The Treatment Of Gay vs. Lesbian Media: What’s The Difference?

In recent years, society has become more comfortable with the idea of media with leading LGBTQ+ couples. Rather than being secondary characters, the queer community has finally seen an influx of shows that are representative of their own stories. 

Not only has Hollywood and its respective international counterparts finally realized the demand for LGBTQ+ stories to be seen on the screen, but these shows are now becoming more popular than ever, with hit shows and movies like Heartstopper and Red, White & Royal Blue making big names for themselves on streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime. 

While queer stories are now increasingly more common in the media, it does not mean they are created or treated as equal. There’s a big difference between the way gay and lesbian media is handled by these large platforms. It’s more likely that you’ll know of more gay shows since they are consistently being renewed for new seasons and often show more palatable subjects in their storylines. They are also less likely to be accompanied by another lead couple. 

Heartstopper, based on a series of graphic novels of the same name, is a prime example of this. Their main couple, Nick and Charlie, are two British high school boys who deal with the trials and tribulations of being outed, coming out and being young and queer in the twenty-first century. While there are many other relationships that exist and form throughout the show, they are always secondary to the main couple and storyline of Nick and Charlie. Season 2 of the show received 6.1 million views after its premiere, already earning it a third season. 

Alternatively, there are very few shows surrounding lesbians where they are the sole primary couple. While shows like Euphoria, The Fosters and Yellowjackets have main lesbian couples, romance is often not the main purpose of the show. Romance takes a sideline to other important topics being discussed, but it is still unfortunate that queer women and non-binary people do not have shows that surround just love and romance in comparison to the influx of new gay shows and movies about this topic in particular.  

Even when shows surrounding lesbian couples make their debut, it’s rare to see it past one or two seasons. It’s a well-known fact that lesbian shows do not gain the same amount of traction and fame as their male counterparts. While it’s difficult to pinpoint just one exact reason, it’s clear that misogyny and lesbophobia in our society play a large role in why women-centered queer media has reached an all-time peak of cancellation in 2022 noted as the “purge of queer TV” by the media outlet LGBTQ Nation. 

Not only are queer women still struggling to be seen on screen past an eight or 12-episode run in 2023, but it’s historically a common trope for queer women to be killed off in television and movies in general. It’s almost laughable (but sad) how ready and open platforms are to gay media while at the same time shunning shows that center around LGBTQ+ women. 

Hopefully, this trend will die off in the future in favor of embracing queer women, an already unappreciated and often silenced group of people. 

• LGBTQ community
• Queer Representation