LGBTQ media
LGBTQ media or queer media is media created by LGBTQ individuals or groups or for which the primary target audience is LGBTQ people. Prominent types of LGBTQ media include periodicals, films, art, literature, video games, and television.
The first gay journal in the world, Der Eigene, was published in Berlin beginning in 1896. However, for the most part, LGBTQ media emerged in the 20th century, with creators tending towards self-published media due to restrictions and censorship in corporate media. Radio, magazines, newspapers, zines, and public-access television are some such avenues that LGBTQ creators and activists have used. With the rise of the internet, LGBTQ media has also found a home online, with podcasts and internet radio being accessible to a larger audience than traditional print or broadcast media.
LGBTQ media is used for a variety of purposes, including to share news or educational material, for entertainment, and for self-expression. LGBTQ representation in popular media can influence the self-perceptions of LGBTQ people, especially youth.
Overview
Some LGBTQ media is created by out LGBTQ individuals or groups of out LGBTQ people. LGBTQ creators do not always include LGBTQ themes or issues in the media that they produce, but there are often at least subtle references to queerness in these media. LGBTQ media may also be defined by its intended target audience; under this definition, LGBTQ media is created for a primary target audience is LGBTQ people. LGBTQ+ allies are a secondary target audience, and in some instances, as a form of activism, LGBTQ media may also target an audience of people who oppose gay rights.There have been both positive and negative representations of gay people across popular media, including film, television, literature, press, etc.
LGBTQ representation in the media is powerful, particularly for youth. There have been studies that have shown that media can have an influence on LGBTQ+ people's self-realization, coming out, and current identities.
Africa
Namibia
Namibian LGBTQ organization The Rainbow Project has broadcast the radio show Talking Pink in the country since 1999.Tunisia
In 2018, Shams Rad was founded in the country's capital, Tunis; the station is the self-proclaimed "only gay radio station" in the Arab world. The station airs music and programs discussing LGBTQ issues, but presenters do not "identify themselves as sexually active on air" due to laws in Tunisia that criminalize homosexuality. The station is partially funded by the Dutch embassy. Station director Bouhdid Belhedi has reported receiving death threats for his part in the station.South Africa
By 2007, In the Pink was broadcast on Bush Radio in Cape Town, being the country's "only gay radio program". As of 2016, GaySAradio, based in Pretoria, was the country's only LGBTQ radio station.Asia
China
Les+ Magazine, a magazine aimed at queer women, was founded in Beijing in 2005.India
Magazines and newspapers
India's first LGBTQ magazines appeared in the 1990s, with Bombay Dost in 1990 and Pravartak in 1991. Prominent zines in the 1990s and 2000s also included Gaysi Zine and Scripts.Radio
In July 2017, India's self-proclaimed "first LGBTQ radio show", titled Gaydio, launched. The show was a two-hour weekly program, broadcast in Mumbai and two other cities.Iran
In October 2012, Radio Ranginkaman launched as a 30-minute program for the LGBTQ community. Since then, it has grown into its own station, and broadcasts on shortwave, satellite and online radio. It broadcasts in both Dari and Persian.Europe
LGBTQ periodicals began being published in European countries in the 1970s, and have been published in a number of countries, including Hungary Ireland, the Netherlands, Romania and Sweden.Denmark
launched in Copenhagen on June 22, 1983, with the backing of the Danish National Association of Gays and Lesbians. The station closed in 2010.France
Periodicals
France began seeing LGBTQ magazines in the late 1970s, with Gai pied in 1979. The 1980s saw further publications, including Gaie France and Illico.Radio
Clandestine radio broadcasts by lesbians occurred as early as 1978, by the group Les Radioteuses, who were shut down following their first broadcast. The group reorganized as Radio Nanas, and legally in 1981 as Les Nanas Radioteuses.The early 1980s saw a number of gay and lesbian radio programs in France as state control of radio officially ended. The lesbian radio collective Femmes Entre Elles produced multiple lesbian programs, as did the broadcasting collective Les Jardins de Selene ; other collectives also existed in Marseille and Paris.
The Parisian free radio station Fréquence Gaie was launched in 1981; in 1982, it became the "world's first 24-hour gay radio program". Originally aimed primarily at gay men, programs produced by and for lesbians began to increase under the leadership of station president Genevieve Pastre, elected in June 1982. In early 1983, the station was rated fourth in the city in a public opinion survey. Due to financial troubles, the station floundered, and its LGBTQ audience had largely left by 1985.
