LGBT In Mainstream America

People who identified as members of the LGBT community faced many adversities in the previous years due to the aids epidemic and the constant bashing they endured from religious groups and worried Americans. In the 90's there were actors who were portraying people who happened to be gay. Actors started portraying these characters as normal as any other than the stereotypical gay portrayed for many years. There were gay characters on tv both fictional and real who inspired and made coming out easier for those who were in the closet. In 1997 Ellen who had been warned that coming out would be the end of her career did so and became one of the most outspoken activists for people of the LGBT community. She gave people the courage to say that they were gay and she knew how it felt to not be able to be herself.


With more people portraying gays and lesbians as what they truly were, people like any other, there was an even greater number of acceptance emerging from both family and friends. Films such as Parting Glances, an independent film, was one of the earliest films aimed towards the aids epidemic that was afflicting the LGBT community. It helped spread the idea that all gays had aids and would spread t=it to everyone and this film was soon joined by others who helped spread this falsehood. It wasn't until the 90's when the hate towards the LGBT community that Hollywood had to take a different way to talk about the epidemic and how they portrayed the LGBT community. During this time other actors came out as gay or bi-sexual and younger people were coming out as well giving this time the name of the queer cinema. Other things that were seen as "only a homosexual would do this" was drag. During this time drag had leaped onto the screen which introduced many to the idea of seeing a man or women dressed as the opposite gender.

 Certainly, there are famous actors who portray LGBT characters these days but this was really starting to grow during the 90's. With the growth and understanding of people, the LGBT community was able to be understood and seen as normal rather than mentally ill and the 90's really helped many.