Is Reality TV Better For Gays Than Scripted Gays?

(Getty Images) Reality television is constantly derided by TV critics who think they're too cerebral for the genre (don't get me started on that), but it has been a boon for gay visibility on television.

In fact, while the number of gay and lesbian characters on scripted shows has gone down in recent years, we're seeing more and more gay people on reality shows, Mediaweek points out.

From Survivor to Big Brother to The Real World to America's Next Top Model (and that's just to name a few), gay people are all over the reality landscape, and they practically dominate Bravo's reality-themed fare. Just take a look at Project Runway, Top Design, Top Chef, Workout and Tabatha's Salon Takeover.

While we rely on writers to create the portrayals of us seen on scripted shows like Brothers & Sisters, The L Word and As the World Turns, we need only rely on ourselves to show the world exactly who we are on reality TV. (Well, ourselves and the genre's crafty editors.)

(Getty Images) For better (Project Runway) or worse (A Shot at Love with Tila Tequila), you get what you see on reality TV.

For his part, Project Runway mentor Tim Gunn contends that the gay people seen on reality TV are more impactful than those we see in scripted shows. He tells Mediaweek, "They're just very honest portrayals versus all the contrivances when they're scripted."

I'm with him on that.

The characters on scripted shows tend to be contrived even when they come from gay and lesbian producers. Take The L Word, for example. A lot of lesbians I know love this show, but not one of them would say that the lesbians who populate this L.A. fantasy scene is in any way truly representative of lesbians.

Not that I'm picking on the lesbians. There are plenty of gay guys who complained that the lily white Queer As Folk hardly represented their world.

(Getty Images) In defense of the producers of the scripted shows, can you imagine the heat the producers of a show like say, Brother & Sisters would get if a character like Project Runway's Austin Scarlett was written into the series? Surely, there were would plenty of members of the gay community who would cry foul, claiming that the character represented a stereotype.

But on a show like Project Runway, you can have an Austin Scarlett with nary a complaint.

Then again, there are those who would criticize reality TV for casting gay people who specifically fall into certain stereotypes.

(Getty Images) Sure, that happens (it happens with the straight people, too). But I'd argue that overall reality TV has offered up a much more diverse and complex array of gay people, ranging from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy's Ted Allen to Survivor's Richard Hatch to The Amazing Race's Reichen Lehmkuhl to Shear Genius' Dee Adames.

What do you think? Do you think reality TV has been good for us? And while we're at it, who are your all-time favorite and least favorite gay reality stars?  I for one really want to know, so post your opinion on the comments section below -- I mean it.

But before you do that, check out this video featuring Mediaweek senior editor Alan Frutkin, and kudos to the trade magazine for celebrating gays in reality TV.  (But don't forget to add your input on this topic to the comments section below after the video jump).

Comments

[Hannah Friedman]

While I agree that a broader representation of gay characters appears on reality tv, I think the operative word is character, because reality tv is far from real. I hope that kids seeking positive gay role models don't assume (due to reality shows) that all gay guys are fashionistas 24/7, because I rarely if ever see honest emotionally raw content about what it's like to be gay unless it's Austin with AIDs from the real world. I think diverse and more realistic portrayals would provide less stereotypically 2 dimensional role models, though I suppose this is all going in the right direction.

Best,
Hannah Friedman
New York Television Festival Flying Solo Winner
Everything Sucks out Aug '09
www.writinghannah.blogspot.com

[MJ]

While there may be more visibility in reality TV than scripted TV, what we see isn't necessarily who we are. Yes, QAF was lily white, but the characters represented a more realistic cross section of personality than "reality". Today's gay reality stars are comic fodder, not far removed from the "Paul Lynde, Charles Nelson Riley, and Richard Simmons stereotypes of the past 30 years. Ted Allen is far from "straight acting", but is closer to the real LGBT people I know...confident, successful men and women who are described and influenced but not defined by their orientation. I am entertained by the Christian Sirianos of the world...they add just the right spice to the dish, but without meat and potatoes, the meal isn't totally satisfying.

[Green guy]

This is a great article. I think the author is right in that we as gay viewers hold greater scrutiny to scripted gay characters.

