominant in our society for centuries. But the more consciousness is created, the more we will accept this community for who they are. I definitly encourage further changes.
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I do not find it an easy issue. I agree that it is important the media have a clear policy on how to image diversity in society, diversity in sexual orientation, ethnicity, gender,… The baseline is, I agree, not to make to much fuss of it and just show them as human beings like all others.
It strikes me that the media are more aware of the fact that they need to show diversity. Personally, I think it is a very positive evolution. Although I nearly never look at Thuis, it is very clear that they do a real effort. And I think it is not always an easy and evident choice. For instance, in the case you describe, there are different ways to handle it. In real live the situation you describe, happens often, I suppose. Maybe , it makes the viewers think? Maybe the situation that is shown, is sufficient for most to understand that the daughter has a good live thanks to her mother(s)? An other possible way is that the mother reacts and explains that it doesn’t have to be a problem. For me it is a good option too, but it is not necessary, especially if in the rest of the series viewers get a nuanced image of this family.
But, I am convinced that only showing diversity is not enough. A nuanced and realistic representation is crucial. And, therefore in the case of Dr Bea, it would have been better if they had integrated LGTBQ throughout the whole series. By making an exclusive episode on ‘ the case of LGBTQ’s’, they give the impression LGBTQ people are curiosities.
I think it is not always easy for program makers to make the right choice, especially because nearly all of us reproduce the dominant values and expectations of our society, often unconsciously. But of course it doesn’t mean we do not need to continue to make an effort and look critically at what we do, because the people concerning have to cope with a lot of prejudice every day.
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