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Reality Television and the LGBTQ Community
Reality television is a genre of television show that presents its characters and story line in an unscripted and spontaneous format, intending the show to represent real life with real people. Over the past twenty five years, it has become one of the largest segments of programming on television networks, specialty channels, and streaming services.
The vast majority of reality television shows are competitive in nature with a focus on a specific profession or skill. These include singing, cooking, modelling, dancing, slam poetry, and more. Many of the shows set up their characters in programmed elimination bouts, with the final character standing declared the winner. A smaller number of the shows are focused on documenting the daily lives of the characters in the show and their interactions with others.
To appreciate the size of the industry, we have identified a total of 82 global reality television shows from 29 countries that have had prominent LGBTQ representation. In many cases, the original show concept has been so popular that it has become an international franchise that is replicated in numerous countries and which are broadcast more locally.
LGBTQ representation can be by way of producers or directors of the show, hosts, or characters. Many of theses individuals have become household names around the world as a result of their profile on reality television.
The ranking of the top twelve shows in terms of the greatest number of LGBTQ participants is: the Big Brother franchise; the RuPaul Drag Race franchise and the Idol franchise (tied); X Factor and Project Runway (tied); Eurovision; the Next Top Model franchise; Top Chef; The Amazing Race; and So You Think You Can Dance, the Got Talent franchise, and the Queer Eye franchise (tied).
The wide acceptance of LGBTQ individuals in reality television has helped educate the public about the community. The appeal of this genre has helped move the dial forward on tolerance around the issue of sexual orientation, and the wide representation of lesbians, gays, transgender and others has truly reflected the diversity of the community itself. Because it is reality television, the community believes they are being represented authentically and are shown as a genuine and real segment of society. The success of the genre is because the shows are entertaining and the audience develops an intense interest in the characters' lives. In the quest for ratings however, there is concern about the risk of sensationalizing the characters to the extreme to attract popularity and advertising support.
We have identified prominent LGBTQ individuals from the reality television industry from Australia, Austria, Brazil, Bulgaria, Cameroon, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Great Britain, Iceland, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jamaica, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Serbia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, The Netherlands, and The United States. To read more and see the complete list, click HERE
Directory of past 'Did You Know?' Articles See Here
The goal of QueerBio.com is to be the definitive online biographical reference source for the international LGBTQ community. Its database lists over 17,000 contemporary and historical figures who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, two-spirit, or gender fluid (LGBTQ) and includes artists, sports figures, politicians, entertainers, business leaders, academics, activists, and more. The database is widely international in scope and is an ideal source for research and analysis with full search and sort functionality.
The mission is to inspire, educate, and motivate all generations of LGBTQ individuals and others through a collective knowledge of this international community.
Managing Editor: Mark S. Bonham
Search for a Biography
To search for an individual from the database of over 17,000 biographies, simply type the name in the Search Box located in the top right hand corner of this Home Page and click on GO. Similarly, you can search for a common characteristic such as Country, City, Nobel Prize winners, writers, and so on.
Alternatively, you can view and scroll through the entire list of biographies by viewing the All Biographies section.
Library of Congress Historic Collection - LGBTQ+ Studies Web Archive
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Announcing Our New Documentary Project - Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed the World
Despite adversity and discrimination, LGBTQ individuals have excelled throughout history. Yet historians and academics have conveniently participated in the heterosexist erasure of these LGBTQ contributions by omitting the LGBTQ status of prominent historical figures from academic and historical documents. Accordingly, there are relatively few comprehensive projects which document and showcase the influence of these LGBTQ efforts.
Being Different: 101 Global LGBTQ Individuals Who Changed The World will be an original documentary outlining the contributions that members of the LGBTQ community have made, individually and collectively, to changing the world.
We are now Crowdfunding to get this project off the ground. We would love to have you as part of our team. You can help us and SUPPORT THIS PROJECT!
SEE THE TRAILER, READ MORE AND CROWDFUND HERE
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Our goal is to make QueerBio.com the go-to website for global biographical information on LGBTQ identified individuals. To do this requires a serious commitment of people and resources, so we need your help to fund and help this project grow.
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Bonham Centre Awards Gala
Annual Awards established in 2007 to recognize individuals or groups that have made a significant contribution to the advancement and education of human rights issues surrounding sexual education. Click here to find out more about the Bonham Centre Awards, past recipients, and present nominees.
Books Available From QueerBio.Com
It's A Fabulous Morning! My Interviews With Fascinating People in the LGBTQ World (Pearse Murray and Mark S. Bonham, 2019) presents fascinating interviews with individuals from the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Two Spirit and Ally (LGBTQ) community. Icons such as Lily Tomlin, Chaz Bono, Melissa Etheridge, Mark Tewksbury, John Cameron Mitchell, Kathleen Wynne, Wanda Sykes, Tony Kushner, David Hockney, Edmund White and more provide their personal stories of the community and their lives within it. Compelling insight into events of the community, such as Toronto’s Bath House Raids, is also provided. 262 pages.
A Path to Diversity: LGBTQ Participation in the Working World (Mark S. Bonham, 2017) investigates the current state of employment markets around the world for the LGBTQ community. Included is a discussion of equality in the workplace and why it is important to both the employer and employee, the wage gap, which professions are attractive to LGBTQ individuals and why, and the role of unions and government legislation. A survey of seventy five professions provides a status report for each, and seventy two biographies of influential LGBTQ professionals from around the world is included. 242 pages
Notables: 101 Global LBGTQ People Who Changed the World (Mark S. Bonham, 2015) reveals a group of select global Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer (LGBTQ) individuals whose accomplishments in their profession changed the world in some relevant way. Included are founders of various social movements, innovators in sports, leaders in business and politics, explorers and discoverers, instigators in religious movements, thinkers in philosophy, infamous villains, creators of new academic fields of study, and risk takers in the arts, culture, and entertainment worlds. 212 pages.
Champions: Biographies of Global LGBTQ Pioneers (Mark S. Bonham, 2014) reveals a group of select artists, writers, politicians, lawyers, sports figures, activists, and religious figures from around the world who have helped shape the history of the LGBTQ community. Presented in a convenient notebook format. 114 pages.
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