For one thing - what if Jack from "Will & Grace" was just now being introduced to prime time scripted show? We may not like that.

Then again, for the time Jack was introduced, it was *perfect* for mainstream america. Jack was safe.

But yes -- if an Austin Starlett was introduced as a scripted character now in 2008, would I roll my eyes and be annoyed at the stereotype? Probably..

This also brings up the issue of gays in the media *in general* (Lohan, etc).

Let me breathe this in, give it more thought and post again tomorrow.

I always love a debate...

Oh -- btw -- Gant hotter than Reichen in my book, but that wasnt the question. But my 2cents.

[Sargon Bighorn]

"...who specifically fall into certain stereotypes. Sure, that happens (it happens with the straight people, too)."

What's a straight stereotype?

[Tim]

The way I see it, reality TV gay is a different beast than scripted gay. In reality TV, you have people (for example, Reichen) who don't let their persona get in the way of their mission, and you have people who milk it for all it's worth. I mean how else would you explain Craig on The Mole AS the Mole. He knew that his size would play to his advantage in sabotage as the guy who could throw the physical challenges and people would be happy for him. Genius move.

However, in scripted gay, the character either reminds us, in words or actions, that they are gay, to a fault sometimes. I mean how many gay guys do you know who are flamboyant actors in New York City who have made out with their best friend on national television? Okay maybe that's a bit too specific, but compare that to the wealthy white bachelor who adopts two young black children? Not all that often. But are either stretches to the imagination? No.

I just think you have to remember, when watching non-reality TV gays, to SYD: Suspend Your Disbelief.

[Tim]

I almost forgot to say...

Ted Allen doesn't come across as the gay guy on the Food Network to me. But, short of Alton Brown, he's gotta be one of the geekiest chefs there. Which is awesome.

[Matt]

Though no two people are a like only a single person can make up their opinion about who best portrays our activities on the small/big screen.

Television is exactly what it is, and even though people on there are supposed to represent an entire sub-culture of people; They lack what really matters most. "Personal trust," A character, (even if played by the same person,) is made out to be someone that the viewer can relate to and not someone who is living a "real life."

It takes a thousand times more effort on our part to destroy the stereotype, and gain acceptance from people, when we have people up on the screens down playing us as the, "Educated blonde."

You rarely see a gay man grabbing a hay bale, or working on a car. And for the most part you do not see lesbians giving their advice on personal touches, and cooking supplies.

Where on screen does fictional characters stop, and real life take place?

We need more common people, who are doing ordinary things that will make a viewer become familiar with them. And start a personal goal with them. Not one of us dancing for the puppet masters of the network.

[saket]

I rather read the impact of reality potrayal to scripted. As the gays/lesbian community is hugely influenced by what they percieve we like over the top potrayal. So if brian kenny can get back to action in a week frm his syphyllis so can we. I think it's influencing the popln in a big way with almost 40 percent increase in HIV every year in NYC. Let's talk about influence than reality.

[scrybbla]

i didn't read the whole article... but i'm gonna say my share anyways.

reality shows claim to take from a pool of average people in the field... therefore i would expect a reasonable representation of the perceived average population of their field. hair dressers, designers, ect. i would expect gays to be represented...wether an overwhelming % of hair dressers and designers are gay or not. We are talking entertainment TV here, not education TV.

in scripted shows on the other hand you have to work a gay character in. some can do this like regenesis did, take an asexual character, provide a situation, and declare the character is gay. and then not bother with it again. which is fine, or you can do the ugly betty thing where you have a gay character that is REALLY REALLY gay, to the point that it is their character. since both types of personalities really exist in our society i think its fair both be represented on TV. but i don't think scripted TV is missing anything by not including gays in a large amount of shows. Most networks have more than one show with 1 or more gay characters. and thats enough for me. more then that and it feels like brokeback mountain all over again. gay for pay.
"look ladies! look F**s we support gays! and since it was written and supported by gays you all should love it! don't you love us! give us money."

i personally am not into giving money or support to people that use gays for money. while i understand the issues of visibility. you have to see that networks and studios will use that solely to make money. the gay community should first and foremost support itself. i would hate to see that go away. the "were here we're queer, get used to it" days are OVER!!!! we are visible. settle down and put your effort into supporting gay and truly gay friendly endeavors, instead of worrying about the token gay on the soaps have good gay characters on them. dont forget, if you feel misrepresented by TV you are ASKING to become the new token black guy. do you really want that?

