Logo abandons gay-centered programming

The HuffPost's Gay Voices report: Gay TV as we know it is dead. Just as MTV pulled the plug on music programming in the '90s, the network's younger, swishier cousin, Logo, has decided to say goodbye to its original raison d'être: gay-focused television.

None of Logo's upcoming series include gay characters in "lead" roles, according to a press release announcing coming programming changes, first revealed by Queerty. Instead, the network has opted to green-light only female-friendly, gayish knock-offs of the reality shows Toddlers & Tiaras and Mob Wives, with show titles like Eden Wood's World and Wiseguys.

Even RuPaul's Drag U is getting a revamp to reach a more mainstream audience.

In other words, the new Logo will be a Cuisinart-blended cocktail of Bravo, Lifetime, and Oxygen, with a pink boa as garnish.

Why the change? Most LGBTs don't see showcasing their sexual orientation as a priority on television, according to a study Logo conducted. This isn't surprising. Most real-life conversations don't start with "Hi, I'm a homo." Instead, we define ourselves as electropop fans and Foursquare addicts and cat freaks who just happen to be gay.

One reaction has been to bemoan the news and call Logo a traitor for walking out on its community. But given the current state of Logo's programming, the decision just may be a blessing in disguise for the gay rights movement.

At this juncture in America, reality-show leads are best left to the tried-and-tested bitchy straight woman, and Logo is doing the gay community a favor by taking us out of the spotlight. Sure, most people are smart enough to make the distinction that all gays aren't like those gays on Logo, just as Italians aren't all table-flippers like those ladies on The Real Housewives of New Jersey. But when it comes down to it, we live in a country where the vast majority of gay Americans can't marry legally, and there's a real threat of an anti-gay candidate becoming president.

And, as unfortunate as it may be, stereotypes on TV greatly influence straight America's perception of who we are. That's a reality we don't want to point and laugh at.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Sunny von Bulow dies after 28 years in coma

Image
After spending nearly 28 years in an irreversible coma, heiress and socialite Martha "Sunny" von Bulow died Saturday in a New York nursing home, according to a family statement. She was 76. Von Bulow was subject of one of the nation's most sensational criminal cases during the 1980s. Her husband, Claus, was accused of trying to kill her with an overdose of insulin, which prosecutors alleged sent her into the coma. He was convicted of making two attempts on her life, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. He was acquitted in a second trial. His retrial in 1985 received national attention. (Via CNN )
Read more

Ric Alonso resigns from pageant association after porn revelation

Image
Kevin Hogan wasn't the only person this week ambushed out of a job for his participation in the gay adult film industry. FOX News reports : Ric Alonso and his partner of 21 years, Ernie Koneck, have both been both prominent power players in the Southern California Scholarship Association — an incorporated not-for-profit association — which produces the Miss Hollywood pageant, an official preliminary to Miss California, and a feeder to Miss America. Alonso is listed as the first “major sponsor” for 2011 scholarship donations, while partner Koneck has been the pageantry point of contact and is featured in photographs alongside the smiling young sashed pageant contestants. On Tuesday, Alonso was exposed by RadarOnline as adult film actor and producer "Jake Cruise". FOX News adds: Following the revelation, Koneck announced his resignation Tuesday as Executive Director of the Southern California Scholarship Association, and said Alonso was in no way involved in the Miss Holl
Read more

Make Jerry Curl Great Again

Image
You can't consider yourself a writer if you don't write. In recent years, I have probably said those words to myself so often that they could be considered a mantra; a mantra that I don't want to embody but one that is nonetheless true. I don't write anymore. I don't write to faraway friends. I don't write to remember. I don't write for pleasure. I don't write for release. I don't even Tweet. At a recent job interview (for another job I didn't really want), I was asked what I would do for a living if I could do anything. Without even thinking about it, I said I would be a writer. But that was a stock answer. It's the answer I've always given to that question. But this time the answer felt phony. It felt forced. It didn't feel like me anymore. The real, ugly, scary truth is that I don't know if I still got the right stuff to be the writer I wanted to be. While I have always questioned the validity of my own voice (my
Read more