Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender 2011 Abstracts
Femme, Butch, or Other: A Study of LGBT Characters in Television • R. Serena Aubrey, University of South Florida • This study discusses the visibility and stereotypes present in lead and supporting LGBT characters in network prime-time television. Previous research is updated by analyzing the most current LGBT characters on 12 shows. Television has become a significant presence in the lives of Americans. This topic is worthy of examination because the public’s opinions could be influenced by the media’s representations, or misrepresentations, of LGBT people.
Body, My Gender, My Story: A Qualitative Analysis of Transgender Narratives and the It Gets Better Project • Erica Ciszek, University of Oregon • In response to a series of gay teen suicides, in September 2010, columnist and author Dan Savage and his partner Terry Miller created a YouTube video to reach out to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) youth. The video became the foundation for the It Gets Better Project, which has nearly 10,000 user-generated videos and over 30 million views. The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the dominant narrative elements in the stories told by transgender members of the LGBTQ community in user-generated YouTube submissions to the It Gets Better Project. The first person narrative structure provides the framework for trans people to speak for themselves in a public forum, in their own voice, truthfully and openly. The It Gets Better Project provides a repository of personal narratives that present not only messages of hope, but also provide a roadmap of how to navigate one’s individual and social identity, particularly as it relates to the transgender community. While the main objective of this project is to present the notion that in the future things do get better, the narratives highlight the importance of physical and psychological transitioning which is dependent on access to economic and social capital. This study illustrates how existing theoretical concepts may be used to understand the response of transgender members of the LGBTQ community to the recent gay teen suicides. Analyses suggest the importance of community, both on and offline, in the construction of personal and social identity of transgender people.
Selling Community: Uses of History in Philadelphia’s LGBT Tourism • Byron Lee, Temple University • This paper will examine the use of history as a method of promoting LGBT community in tourism advertising. Through a case study of Philadelphia’s LGBT tourism campaigns, this paper will examine how notions of history are used anchor and legitimize images of LGBT individuals and community in advertising. LGBT history is used both to locate LGBT individuals in history, as well as locate them in the present as a historical past.
Back to the Future: Uses of History in Newspapers and Judicial Records on Marriage Equality • Anqi Li, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill • In 2008, California voters amended the state constitution to limit marriage to heterosexual couples by passing Proposition 8. Federal district Judge Vaughn Walker declared the marriage ban unconstitutional on August 4, 2010, in Perry v. Schwarzenegger. The Perry case helped foreground the issue of marriage equality. Research suggests newspapers and courts sometimes draw on history to explain issues and bolster arguments. This paper assesses some of the ways in which three newspapers and three judicial records marshaled history to discuss marriage equality during and after the Perry trial (Jan. 1 to Dec. 31, 2010); how those uses reflected or challenged notions of marriage; and whether judicial uses of history were contradictory to or consistent with newspapers’ uses. The history marshaled by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, and Bay Area Reporter, and by the Perry decision, Plaintiff-Intervenor-Appellee Response Brief, and Defendant-Intervenors’ Trial Memorandum, typically favored same-sex couples’ inclusion in marriage. During the trial, newspapers used history to highlight the social significance of marriage and to explore same-sex couples’ qualifications to participate in marriage. Coverage thus focused on “marriage.” After the trial, newspapers used history to construct how society has grappled with marriage in the public forum. Coverage after the trial, then, dealt with “marriage discourse.” The narratives of marriage history in the newspaper coverage and judicial records challenged accepted memories of what marriage has been. Historical comparisons of public opinion and of political events and climate suggested what marriage could or should be in the future.
Moving Beyond Vodka, Vacations, and Viaticals: How The Advocate’s 1992 Redesign Solidified a New LGBT Marketing Segment • Laurie Phillips, University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill • In 1992, gay newsmagazine The Advocate’s editorial staff decided to banish the most profitable advertising – sexually explicit ads – from the magazine altogether in an attempt to secure ad dollars from national corporations. The banishment had been tried nearly 20 years earlier and failed. Through a historical study using narrative analysis of magazine advertisements and media coverage of the event, the purpose of this study is to explain why the timing of the second redesign made it successful and how the The Advocate’s 1992 redesign solidified today’s gay market segment. Guided by sociologist Gaye Tuchman’s expansion of the concept of symbolic annihilation and the cultural-historical method, this study argues that The Advocate’s redesign, which was prompted by competition from new market entrants, had far-reaching implications for the overall gay market.
Documenting a De Facto Same-Sex Marriage: Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo • Rodger Streitmatter, American University • One aspect of the same-sex marriage issue that scholars have not explored in depth is documenting case studies of significant de facto same-sex marriages from the past. This paper illuminates the relationship between Tennessee Williams and Frank Merlo. Biographies of Williams include only brief references to Merlo, but this study shows that Merlo made major contributions to the legendary playwright’s career.
Gender: The Next Generation (Representations of Transgender Teens in Fictional Media) • Jenny Porter Tilley, Indiana University • This paper offers a textual analysis of fictional representations of transgendered youth, including a teen television series (Degrassi, which recently won a 2010 Peabody Award for its two-part episode about a transgender teen), a television crime drama for an adult audience (Law & Order: Special Victims Unit) and three young adult fiction novels. The analysis of characters and plot in this sample focuses on relationship with friends and family; instability and self-harm; and the high school setting, showing ways in which recent mainstream media represent transgendered teens with more empathy than many past representations of transgendered adults.
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