There was very little LGBTQ representation on tv when I was growing up in the 60's-70's. We had one tv, my dad chose what we watched. I remember a particular episode of All in the Family with Archie coming home after performing CPR on a woman in his cab. The character (Beverly LaSalle) turns out to be in drag. That was the first time I can remember anything like that. Of course it was played for laughs and shock value.
I grew up in a conservative Catholic family. I never knew any queer people in real life and rarely saw them on tv and when someone was it was played for a joke. I'm not saying that it would have made my coming out process to my family any easier. But the LGBTQ youth of today may benefit in that there is more accurate representation on television now then that of the past.
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