ABSTRACT
This chapter provides a brief overview of the representation of Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) people in U.S-based media. It considers the role of different media technologies—printed text, film and TV, and digital and mobile media—in helping LGBTQ people locate and form communities. In the US and Canada, common stereotypes of LGBTQ people include old theories that non-normative identities and behaviors come from psychological problems. For most of the twentieth century, mainstream news media, when they bothered to report on LGBTQ people, offered an outside perspective, one that often depicted LGBTQ communities as problematic, odd groups in society. While the gay press helped make LGBTQ communities publicly visible, advertising turned them into a recognizable market. Pinkwashing presents an image of LGBTQ communities as "respectable," matching the image of the status quo: white, cisgender men with disposable incomes. While stereotypes can have negative cultural and political implications, they have sometimes been useful for LGBTQ people in film.
