Straightwashing (also called hetwashing) is portraying
LGB (
lesbian
A lesbian is a Homosexuality, homosexual woman.Zimmerman, p. 453. The word is also used for women in relation to their sexual identity or sexual behavior, regardless of sexual orientation, or as an adjective to characterize or associate n ...
,
gay
''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'.
While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late 1 ...
,
bisexual
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whi ...
) or otherwise
queer
''Queer'' is an umbrella term for people who are not heterosexual or cisgender. Originally meaning or , ''queer'' came to be used pejoratively against those with same-sex desires or relationships in the late 19th century. Beginning in the lat ...
characters in fiction as
heterosexual
Heterosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction or sexual behavior between people of the opposite sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, heterosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to ...
(straight), making LGB people appear heterosexual, or altering information about historical figures to make their representation comply with
heteronormativity
Heteronormativity is the concept that heterosexuality is the preferred or normal mode of sexual orientation. It assumes the gender binary (i.e., that there are only two distinct, opposite genders) and that sexual and marital relations are most ...
.
Straightwashing is seen most prominently in works of fiction, especially television and cinema, whereby characters who were originally portrayed as
homosexual
Homosexuality is romantic attraction, sexual attraction, or sexual behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is "an enduring pattern of emotional, romantic, and/or sexual attractions" to peop ...
, bisexual, or
asexual are misrepresented as heterosexual.
''Straightwashing'' is a relatively contemporary term which has increased in usage and acknowledgement in recent years. Despite an increasing presence of queer characters and storylines in U.S. television, concerns about the straightwashing of queer characters and storylines persist. Common justifications for straightwashing include "producers' concerns about audience reactions and social norms and stereotypes regarding acceptable forms of queerness."
Etymology
Etymologically, straightwashing is derived from the term '
whitewash
Whitewash, or calcimine, kalsomine, calsomine, or lime paint is a type of paint made from slaked lime ( calcium hydroxide, Ca(OH)2) or chalk calcium carbonate, (CaCO3), sometimes known as "whiting". Various other additives are sometimes used ...
', which alludes to "both censorship and the
intersectional
Intersectionality is an analytical framework for understanding how aspects of a person's social and political identities combine to create different modes of discrimination and privilege. Intersectionality identifies multiple factors of adva ...
link with the discrimination faced by people of color."
Straightwashing differs from the use of
straight
Straight may refer to:
Slang
* Straight, slang for heterosexual
** Straight-acting, an LGBT person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of the gay stereotype
* Straight, a member of the straight edge subculture
Sport and games
* Str ...
actors to play LGB roles or characters. Anna King of ''
Time Out'' likens the latter to
blackface
Blackface is a form of theatrical makeup used predominantly by non-Black people to portray a caricature of a Black person.
In the United States, the practice became common during the 19th century and contributed to the spread of racial stereo ...
, the use of dark makeup (often by
white
White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...
actors) worn to mimic the appearance of a
black person
Black is a racialized classification of people, usually a political and skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin; in certain countries, often in s ...
, often used to mock or ridicule black people.
In fiction
Dragos Manea distinguishes between changing a queer character in fiction into a straight character, toning down the queer aspects of a character to make the character more acceptable to a heterosexual audience, removing queer referents from marketing posters or DVD covers, and changing the depiction of entire queer cultures or societies into a heterosexual version.
Film
In fiction, the practice of straightwashing has particularly been noted in screenplays based on comic books.
The
X-Men
The X-Men are a superhero team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics, first appearing in Uncanny X-Men, ''The X-Men'' #1 by artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby and writer/editor Stan Lee in 1963. Although initially cancelled in ...
character
Mystique is depicted as bisexual in the comic books, but in the films, she is shown as straight.
Within the comic books published by
Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...
, Mystique had romantic relationships with both male and female characters. Her most prominent relationship was with
Destiny
Destiny, sometimes referred to as fate (from Latin ''fatum'' "decree, prediction, destiny, fate"), is a predetermined course of events. It may be conceived as a predetermined future, whether in general or of an individual.
Fate
Although often ...
, a female "fellow member of the
Brotherhood of Evil Mutants
The Brotherhood of Mutants (originally called the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, sometimes referred to as BoEM or B.O.E.M) is a fictional team appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The characters are depicted as being devoted ...
with whom she raised a child."