[Ron]

I disagree that "reality" television is not scripted, because they are. The people (straight and gay) are picked for their appeal and then they are placed in contrived situations that are designed to play up the drama factor. Reality TV shows need dramatic characters just as "scripted" TV does. If there wasn't drama to keep people interested, then there wouldn't be show. Reality TV is just as contrived and scripted to capatalize the drama as scripted TV, they just don't have to write all the lines for the characters. Instead the characters react to the contrived drama.

[Calvin]

Reality TV has some of the ugliest gay stereotypes on the planet. I would hardly put the like of Richard Hatch and Queer Eye for the Straight Guy on a pedestal to be admired. Doesn't the author know what a complete jerk Hatch and Queer's Carson, for instance, are and were? Now I did stop watching Big Brother when they voted off the latest queen, until the season finale in support of us. I don't really like Bravo's shows. But I kinda wish I had watched Shear Genius last season. Nevertheless I am happy for Dee.

[James S. Cameron]

Even though I am glad to see gays and lesbians more visible on television than as when I was growing up in the 80's and only seeing the nelly fem flamer stereotypes----what of the gay community that is portrayed on television now, albeit reality or scripted show, is still NOT a true and accurate picture of us.

The biggest part of gays and lesbians are NOT lipstick lesbians/truckdriver butch dykes or the young metrosexual looking underwear model/jock/muscle bound types. The biggest majority of gays and lesbians, I say at least two thirds, are very average looking plain jane/average joe skinny as well as fat people who are extremely normal acting and cant be figured out as gay unless the person knows them but what you see on television is the visually asthetic and appealing/sexually arousing types.

The gay networks on cable and satellite(LOGO and HERE!)continually only show and feature the "hot/sexy" lipsticks lesbians or butch types and the metrosexual yuppies/jocks/musclebound/underwear model guy gays.

The only show(scripted)that ever had a mostly honest portrayal of a gay character, albeit in a comic format, was ELLEN on ABC. When Ellen came out on the show, she stayed as she was, a plain jane normal looking and acting type and when she had girlfriends on her show, they were run of the mill types and not the types you'd see in porn movies.

The only scripted show in recent years that had an honest portrayal of various gay types was NOAH'S ARC on LOGO but then the new guy who heads MTV networks goes and cancels the show after two seasons claiming it was "too expensive" to keep the show on the air(each season only had 8 episodes so the "too expensive" claim I think was BS)and replaces it with some half assed gay "reality" series which only shows the "hot and sexy" gays and lesbians.

Even music videos follow suit. When gays are featured in music videos, odds are all you see are the "hotties" in 99.99% of videos. For example, I thank Christina Aguilera for her "Beautiful" song/video but i got very upset when i saw two metrosexual gays kissing cuz that is NOT what most gay men look like.

So sadly, television/hollywood movie media still has a long way to go before we ever really see an actual honest portrayal of the gay/lesbian community but if the media continues to push the idea that only "hot and sexy" sells----then we will probably never see an honest portrayal of the gay and lesbian community on television and film.

[Jonathan]

We have this problem that comes from two angles: from the straight idealistic world, who feels guilty about what has been done to GLBT people in the past, and therefore feels a need to portray us in the best possible light (AKA what was done with the Cosby Show in the late 80's, in regards to how that portrayed the average black urban family during that time). Then you have the gay media, who only wants to show it's 'best silver' to the audience, and then we only see those under a certain age, those who look extremely attractive, have a lot of money, have tremendous (almost excessive) amounts of higher education...what ends up happening is, when average gay people from small towns (who've yet to come out) see this, they might think that in order to be accepted in metro gay society, you must be very well-off, educated, and for the most part, perfect. It's a sad commentary when we are supposedly coming out as an act of honesty when we really come out to a group of people who are even more judgmental than mainstream society. Our expectations of other gay people exceed goals we could ever achieve as individuals, and I think watching that on television removes us from what it's really like. If anything, I think that Stanford guy on Sex and the City represents most of the gay men I've met over the years - your somewhat effeminate guy with his insecurities and social awkwardness, and wondering if the gay community (and it's acceptance of their own) is just an illusion. Great ideas on the other posts...

