LGBTQ+ on screen: We’ve made great strides, but there’s still work to be done.

Sky’s arts and entertainment correspondent Katie Spencer and arts and entertainment producer Jayson Mansaray examine the representation of the LGBTQ+ community on screen. The event celebrates 50 years in the United Kingdom.

This weekend, approximately 30,000 individuals are expected to attend the annual Pride festival in London.

Larry Grayson was one of the country’s greatest comedians of the 1970s. He never publicly came out due to the prevailing attitudes toward homosexuality at the time. When it comes to LGBTQ+ representation, popular television has come a long way in recent years.

From the wildly popular Russell T. Davies series, It’s A Sin to Bake Off winner John Whaite and dance partner Johannes Radebe becoming the first male same-sex couple on Strictly Come Dancing. It is difficult to deny that we are living in a significantly more progressive era.

It indicated: “We are committed to increasing the representation of LGBTQ+ relationships in all of our dating shows. Including recent episodes of Romeo & Duet, The Cabins, Secret Crush, and Ready To Mingle. There is always more that can be done, and as part of our Diversity Acceleration Plan, this remains a priority”.

According to Daniel Welsh, entertainment editor at HuffPost UK, representation of LGBTQ+ relationships would increase the show’s ratings.

“The more inclusive you can make a television program and the more inclusive you can make the narrative, the more interesting it will be for viewers,” he said.

“It will always be more interesting if you include a larger and more varied assortment of content. I believe that this is simply how storytelling and television operate”.

Numerous current reality television programs depict more than one specific type of love. On Lovestruck High, there were contestants of all sexual orientations.

Matthew Jameson and Daniel McKee were the first gay couple to appear on Married At First Sight in 2021, with a lesbian couple expected in 2022.

Demi Sims from The Only Way Essex is aware of the significance and dangers of screen representation. When Sims came out, she was accused of queerbaiting, which is the practice of implying that one is not straight to attract gay fans without alienating straight audiences.

“When I finally got the courage to come out, people accused me of lying, which made me feel even worse because I felt like I’d made a huge leap and was finally getting somewhere, and then I was accused of lying… it hurt”.

For Sims, who considers Love Island to be a “good show,” a more progressive shift could be advantageous for young people and help normalize how we view modern relationships.

Sims added that introducing LGBTQ+ characters to the show would help teenagers understand that it is “normal for a girl to love a girl and a boy to love a boy”.

Since its inception in 2009, Ru Paul’s Drag Race has set the standard for LGBTQ representation.

While promoting Debt Free London’s helpline for the LGBTQ+ community, season one star Baga Chipz told that on-screen representation has come a long way since their youth.

“When I was a child, the only options were similar to Lily Savage and Julian Clary… When I was a child, there were no drag queens on television, on the covers of magazines, performing at festivals, or touring the globe”.

From Heartstopper to Euphoria, Sex Education to Schitt’s Creek, and shows like Batwoman and Loki, LGBTQ+ superheroes are now a common occurrence on screen.

And if fictional programming can do it, it does not seem that difficult for producers of structured reality shows like Love Island to reflect how many of us live and love in the present day.