Citation

Gordon P. J. Pop. Cult. 2016; 49(6): 1261-1279.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2016, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/jpcu.12487

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In American popular culture, any arbitrary consen moment can exemplify the haunted experience of LGBT life. For example, in early March, 2015, the ABC network family show The Fosters made history by showing the youngest same-sex kiss on television between its two thirteen-year-old characters (played by actors ages 14 and 15). Twitter and other social media platforms did not lack for naysayers condemning the kiss on various moral grounds, but this outrage may have been only half as commonplace in contemporary society as same-sex representation in popular media. Even in the late 1990s, representations of same-sex desire were rare and controversial but less than 20 years later, a gay kiss on TV is only noteworthy in rare circumstances. At some point in time between Dumbledore comming out of the closet and Michael Sam snogging his boyfriend on ESPN during the NFL draft, the national zeitgeist has moved from shock about images of gay existance to something that might even approach acceptance.

Despite this progress toward acceptance, not all newsworthy events about LGBT life have been positive. Transgender teen Leelah Alcorn's 2014 suicide stood out for the violent means by which she shose to end her life. Although she posted her suicide note on social media, her parents ninetheless attempted to erase her transgender identity and mitigate...

Language: en