Within the
X-Men films released by
20th Century Fox
20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...
between 2000 and 2019, the character of Mystique, played by
Rebecca Romijn
Rebecca Alie O'Connell (née Romijn ; born November 6, 1972) is an American actress and former model (person), model. She is known for her role as Mystique (comics), Mystique in the original trilogy (2000–2006) of the X-Men (film series), ...
(from 2000 to 2011) and
Jennifer Lawrence
Jennifer Shrader Lawrence (born August 15, 1990) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2015 and 2016, her films have grossed over $6 billion worldwide to date. She appeared in ''Time''s 100 most influential people i ...
(from 2011 to 2019), did not have any relationship or interest in another female character.
The 2015 film ''
Stonewall'' was accused of ciswashing—the comparable concept for transgender people—for minimizing the roles of black and
trans
Trans- is a Latin prefix meaning "across", "beyond", or "on the other side of".
Used alone, trans may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* Trans (festival), a former festival in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom
* ''Trans'' (film ...
activists involved in the
Stonewall riots
The Stonewall riots (also known as the Stonewall uprising, Stonewall rebellion, or simply Stonewall) were a series of spontaneous protests by members of the gay community in response to a police raid that began in the early morning hours of Ju ...
.
In Stuart Richard's article "The Imitation Game and the 'straightwashing' of film", about the film ''
The Imitation Game
''The Imitation Game'' is a 2014 American historical drama film directed by Morten Tyldum and written by Graham Moore, based on the 1983 biography '' Alan Turing: The Enigma'' by Andrew Hodges. The film's title quotes the name of the game cry ...
'', Richards states that
WW II code breaker "
Alan Turing
Alan Mathison Turing (; 23 June 1912 – 7 June 1954) was an English mathematician, computer scientist, logician, cryptanalyst, philosopher, and theoretical biologist. Turing was highly influential in the development of theoretical com ...
's
aysexuality is downplayed and used as a
plot device
A plot device or plot mechanism
is any narrative technique, technique in a narrative used to move the Plot (narrative), plot forward. A clichéd plot device may annoy the reader and a contrived or arbitrary device may confuse the reader, causing ...
", to show him as a "
tragic hero
A tragic hero is the protagonist of a tragedy. In his ''Poetics'', Aristotle records the descriptions of the tragic hero to the playwright and strictly defines the place that the tragic hero must play and the kind of man he must be. Aristotle ba ...
and an eccentric, secretive man"; to make the film " 'safe' for a potentially conservative audience", the film only depicts him romantically with Joan Clarke (
Keira Knightley
Keira Christina Righton (; née Knightley, born 26 March 1985) is an English actress. Known for her work in both independent films and blockbusters, particularly period dramas, she has received several accolades, including nominations for ...
).
Television
The character
John Constantine
John Constantine () is a fictional character who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. Constantine first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #37 (June 1985), and was created by Alan Moore, Stephen R. Bissette, Rick Veitch, and John ...
, played by the actor
Matt Ryan, from the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
television series ''
Constantine
Constantine most often refers to:
* Constantine the Great, Roman emperor from 306 to 337, also known as Constantine I
*Constantine, Algeria, a city in Algeria
Constantine may also refer to:
People
* Constantine (name), a masculine given name ...
'' has been highly criticized for not displaying the same sexuality that was originally written in the
DC comic
DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery.
DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their ...
book series, ''
Constantine: Hellblazer''. The TV executives decided that John Constantine's
bisexuality
Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...
was not to be included in the TV show and he was depicted as a straight male.
However, when Ryan reprised the role on ''
Legends of Tomorrow
''DC's Legends of Tomorrow'', or simply ''Legends of Tomorrow'', is an American Time travel in fiction, time travel superhero fiction, superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, Andrew Kreisberg, and Phil Klem ...
'', the character was portrayed as bisexual.
The TV series ''
Riverdale'' from
The CW
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
television network has been subject to criticisms about their depiction of one of the main characters
Jughead Jones
Forsythe Pendleton "Jughead" Jones III is one of the fictional characters created by Bob Montana and John L. Goldwater in Archie Comics who first appeared in the first Archie story, from ''Pep Comics'' #22 (December 1941). He is the drummer of th ...