[Lamare]

Reality television has played an important role in creating visibility for the GLBT community, however we should already know that visibility does not spell out equality. We must continue to forge new paths on the road ahead, by not being silent, speaking out, and actively continuing to live out the change in the world that we seek.

[BrianMK]

The minute someone steps in front of a video camera, all reality is suspended. The only valid representation of GLBT peoples is the one we present in our daily lives when we our out to friends and family. Everything else is smoke and mirrors.

[Roger]

Reality shows suck so the question is not worth asking/answering. Reality shows do not represent anybody in a realistic light. The sooner they fall out of vogue, the better off we'll all be.

[Trey]

Sorry but Hollywood is still NOT homo friendly. There might be plenty of closeted gay actors and plenty of out of the closet set designers, hairstylists, writers, etc....that work behind the scenes but the Hollywood bosses are still old straight white men that only use gays and other minority characters as a "background". Sure, many shows have that ONE token gay character but we are still not getting leading roles. The day they decide to put out a blockbuster superhero movie and make the character gay is the day I'll think maybe we've gained ground in acceptance. But until then we're still going to be portrayed as these non threatening homos in supporting roles as you see on Desperate Housewives and Ugly Betty. Give me a kick ass gay former marine that turned into a detective and put that on television. THAT will make me proud.

[Jim]

For far too long, gays have been portrayed on reality TV,on average, as either "Bitchy", "Campy" or "feminine". Lets face it... Drama makes for good TV !
It wasn't until this most recent season of BB10 that I really felt proud that a different population of the gay world was represented fairly. Steven Daigle ,the gay cowboy, was not only the HOTTEST guy in the house of any season, but he was also a "Butch" acting cowboy from Texas who definitley broke all the gay stereotype's.
I think it's good for conservative, middle America to see that we are not all the Stereotype that TV portray's us as.

[SanDiEgo Greg]

To answer the original questions; Robert Gant is by far better then the other freak show & No - Reality TV is not better for the gay or str8 communities.

[steve]

great article, although there are many types of gays. i dont believe we will ever be truly portrayed in any type of media. i have been accused of being a closet hetro because i am an animal behaviorist who is not afraid of dirt, who works on cars and remodels my home as a hobby and i have more tools than home depot. but if you were to just have a normal conversation with me you would know that im gay. yet when my lover and i were talking with neighbors who had lived next to us for 10 years,they politely informed my lover, after i had left the room to bring drinks back, that they had figured out what the home associations problem was with me. that it was because i was gay. and they wanted to let him know that they were ok with me being gay but they were nervous saying anything cause they werent sure if my lover knew i was gay. they thought we were just roommates. my lover laughed so hard and told them ofcourse he knew i was gay because he had been having sex with me for 15 years. they were shocked that he was gay because he diddnt fit any of the stereo types of gays that they had seen in the media. so hopefully people will realize that we are just all human beings with felings and faults like everyone else. and that we should stop worrying about what everybody thinks and just learn to love our selves and eachother and forget lables and stereotypes.

[RICHARD A. HEWITT]

I DO NOT THINK REALITY TV PERSONALITIES NOR TV CHARACTERS REALLY REPRESENT YOUR AVERAGE GAY PERSON. THEY ARE USUALLY ONE EXTREME OR ANOTHER. THERE ARE A FEW IN BOTH CATEGORIES, THAT ARE GOOD EXAMPLES OF THE AVERAGE GAY PERSON BUT FOR THE MOST PART, I BELIEVE OUR REPRESENTATION IS DISTORTED BY WHAT VIEWERS ACTUALLY SEE.

