Double Minority

Representation of social diversities within all forms of media plays an important role in our social world views. Being able to see yourself reflected and connect with that fictional character on screen can help people as they change and mold through life. The LGBT community over the past 20th century, have been portrayed in film in cruel and demeaning ways that dehumanize them making them unrelateable. For example, The Celluloid Closet, showed films like, Manslaughter, Algie the Miner, Cruising, Silence of the Lambs, etc. depict LGBT people as flamboyant comical relief, depressed and suicidal, or psychopathic killers who deserve to die. This left very many LGBT people with no one to represent them and no identity to aspire to. Now, in the 21st century, with the Supreme Court ruling and interpreting that the Constitution ensures the LGBT community the right to marry; much has progressed in the representation of lesbians and gays. Even more and more openly gay, lesbian, transgender, and transsexual actors are playing these iconic roles. On television gay actors are now often cast as gay characters and portrayed as human beings who have real lives such as, Chris Colfer in Glee, Guillermo Diaz in Mercy, Jesse Tyler Ferguson in Modern Family, Wilson Cruz in Red Band Society, and many more. This shows that there are plenty of LGBT actors to play roles and characters in not just TV shows, but in film and music as well.

Urban dictionary defines a "double minority" as someone who has a combination of two different social identifiers, such as someone who racially identifies as black, and also identifies their sexuality as gay. While media has made great strides in being inclusive of  LGBT peoples, there still lacks a representation of the real ethnic diversity within the community. Gay and lesbian actors within film and shows are majority white American, and while this gives LGBT people someone to look up to, LGBT ethnic minorities may have completely different social and cultural experiences compared white American LGBTs, that can make "double (or more) minorities" feel alone and isolated. In an article written by a influential Vietnamese LGBT author, he talks about how there needs to be a push for more inter-sectional representation of race and ethnicity within not just media forms, but all parts of our social spheres. Because its not just Hollywood that is predominately white it's all other areas of our social world; politics, businesses, even non-profit LGBT foundations. This may be due to the absence of fictional or non-fictional role models that racial minorities have to look up to. Film, TV, books, music can help to change the trend and show minority children that they can aspire and do great things in their community and other areas. An amazing example of this is Laverne Cox. She is the first transgender woman to star as a major role on an American TV show, first transgender woman to be nominated for an Emmy, and also a very prominent spokesperson within and for the LGBT community. Representations such as these really allow all generations from all backgrounds encourage them to aspire to great opportunities.