(played by American actor
Cole Sprouse
Cole Mitchell Sprouse (born August 4, 1992) is an American actor and photographer. He is known for his role as Cody Martin on the Disney Channel series ''The Suite Life of Zack & Cody'' (2005–2008) and its spin-off series ''The Suite Life on ...
) as a straight male character. According to an interview with comicbook.com,
Chip Zdarsky
Steve Murray (born December 21, 1975), known by the pen-name Chip Zdarsky, is a Canadian comic book artist and writer, journalist, illustrator and designer. He has also used the pseudonym Todd Diamonte. He worked for ''National Post'' for over a ...
, the author of the
Jughead comic book, stated that he wrote Jughead as an
asexual character. Many people "within the asexual community are upset about the development of the TV series, ''Riverdale'', on the CW".
The NBC TV drama ''
Rise
Rise or RISE may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional entities
* '' Rise: The Vieneo Province'', an internet-based virtual world
* Rise FM, a fictional radio station in the video game ''Grand Theft Auto 3''
* Rise Kujikawa, a vide ...
'' has been criticized for changing the basis of the production, a "real-life gay drama teacher" in a working class town, into a straight man; ''Out'' magazine calls it "cultural theft and
ayerasure" that "should have been the story of a complicated LGBTQ hero".
The Japanese anime and manga series
Sailor Moon
is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Naoko Takeuchi. It was originally serialized in Kodansha's ''shōjo'' manga magazine ''Nakayoshi'' from 1991 to 1997; the 52 individual chapters were published in 18 volumes. The seri ...
is well known for several LGTB characters who in the English translated version made by
DiC and
Cloverway
Cloverway Inc. (abbreviated as CWi, also branded as Cloverway) was a media licensing agency based in Long Beach, California which specialized in Japanese animation and Manga licensing, and they were best known for being the representative office ...
, were altered to minimize their identity, including the gay relationship of
Kunzite
Spodumene is a pyroxene mineral consisting of lithium aluminium inosilicate, Li Al( Si O3)2, and is a source of lithium. It occurs as colorless to yellowish, purplish, or lilac kunzite (see below), yellowish-green or emerald-green hiddenite, pr ...
(named Malachite in the English translation) and
Zoisite
Zoisite, first known as saualpite, after its type locality, is a calcium aluminium hydroxy sorosilicate belonging to the epidote group of minerals. Its chemical formula is Ca2 Al3( Si O4)(Si2O7)O(O H).
Zoisite occurs as prismatic, orthorhombi ...
, the latter of whom was edited to be a woman, as well as the lesbian relationship of
Haruka Tenou as Sailor Uranus and
Michiru Kaiou as Sailor Neptune. As well, several translations into other languages of the final season, Stars, also changed the
Sailor Starlights of Yaten, Seiya, and Taiki, who take on a day role as part of a boy band but who transform into females when they take on their superheroine persona.
Video games
Games such as
Blizzard's ''
World of Warcraft
''World of Warcraft'' (''WoW'') is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) released in 2004 by Blizzard Entertainment. Set in the ''Warcraft'' fantasy universe, ''World of Warcraft'' takes place within the world of Azeroth ...
'' can be seen as inherently queer, since in the game both gender and sexuality are
fluid
In physics, a fluid is a liquid, gas, or other material that continuously deforms (''flows'') under an applied shear stress, or external force. They have zero shear modulus, or, in simpler terms, are substances which cannot resist any shear ...
and customizable. Here, the possibility of playing a non-straight main character is developmental.
However, in 2010 Blizzard began to "straighten" many parts of the game by removing the majority of the The heteronormativity can be seen as a movement towards homophobia especially seen in two parts of the game which were added in 2010. First, is entitled "Shafted". Evocative of phallic penetration, the task is to "shoot 10 players with the Silver Shafted Arrow", which is a special holiday item that creates a small, cupid-like goblin that flits about the target.