[Joseph B]

I definitely feel sometimes like the reality shows are more accurate and then there are times where the scripted characters seemless embarassing.

[Chuck]

I personally think characters on TV do better at representing us a whole than reality tv.

[Dave]

I personally think the reality type T.V. shows represent gays better, more accurately, than scripted T.V. shows. My all-time favorite is Reichen Lehmkuhl, Reichen Lehmkuhl, and Reichen Lehmkuhl.

[Marshall in Seattle]

Having come out when cops cruised bars, they said, to be sure no one was touching while they danced (a.k.a the birth of disco?), the more gay "types" America and the world sees on TV, in movies and on the stage, the better. We've come a l-o-n-n-n-n-g way.

[GLEN]

Most reality shows do not show normal gay people....they pick extreme characters. stereotypes....sad to say.

[Drake]

I believe representation is key to success and gays in T.V shows are definitely not shown to their true personalities. Although yes some are flamboyant and others are masculine, there are casual gays and lesbians that are just like average people. And that is the side of the GLBTQ community that is not shown on network television. So I believe there should be a change in how the networks operate. But that is a decision that has to be made from inside the company. The Queer community should not take it under their hands to take action.

[chou-lin shue]

大家好 呵呵 ^^ 其實我覺得每一種方式都很好阿 提高同志的能見度 其實時間是最好的見證人 如果說 可以讓廣大民眾更加了解 更加熟悉 更加認同 其實不嘗試一個很好的模式 我的英文不是很好 所以我只好寫中文了 不過 不知道這裡接不接受中文呢 大家加油喔 ^^

[Brian Eagle]

I would love to see some more gay guys on scripted shows. Reality show gay guys generally play to a stereotype, because they are frequently REAL out as opposed to comfortably out. It cracks me up when you watch Survivor or a similar show, and you look for what groups are represented: black guy, angry racist white guy, generic Asian, generic latino, overly pretty woman, and then you seek the gay guy. How about a regular go to the bar and have a beer gay guy?

As much as I love the twinks of Calvin Klein commercials or the ones on Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, I don't know many guys who look or act like that in real life. Where are my bears and cubs on TV?

[David]

I think gay and lesbian cast members of TV reality shows are conscience of being "a good role model"; in that they (for the most part) represent us well. I find that gay men aren't ANYwhere near as drammatic as their straight counterparts! Recently on Big Brother 10, there was a gay male who wasn't a stereotype drama queen. He didn't "act straight" or anything like that either. He was merely himself and competed as fair as anyoine could compete on the show. Gay and Lesbian television characters are more "real" than ever. And this IS a good sign.

[Dr Franky Dolan]

I am grateful to see the LGBT exposure at all. It was not too long ago when Ellen coming out of the closet was an amazing catastrophe in the media. Now, LGBT exposure is a regular thing.

I am actually glad to see all of the comments on this article in fact. It is great to see our community coming together and having discussions about empowering our image and societal influence. I love it!

I would love to see more spiritual gays represented!

:-)

[Bob Page]

Man, I've so wanted to see a transgendered male in ANTM.

I think I'm going to start watching the show again.

PS. I love Tyra's look here on video.

[Seamus in Seattle]

I have been pleased with the introduction of scripted gay characters over the years with a few exceptions. Even as far back as the "pseudo-gay" Jack on Three's Company and the "he must be gay" Monroe on Too Close for Comfort, the public has been given what it could handle at the time. Appropriate characters have been introduced at appropriate times which has allowed gay culture to be more readily digested into the American television diet. I would have liked to have seen more content and earlier acceptance, but it may not have been realistic to expect these things.

As "reality television" started taking it's toll on our sensibilities, however, I found myself at odds with my feelings about how we were being represented. I am strongly against most "reality television" and the damage it can do to the psyche. The term itself is an oxymoron and until John Q. Public learns that LIFE is reality, NOT television, this is a very dangerous weapon that the networks are wielding irresponsibly just to make a buck.

For example, when I first saw "Queer Eye..." I was amazed that our own community would allow such a show to air especially after I heard the kind of conversations that were being held about it so casually later. I found it an affront to my very existence that our community was being represented in such a stereotypical way. The show achieved its success mostly on stereotypes and shock value, and people were watching it just to "laugh at the funny faggots."

