A Nudge to the Left

In 1996, democratic President Bill Clinton contently signed The Defense of Marriage Act into federal law; Americans were decidedly against same-sex marriage. Sixteen years later, as the opposition against the gay agenda falls like dominoes and Midwestern states like Minnesota legalize same-sex marriage, gay characters and storylines on network television deserves most of the credit for shifting America’s view.

Think back to 1997, one year after DOMA was signed, the year Ellen DeGeneres declared to the world, “I’m gay,” during her ABC show Ellen, making her the first openly gay character on primetime TV. In fact, Ellen DeGeneres’ coming out was one of the most defining moments of 1997. The episode in which Ellen came out, titled “The Puppy Episode,” was the highest-rated episode of the show. In an interview to Time magazine she said, “I never wanted to be the lesbian actress. I never wanted to be the spokesperson for the gay community. Ever,” (“Ellen DeGeneres Tells Time She’s a Lesbian”). However, it didn’t matter what Ellen wanted; her very public coming out was all it took for viewers and the network to identify her as “the lesbian,” and positive consequences were not the result.

The backlash started early on. Before the episode even aired, conservative group American Family Association pressured ABC to drop the coming out storyline. Right-wing group Media Research took out a full-page ad in Variety claiming ABC and Disney (ABC’s parent company) were “promoting homosexuality to America’s families,” (Lo). Furthering this trend, Phyllis Schlafly, Rev. Donald Wildmon, and Rev. Jerry Falwell signed a scathing letter characterizing “The Puppy Episode” as a “slap in the face to America’s families,” (Lo). Chrysler and JC Penney droppe...

... middle of paper ...

...ld she was gay, becoming the first openly gay primetime TV character in history, leading other networks to feel comfortable portraying gay, lesbian, and same-sex couples. Following this, Will & Grace was the next big thing to change the minds of Americans. By portraying Will as a somewhat-straight gay man, Will & Grace normalized the perception of being gay, and society grew more accepting, leading more and more networks to pick up shows with gay, lesbian, and same-sex relationships. As more and more homosexual characters were portrayed, people were constantly inundated, and it essentially became the new normal, as the statistics from 2013 show where over a majority of people are for same-sex marriage. In this way, it’s obvious that it’s not laws that have changed this culture, but instead it is the TV networks that have changed culture, leading to a change in laws.