Both the item and quest flirt with the titillation and anxiety over penetrative sex, specifically
anal
Anal may refer to:
Related to the anus
*Related to the anus of animals:
** Anal fin, in fish anatomy
** Anal vein, in insect anatomy
** Anal scale, in reptile anatomy
*Related to the human anus:
** Anal sex, a type of sexual activity involvin ...
or male-on-male sex. The second is entitled "Flirting with Disaster", and requires the player to "get completely smashed, put on your best perfume, throw a handful of rose petals on Sraaz
n Alliance NPCor Jeremiah Payson
Horde NPCand then kiss him. You'll regret it in the morning." The humorous intention of "Flirting with Disaster" is for a male avatar to kiss another male. When a player character drinks in-game to the point of being "completely smashed", the game clouds the player's screen as if everything becomes drunkenly blurry and unfocused. This confusion begins the joke that they must engage in a kind of "gay chicken" and flirt with a male toon. The "regret" the player character supposedly feels is one of homophobic shame excused by the fiction of drunken experimentation or ignorance.
Zynga
Zynga Inc. () is an American developer running social video game services. It was founded in April 2007, with headquarters in San Mateo, California. The company primarily focuses on mobile and social networking platforms. Zynga states its missio ...
's ''
FrontierVille
''The Pioneer Trail'', formerly known as ''FrontierVille'' is a defunct simulation, role-playing video game available for play on social networking sites such as Facebook. Developed by Zynga, and launched on June 9, 2010, it was a freemium game ...
'' game is "a
wild west
The American frontier, also known as the Old West or the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that began with European colonial ...
-themed social game that allows users to tame the wilderness, grow a family, and build a thriving frontier town." Zynga allows players to create virtual families by customizing a spouse in order to raise a virtual family. The game does not set a gender to the player's spouse, opening a place for queer possibility.
The video game ''
Undertale
''Undertale'' is a 2015 2D role-playing video game created by American indie developer Toby Fox. The player controls a child who has fallen into the Underground: a large, secluded region under the surface of the Earth, separated by a magical ...
'' has "been straight-washed by many writers and fans", leading to the "erasure of the queerness found in ''Undertale'' and a recasting of the game as one that jibes with the interests of heterosexual male gamers".
Edmond Chang, an assistant professor of women's and gender studies at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
, gave a speech at the
University of California, Santa Barbara
The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...
in 2016 entitled "Brown Skins, White Avatars: Racebending and Straightwashing in Digital Games". Chang states that video games such as ''
Assassin's Creed
''Assassin's Creed'' is an open-world, action-adventure, and stealth game franchise published by Ubisoft and developed mainly by its studio Ubisoft Montreal using the game engine Anvil and its more advanced derivatives. Created by Patrice D ...
'' and ''World of Warcraft'' "manipulate race and sexuality, reinforce stereotypes and sometimes lack diversity".
Heidi McDonald
Heidi MacDonald (born November 15) is a writer and editor in the field of comic books based in New York City. She runs the comics industry news blog '' The Beat''.
Career
MacDonald is a former editor for DC Comics' Vertigo imprint and ''Disney ...
conducted a survey which statistically positioned
BioWare
BioWare is a Canadian video game developer based in Edmonton, Alberta. It was founded in 1995 by newly graduated Doctor of Medicine, medical doctors Ray Muzyka, Greg Zeschuk and Augustine Yip, alongside Trent Oster, Brent Oster, and Marcel Zes ...
as the industry leader of game romances, both gay and straight. BioWare's romance content has been evolving towards more inclusive romances for over 15 years.
Females were more supportive of wanting more queer romance content than males; however, more than half of straight males were also supportive of this.
In current affairs
After the
mass shooting
There is a lack of consensus on how to define a mass shooting. Most terms define a minimum of three or four victims of gun violence (not including the shooter or in an inner city) in a short period of time, although an Australian study from 200 ...
of gay men at the
Pulse nightclub
Pulse was a gay bar, dance club, and nightclub in Orlando, Florida, founded in 2004 by Barbara Poma and Ron Legler. On June 12, 2016, the club was the scene of the second worst mass shooting by a single gunman in U.S. history, and the second ...
in Orlando, a gay club, some commentators did not refer to the LGBT victims, with the
Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee (RNC) is a U.S. political committee that assists the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican brand and political platform, as well as assisting in fu ...
denouncing "violence against any group of people simply for their lifestyle or orientation" and
Senate
A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
Majority Leader
Mitch McConnell
Addison Mitchell McConnell III (born February 20, 1942) is an American politician and retired attorney serving as the senior United States senator from Kentucky and the Senate minority leader since 2021. Currently in his seventh term, McConne ...
not mentioning LGBT people in his statement. Activist John Becker stated that media are "straightwashing" the attack by "downplaying or even omitting the fact that the shooting was a
crime of hatred against the LGBT community".