We have to remember that in general the public at large are just sheep waiting for their television shepherd to lead them to their next set of beliefs and ideals. When people watch "reality television" they often believe they are actually watching something from which they should learn and derive substance and meaning.

A show like "Queer Eye..." probably did have a place in its time as plenty of sheep watched it for entertainment other than gay-bashing, but damage was done nonetheless.

In closing, to answer the question whether "scripted" or "reality" is best, it is important to realize there is much editing that can be performed to affect the final product of either type. However, in a scripted environment the edits are more safely limited within the context of a script, whereas in a "reality" environment there are random circumstances and infinite variables that can be (and are) manipulated to influence what is caught on film as fodder for editing. This makes "reality" a far more dangerous and less desirable medium as edits will be done to produce the most dramatic and controversial effects, and ensure shock value. In my opinion, given these two options, scripted is better for our community at this time...unless you consider live TV!

[Garret Nordstrom]

I think it's 6 of 1 half a dozen of the other really, i mean if a scripted show is well writen it can represent the gay community very well! I just like seeing more Gays on TV whether it's reality TV or scripted shows!!!

[Mark]

I think TV that portrays gays in either reality or scripted shows provides an opportunity for exposure to the rest of the world, and allows non-gays to see us as everyday people, just living our lives. It also shows that all people share the same kinds of joys and sorrows, challenges and triumpts, ups and downs. That makes us all part of the family.

[Kyle]

Reality or scripted, it seems that network execs have no true sense of real gay life - or, perhaps they do. It's demeaning to see almost every gay character beamed into my living room as a raging femme speaking with a lisp. They do this for mere entertainment value. The truth is – labels are wrong! Whether it’s a character on TV or the person standing next to you in line at Starbucks; gay, straight, transvestite, cross dresser, whatever – people like what they like – it’s human nature, pure and simple.

Kyle

[lisa]

No we arent betrayed right.But aleast they are showing more gay and lesbians things not being so hush hush. Their growing up

[asdfTambourine]

I watch vanishingly little television, but I can report that the Catalan soap opera El Cor de la Ciutat has had a gay character at the very centre of the plot for some time. Many of the YouTube clips about Max and his boyfriend have included snatches of the opening or closing credits, implying that his is one of the major storylines.

Here's an earlier clip, Max as a young lad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TzT5uiyGbts

[Austin Bailey]

When are we going to see masculine gay black men on t.v. Im a full time firefighter, ex Nayv corpsman pretty mainstream gay man. All i see are these bitchy queenie sterotypical gay men on t.v. whom i have nothing in common with other than the fact that im gay.

[Waylon]

Danny Roberts, Real World New Orleans, definately my favorite! Mmmm

[PaulE Louisville]

I agree that things are better, but I get so tired of the screaming queens. Yes, there have been major exceptions, but it's obvious the casting directors on reality shows are looking for a type just as writers on scripted shows write a certain type.

Gay people are as diverse as any group. Yet, I rather see me represented - the regular guy. We're either shown as screamers or muscleheads. Great decorators, cooks, etc. or pathetic losers. Sadly, I don't see me much in gay media, either. I don't live at the gym and love Sex & the City. So, it ain't just the mainstream, you know?

[Nizzler]

Reality TV shows are depicting a wider spectrum of gay people these days and that is a positive thing for my money. I prefer reality to contrived I think. Viewing audiences are still being presented a very narrow band of gay "types" however. We do not see regular Janes and Johns who are ethnic, blue collar, and urban or rural portrayed in significant numbers or frequency in any case. I would very much like to see the number of everyday "real" gay people shown in these reality shows increase.

[R.D. Owens]

I don't believe gays are represented on television or on moive screens, very well at all. The world sees us as flaming, flamboiant, whinning, princess guys and I am none of the above. A lot of my friends didn't know I was gay until I told them or they look at my facebok page.
I believe the world needs to know the struggle we go through to do our best to try to fit in and try to not offend people - and if not that, the struggle we grow through to be comfortable to be ourselves. There are no role models for closeted gays because what they see in the media isn't real. I feel that a real visionary of us is needed and it is not being seen in the media at all really. There are hints of it, but not nearly enough for everyone to see or understand the true face of homosexuality.

