Queering the Vast Wasteland

But this version of liberation, which places a high premium on visibility, isn't universally embraced. For as long and hard as some have fought to increase visibility, there have been others who claim that such visibility comes at too high a price—that the “banal- ization” inherent in the main- streaming of minority images presents nothing but false, easily accessible and acceptable stereotypes that ultimately cause more harm than good. Did “The Cosby Show” help eliminate white racism or did it just present a portrait of upper-middle-class blacks who had almost nothing to do with the reality in which most African Americans (most Americans, for that matter) live?

Critics of liberation-through- visibility politics also note that increased media exposure does not ensure that the actual lives of gay men and lesbians are better. According to government statistics, hate crimes against gay men and lesbians are on the rise, even though “Will and Grace” continues to win Emmy Awards. Hillary Swank's Oscar-winning performance in Boys Don't Cry certainly didn't end violence against, or guarantee acceptance of, trans- gendered people.

The debate over the politics of visibility is laid out neatly by Suzanna Danuta Walters in her new book All the Rage: The Story of Gay Visibility in America. But as fascinating as this discussion may be, it is largely beside the point.

To understand the political stakes for gay people in gay cable channels, you have to begin with the recognition that, by and large, the U.S. media is conceived and run by commercial interests that have little intention of making anyone's lives better. Television, along with the other arms of the entertainment industry, exists to make money. To that end, as media conglomeration proceeds at an unprecedented rate, programming has grown dangerously homogeneous. For gay liberation, the implications are alarming.

Sure, there's a lot of talk about the “responsibility” of the media and the important role it plays in shaping opinion and keeping the public informed. But this, for the most part, is nonsense. Although there have been a few instances—the Pentagon Papers, Watergate, and, if we're lucky, the ongoing and unfolding Enron scandal—when media has played the role of good citizen, they have been few and far between.

After September 11, there was a lot of talk about serious and sustained reconsideration of media priorities. The September 11 attacks were alleged to be the new millennium's wake-up call to an urgent sense of fresh responsibility. No more wallowing in scandals like the Bill-and-Monica affair, no more sleazy tabloid speculation about the whereabouts of Chandra Levy or the intricacies of the Rudy G. and Donna Hanover divorce. But these sentiments vaporized before they could be properly realized. Winnona Ryder's arrest and the collapse of Mariah Carey's record deal have replaced frisky and missing White House interns.

It is just as bad now as it was before. Of course, the entertainment is not much better. The major networks' magazine-format news shows are just this side of “Entertainment Tonight” and “Survivor” is beginning to look like a scripted TV drama.

The bottom line is that the media is driven by bottom-line commercialization and generally relies on the lowest possible standards. Hey, you didn't hear throngs of gay men and lesbians clamoring for a gay television channel. It was the idea of corporate media marketing engineers. The opening sentence of the New York Times report on MTV's decision to develop a gay and lesbian channel states clearly: “Looking to take advantage of what they say is a large and lucrative niche audience untapped by television programmers…. ” While the corporation promoting these ventures is not claiming to be helping, or even to be interested in, the gay and lesbian community or its political struggles, there is always lurking in their rhetoric, the notion that the increased visibility afforded by gay television would “be good for the gays.” The reality is that gay cable-TV channels are going to represent corporate interests, not those of the community. Can you imagine a gay network giving any more time than do current network news shows to such non- mainstream groups as queeruption, the Lesbian Avengers, groups focusing on gay people of color, or NAMBLA? Sure there will be coverage of the Human Rights Campaign, the Log Cabin Club, GLAAD, and Lambda Legal Defense—all of whom already get some coverage in the mainstream media—but for the most part, the wide spectrum of community organizations and interests will be ignored, particularly if they don't cater to acceptable mainstream sensibilities.

Or consider this. Will the entertainment coverage on gay channels include queer avant-garde artists, writers, or performers? Will we see interviews with Dennis Cooper? The Five Lesbian Brothers? Or Jennifer Miller, the famous lesbian bearded woman who performs in circuses and alternative venues?

Don't bet on it. Like recycled “Entertainment Tonight” and E-Network fare, the bulk of gay television will focus on the new film where a noted Hollywood male celeb goes “gay for pay” or on which straight celebs show up for an AIDS benefit.

The idea of a gay and lesbian channel became possible because over the past two decades queer content on TV and other media outlets has increased. From the early days of the famous drag-queen episodes of “All in the Family” and the lesbian subplot on “Golden Girls” to the far more central and explicit queerness of “Will and Grace,” gay-and-lesbian characters and themes have become something of a staple on network television. This development has been an indicator of changes in American mainstream culture, which raises the question, wouldn't gay TV be redundant?

After all, if current gay programming were politically ineffective altogether, why would the Christian right continually call for boycotts of gay-themed shows, holding them up as signs of moral decay? But let us not forget that their popularity generates substantial revenue. Gay-themed programming is certainly not aired because the networks have a commitment to gay visibility or intend to engineer positive social change for gay people.

But there is a terrible irony here. It is clear that an audience exists—with a gay and lesbian viewership at its core—to support these shows on network television. It is quite possible, however, that a gay cable television channel would actually have an adverse effect on widespread visibility. It could function as a drain to take the gay and lesbian content out of network television and to re-ghettoize it. Why should networks continue with gay content if that core—and relatively small— audience is getting it elsewhere? In the end, the question about gay cable television channels is not how much they will help gay people, but how much they might hurt them?                                Z