During the 2018
Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...
' Opening Ceremony, the television network NBC did not "mention or highlight a single out LGBTQ athlete in its three hours of Opening Ceremony coverage"; the network did not acknowledge the only "publicly out American woman at the Games" or the first four "openly gay
enat the Olympic Games".
A promotional video campaign created by the
Provincetown
Provincetown is a New England town located at the extreme tip of Cape Cod in Barnstable County, Massachusetts, in the United States. A small coastal resort town with a year-round population of 3,664 as of the 2020 United States Census, Provincet ...
Chamber of Commerce shows the town's busy nightlife and artists, but the advertisement makes no mention of the town's active LGBT community, in what some LGBT activists call an example of straightwashing.
Lotte Jeffs has criticized the straightwashing of the
London's LGBT pride event, stating that rather than focus on recognizing the rights of queer, trans and non-heterosexual people, it has switched to making the LGBT event "palatable for the masses" and for heterosexual people who will attend.
She says that while big companies sponsor activities and include rainbow themes in their publicity materials, they hire straight celebrities to endorse products and brands for the event, with few "dar
ngto use the words "gay", "lesbian", "trans" or "bi" when they show their support for Pride".
History
In the US, from 1930 to 1968, the
Motion Picture Production Code
The Motion Picture Production Code was a set of industry guidelines for the self-censorship of content that was applied to most motion pictures released by major studios in the United States from 1934 to 1968. It is also popularly known as the ...
caused major studios to eliminate gay characters or references from movies.
The 1995 documentary ''
The Celluloid Closet
''The Celluloid Closet'' is a 1995 American documentary film directed and written by Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman. The film is based on Vito Russo's 1981 book ''The Celluloid Closet: Homosexuality in the Movies'', and on lecture and film clip ...
'' shows how some screenwriters and directors tried to use
queer coding
Queer coding is the Subtext, subtextual Code (semiotics), coding of a character in media as queer. Though such a character's sexual identity may not be explicitly confirmed within their respective work or they may in fact be straight despite their ...
to subtly introduce gay characters, roles or themes, without it being noticed by censors, such as with
Gore Vidal
Eugene Luther Gore Vidal (; born Eugene Louis Vidal, October 3, 1925 – July 31, 2012) was an American writer and public intellectual known for his epigrammatic wit, erudition, and patrician manner. Vidal was bisexual, and in his novels and ...
adding in a gay relationship in ''
Ben-Hur''.
The Motion Picture Production Code also led to the elimination of depictions of bisexuality in the film version of
Truman Capote
Truman Garcia Capote ( ; born Truman Streckfus Persons; September 30, 1924 – August 25, 1984) was an American novelist, screenwriter, playwright and actor. Several of his short stories, novels, and plays have been praised as literary classics, ...
's novel ''
Breakfast at Tiffany's''. In the book, the male "artsy gigolo-writer" had "male and female clients", but in the movie, he is only shown with Holly Golightly. As well, the Code led to the elimination of a gay relationship in the film version of
Tennessee Williams
Thomas Lanier Williams III (March 26, 1911 – February 25, 1983), known by his pen name Tennessee Williams, was an American playwright and screenwriter. Along with contemporaries Eugene O'Neill and Arthur Miller, he is considered among the thre ...
' play ''
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof
''Cat on a Hot Tin Roof'' is a three-act play written by Tennessee Williams. An adaptation of his 1952 short story "Three Players of a Summer Game", the play was written by him between 1953 and 1955. One of Williams's more famous works and his p ...
''. In the play, Brick Pollit is depicted as being the lover of a family patriarch named Skipper. In the 1958 film version, the story arc of the gay relationship is replaced with a story of Skipper's frustration over his faded football career and a heterosexual
sexless marriage
A sexless marriage is a marital union in which little or no Human sexual activity, sexual activity occurs between the two spouses. The US National Health and Social Life Survey in 1992 found that 2% of married respondents aged 18 to 59 reported n ...