[Beck Robertson]

While I personally think it's great that openly gay people in general are now seen as "acceptable" fodder for prime time television shows I think there is also a danger of stereotyping these people. Their gayness is not what defines them as people, as individuals they have functioning lives, relationships, thoughts, careers etc...
Being gay, lesbian, trans etc.. is just one facet of what they are not the whole story.

[Duke]

I actually did an episode of a reality dating show once, and I can say from personal experience that these shows are NOT "reality." Everybody from the casting crew, to the producers, to the directors constantly coached me to act ludicrously effeminate and hyper-sexual at every possible moment. Then when I saw the episode I was in air, the editing team had done a wonderful job of cutting out the MOST extreme (and most coached) moments of flamboyancy. Not only was I acting my gayest at their command, but sometimes they would call "cut" (on a "reality" program) and feed me ridiculously stupid lines! Basically, what I'm trying to say is this: There may be a lot of gay people on "reality" shows but they are just as fake as the scripted shows. These people are portraying characters just like the people on sitcoms and soaps. In my opinion, the "reality" shows are WORSE for the gay community because they use gay people literally as clowns for the purpose of ratings for their mostly straight-audience-targeted shows. I deeply regret my involvement in the process.

[Brad]

I agree with James Cameron above regarding the didactic of "reality TV" v. "scripted characterizations. It's all good ultimately as the more straight America sees us, and more importantly knows us as their family, friend, neighbor, customer, church member, PTA member etc..., the more equality we will acheive over time.

[billy blazer]

Excusing to the writers finely tuned blue collar sensibilities for a moment, reality shows are a dumbing down of an already souless entertainment medium. No serious talent takes these shows seriously and neither does anyone else. Gay actors need to try harder and shoot higher and leave reality shows to the mindless muscle-heads that doze off watching.

[Bdo]

Growing up in a small town my first positive gay role models where Pedro Zamorah on The Real World and Norman Korpi..also from the Real World. They gave me a sense of hope and helped me accept who I was.

Today...I shudder to think if I was a teenager growing up watching TV today where the only gay people you see are bitchy anorexics, fashion designers and make over stylists.

There are no role models on TV shows anymore and that's ok for those of us who are adults; but I feel sorry for all the gay kids growing up confused and apprehensive about their sexuality only to see images of bitchy stereotypes on so-called reality shows.

Or any gay kids with self image issues who see nothing but six pack abs and disco pecs and designer clothing. That's a very hard image to live up to

[julien]

I don't like reality tv because its stupid and not real, if it was real it wouldn't have as many ending credits just the person who film it and thats all, reality tv is scripted. I dont think that reality does a good job at showing us but scripted does to a degree.

[Rob in Austin]

Most of us seem to forget that reality TV, though not scripted, is written. Pay close attention to the credits at the end of any episode and you’ll see an onslaught of writer credits.

Why? Because you need lots of people to weed through hours of footage and pull together some semblance of a story. This means that our reality TV is not that real. It’s not totally fake, on the other hand, cause it’s normally not scripted before hand… so the people have to have actually said or done whatever it is that’s being recorded.

Also these people have chosen to be on the show and are performing. No matter what they say or how much they try not to they are performing who they think they are or who they who they want others to believe they are. If you don’t believe me just take a camera to your next gathering and see people completely change in front of it. They still look and sound like themselves, but there is something not quite honest about their behavior.

Having said all that, the bonus of having gays on reality shows is that they are not straight actors playing gay. They are gay. This takes the confusion and argument out of representation and just puts a queer on TV.

I for one don’t watch most Reality TV because it doesn’t interest me. As such, I’d rather see more honestly written characters on dramas and comedies, whether they be gay or straight.

Unrelated - Christian from Project Runway annoyed the shit out of me and couldn’t hold a candle to Chris’s talent and radical design aesthetic. Richard Hatch was a first in many ways and as such should be respected.