Communication Strategies

The term homosexuality is not a discovery of the 21st century, the term and its behavioral patterns and implications are as ancient as Man himself. There was once a time when topics or issues related to homosexuality, impotency, lesbianism and gayism were considered a taboo and discussion on such topics were looked upon as outside the boundaries of ethics and moral principles. But with the age of technological renaissance playing a pervasive part in the lives of people in contemporary times people all over the globe demonstrate a better understanding and level of awareness when such issues are discussed on appropriate platforms. It is the attribute and development in the technological sector and parallel to it innovations in the news media that has helped people understand the true nature and consequences of these problems and has in myriad ways provoked people to mobilize themselves to accept these people as an integral part of the society and to ensure that they are not treated as a discriminated group in the society, but on the flip side there are still multitude forces that have been working and are still proactively involved in propagating information and rumors which pose a serious threat to the movement working for equality and harmony.  

The problem, the improvement
The topic under limelight is the influence that mass media has made in the depiction of gays and lesbians and assessing the respective repercussions and impact the portrayal of such depiction of homosexuals has made in the minds of their target audience. In this context perspectives of prominent media educators such as Larry Ross and George Grebner are of exceptional significance when they say that contemporary mass media are involved in the symbolic annihilation of gays and lesbians by promoting a culture that has led to the development of negative stereotyping about them in peoples minds. Both of them argue that homosexuals are mainly portrayed in characters which are either far from reality or violent enough to declare them as real psychopaths. They are not provided roles through which people can actually relate to their situation or through the toils and troubles they go through every day. An important reason which can explain such an attitude of media towards homosexuals is the present day situation of media industry. It is no more a concealed fact that media industry today is a multimillion dollar one and their prime revenue generator for the smooth running of the organization comes from advertising revenues. If media organizations today alter their policies of portraying homosexuals in realistic or human interest roles they would in one way or the other alienate investors, advertisers and also audience a choice that would push them out from the competition race they desperately want to be a part of. All in a nutshell functions and objectives that define the presence and existence of large media baron organizations today are based purely and solely on commercial means and seldom for creating social awareness and developing a welfare for the elements of the society.

For whatever the reasons may be what is seen today as being today for the welfare of homosexuals is a comprehensible manifestation that people have travelled a long journey from where we started. In 1998 a case study analyzing a period of 50 year portrayal of gays and lesbians in magazines like Time and Newsweek showed that news media reinforces messages that play a pivotal role in inculcating chauvinism and discriminations against homosexuals in people. The analysis which was done by Lisa Bennett showed that gays and lesbians were often interpreted synonymous to anti social elements like deviance and juvenile delinquency convincing people that this faction of the society is inherently inferior to others. This discriminatory behavior continued in mainstream media until the 1970s when they gay and lesbian rights movement initiated, but in tandem to this movement it was the spark of the HIVAIDS which boomed to suppress the movement designed for the better social status of homosexuals. Once again mainstream media got the opportunity of marginalizing gays and lesbians from all kinds of coverage other than what portrayed them as held them responsible for the dissemination of lethal diseases like HIVAIDS in the society due to their promiscuous sexual activities.

Conditions did not improve for homosexuals till the 1990s when the movement for the rights of gay and lesbians started to bore fruit, but coverage provided to these people was only in times when they perceived to be plunging in crisis. Even though the societal framework has experienced substantial restructuring many people still argue that since gays and lesbians comprise 4-5 of the entire demographic distribution of countries like USA and Canada their issues and problems must be readily and appropriately addressed on platforms through which a better change in their living standard can be anticipated. Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) and other organizations still maintain the fact that issues related to homosexuals are not being addressed or talked about in the manner they should be.

But on the contrary with all such chaos and rumors circulating to malign homosexuals there has also been a bleak hope through which once can anticipate that reformation in their lives is not to far way. An article that was published by Benot Migneault in a 2001 issue of the National Library of Quebecs monthly publication  rayons ouverts, stated that  mainstream media has exhibited considerable improvement in the ways it use to provide coverage to homosexuals earlier. This can be justified in the way that in comparison to the eighties where only fifteen articles were published in dailies, in 2001 number of articles addressing their issues skyrocketed to 400. In addition to that it is also important to mention that the tone which is applied for writing these articles is much flexible and sympathetic in comparison to former years which demonstrates that the earlier stereotypes and false perceptions developed in peoples mind have started to change and mainstream media is playing an effective role in promoting harmony and equality between all social groups prevalent in a society. Furthermore all kinds of intentional or unintentional disinformation disseminated by media earlier to bring malice to homosexuals is being are also being altered into responsible and credible reporting.

Apart from countries like USA and Canada there are many other countries like Thailand and Singapore where the issues of homosexuals have experienced considerable alteration and restructuring with the passage of time. Talking about Singapore in particular the country was extremely hospitable and welcoming to homosexuals in every way. In his interview to Time Asia the countrys then Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong said that the country has changed its policies to provide homosexuals enjoy all kinds of facilities on an equal footing in all kinds of civil and government jobs. It was the first time that homosexuals were able to make the leads of newspapers in the country as earlier than this policy of Singapore had been very conservative and unjust towards homosexuals. Moreover publicly discussing homosexual related issues were considered a serious taboo in the society and therefore many people were completely ignorant to the kinds of problem this section of the society was encountering in the country. It was not until the prime ministers statement that things took a drastic turn and mainstream media commenced to provide massive coverage to gays and lesbians and started unearthing their issues and problems.

In 2003 an annual gay party that was also held two years earlier attracted homosexuals from all over the world making it one of the most happening homosexual event of the year. There was also news that Singapore in coming years would emerge as a tough contender for Thailand in terms of homosexual attraction, but conditions did not remain the same after that. By the end of the year 2004 conditions for homosexuals started to thicken again when it was announced that Singapore was showing a sharp rise in the carriers of HIVAIDS due to the rising promiscuous sexual activity exhibited by homosexuals. Once again gays and lesbians made headlines in mainstream media, propaganda started to boil again and anti-homosexual laws were once again promulgated, screening for the detection of HIVAIDS started for both homo and heterosexuals. By 2005 the government of Singapore began to deny permits for the events that were being organized for homosexual recreation in the country.

In short, there are still gays and lesbians in Singapore but most of them live a dismal life in city ghettos. Media has once again developed a hush hush tome when it comes to openly discussing topics like sex, lesbianism and homosexuality.

Conclusion
Even though much has been done for the reformation of homosexuals all over the world the efforts are still not very appreciable. Many countries are not ready to get rid of their conservative approach and policies and acknowledge them as an integral part of the society. Some of the factors that constitute this conservative thinking also involve orthodox religious beliefs which serve as a major factor obstructing towards gay and lesbian rights. Countries like USA and others encourage same sex unions but with necessary precautions exercised and implemented, other countries must try to implement similar policies before its too late.