.
Historical accounts of lesbian
suffragettes
A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in particular to members ...
Eva Gore-Booth
Eva Selina Laura Gore-Booth (22 May 1870 – 30 June 1926) was an Irish poet, theologian, and dramatist, and a committed suffragist, social worker and labour activist. She was born at Lissadell House, County Sligo, the younger sister of C ...
and
Esther Roper
Esther Roper (4 August 1868 – 28 April 1938) was an Irish-English suffragist and social justice campaigner who fought for equal employment and voting rights for working-class women.
Early life and education
Esther Roper was born near Chorley ...
in some cases straightwash their sexuality, with the historian
Gifford Lewis denying they were lesbian or queer in his biographies of them. Some letters by the composer
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky
Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...
in which he expressed his homosexual feelings remained censored and unpublished until 2018.
The ''
New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'' published no more than two front-page articles per year that made any kind of references to gays from the end of World War II through until 1965.
It did not improve much over the following 20 years either. It was rare that anything published was positive; most saw gays as security threats in the time of the
Cold War
The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...
. Gross (2001) pointed out gays' invisibility in this time period along with their concerns being publicly excluded.
In 1981, the
AIDS crisis
The AIDS epidemic, caused by HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus), found its way to the United States between the 1970s and 1980s, but was first noticed after doctors discovered clusters of Kaposi's sarcoma and pneumocystis pneumonia in homosexu ...
also received little media attention, even with the death rate rising rapidly. The ''New York Times'' did not mention
AIDS
Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...
until years after the outbreak and finally made the front page in 1983.
Edward Alwood (1996),
James Kinsella (1989) and
Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...
(1987)
all commented on ''The Times'' silence in relation to LGBT issues, especially the AIDS crisis. Coverage in the ''New York Times'' remained infrequent until the mid 1980s and then increased dramatically. This change in media is seen to be reflective of changes in society.
Rock Hudson
Rock Hudson (born Roy Harold Scherer Jr.; November 17, 1925 – October 2, 1985) was an American actor. One of the most popular movie stars of his time, he had a screen career spanning more than three decades. A prominent heartthrob in the Golde ...
's death,
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
's statements on AIDS in 1987, and President
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
's 1992 campaign proposal and the early 1993 congressional debate over the
ban on lesbians and gays in the military all increased ''Times'' coverage of lesbian and gay issues.
See also
*
Color-blind casting
Color-blind casting, also referred to as non-traditional casting, integrated casting, or blind casting is the practice of casting without considering the actor's ethnicity, skin color, body shape, sex or gender. A representative of the Actors' ...
*
Liberal homophobia
Liberal homophobia is the acceptance of homosexuality as long as it remains hidden. It is a type of homophobia in which, despite acceptance of sexual diversity being expressed, prejudices and stereotypes that marginalize or underestimate LGBT peopl ...
*
Pinkwashing (LGBT)
Pinkwashing is the strategy of promoting LGBT rights protections as evidence of liberalism and democracy, especially to distract from or legitimize violence against other countries or communities, often to improve a country's tarnished reputa ...
*
Queer erasure
LGBT erasure (also known as queer erasure) refers to the tendency to remove lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, asexual and queer groups or people (i.e. the LGBT community) intentionally or unintentionally from record, or to dismiss or downpla ...
*
Straight-acting
''Straight-acting'' is a term for a same gender-attracted person who does not exhibit the appearance or mannerisms of what is seen as stereotypical for gay people. Although the label is used by and reserved almost exclusively for gay and bisexual m ...
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Whitewashing in film
Whitewashing is a casting practice in the film industry in which white actors are cast in non-white roles. As defined by Merriam-Webster, to whitewash is "to alter...in a way that favors, features, or caters to white people: such as...casting a ...
References
Further reading
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* Ruberg, Bonnie. 2018. "Straightwashing Undertale: Video Games and the Limits of LGBTQ Representation." In "The Future of Fandom," special 10th anniversary issue, ''Transformative Works and Cultures'', no. 28. https://dx.doi.org/10.3983/twc.2018.1516.
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Cultural appropriation
Discrimination against LGBT people
LGBT slang
LGBT erasure