By 1983, stations broadcasting gay and lesbian programming, called "antennes roses" existed in at least 27 French towns and cities; by 1984, there were between 36 and 50. In 1984, the first International Meeting of Male and Female Hosts of Homosexual Broadcasts in France was held.
Germany
Periodicals
The first gay journal in the world, Der Eigene, was published in Berlin beginning in 1896 by Adolf Brand. A number of LGBTQ periodicals were published in Weimar Germany, including Die Insel and Das 3. Geschlecht, which is thought to be the first transvestite magazine in history. Weimar Germany was also home to multiple lesbian periodicals, including Die Freundin, Frauenliebe and Die BIF. These publications had ceased by 1933, with the rise of the Nazi party to power.In the second half of the 20th century, Siegessäule, established in 1984, became a major LGBTQ periodical in Germany.
Radio
In August 1985, the twice-weekly LGBTQ program Eldoradio began airing on the Berlin Cable Network. Named after Eldorado, a gay bar in Berlin during the 1920s, the two-hour program had "music, jokes, and self-produced radio plays" during the Sunday time slot, with Wednesday's program focusing on news and reporting. By the end of the year, Eldoradio had joined Radio 100, a "consort of alternative media groups" from Berlin. The show ended in 1989, due to financial troubles, including lack of advertisers.Malta
Malta has a DAB station which broadcasts GlitterBeam, an LGBTQ station based in the United Kingdom.Portugal
In Portugal, lesbian feminist activists published the zines Organa and Lilás. In addition to original content, these publications also carried translations of works "by lesbian feminist authors from countries like the United States, the United Kingdom, and France".Spain
In Spain, LGBTQ activists began publishing literature of their own in the late 1970s.In 1991, Madrid-based gay activist group La Radical Gai began publishing De un Plumazo, a zine which had six total issues and two dossiers, with its final issue in 1996. The group's 1993 issue was titled Queerzine; it is thought that this was the first usage of "queer" in a Spanish context. Topics covered included HIV/AIDS, politics, art, and literature.
Lesbian activist group Lesbianas Sin Duda contributed to some articles in Queerzine, but stated their own zine, Non-Grata, in 1994; this publication had four issues in total. Topic covered included lesbian visibility, HIV/AIDS, art, and Spanish translations of queer theory articles by English-language writers.
United Kingdom
Magazines and newspapers
In the United Kingdom, the 1960, 1970s, and 1980s saw a number of LGBTQ magazines and newspapers established, including Arena Three, Gay News, Capital Gay and Pink Paper. In the 21st century, the U.K. is home to online newspaper PinkNews.Radio
In 1982, the community radio program Gaywaves began broadcast on a pirate station Our Radio in London. The two-hour program aired weekly on Wednesday nights. Although the show tried to include some lesbian programming, the program was mostly listened to by gay men, with programming shifting to reflect that. Segments included interviews, news, and skits. Program organizers also tried to incorporate material on the lives of gay men and lesbians outside the U.K.By the 1990s, the BBC hosted five gay and lesbian radio shows: A Sunday Outing, ''Gay and Lesbian London, Gaytalk, Loud'n'proud, and Out This Week''.
Middle East
The Middle East has seen its first LGBTQ periodicals in the 21st century, including My.Kali, founded in 2007, and El Shad, created in 2014.The Za'faraan Collective, which focuses on the experiences of LGBTQ migrants in the Middle East, began publishing a digital zine in 2019.
North America
Canada
Comics
Beginning in 1987, Canadian lesbian cartoonist Noreen Stevens illustrated the comic strip The Chosen Family, which featured LGBTQ characters and was based on Stevens' own experiences.Periodicals
A number of LGBTQ-related periodicals have been published in Canada, in both English and French-speaking communities. Les Mouches fantastiques, the earliest known gay or lesbian periodical on the continent, was published in Montreal from 1918 to 1920. Early Canadian periodicals in the gay rights movement included Gay, TWO, The Body Politic, FILE Megazine, Amazones d'Hier, Lesbiennes d'Aujourd'hui, Perceptions, Wayves, Fugues, and Rites. One of the first queer zines, J.D.s, was published by G.B Jones and Bruce LaBruce from 1985 until 1991.In 2012, LGBTQ literary magazine Plenitude was launched in Canada.