Will we just be the token lesbians?

Saturday, April 22. 2006

My partner and I were recently contacted by a reality-based TV show that documents people in the process of buying a new home. We think it's a hilarious prospect and have gone ahead with our audition tape (which they loved), and are now finalizing dates for the taping. I am still hesitant. Will we be fulfilling yet another gay/lesbian/alternative checkbox for the TV show? Will they edit our segments to emphasize our "alternative" lifestyle? Or, shall we go ahead with it, hoping that we can contribute to the positive protrayal of LGBTs in mainstream media? Wouldn't it be exciting if we were featured with no mention of our sexuality, in the same way that last night's episode did not introduce "Dick & Jane, a heterosexual couple looking for their first home."

And in the midst of our considering the pro's and con's of moving forward with the show, I came across a rerun of a Sex & the City episode in which Miranda (played by Cynthia Nixon) is invited to her boss' house solely based on the fact that he and his wife presumed she was a lesbian. After the dinner party, Miranda confesses the truth to her boss, who expresses disappointment because "his wife really wanted to add a gay couple to their circle of friends." Bummer! It reminded me of several parody websites out there such as Black People Love Us.

I guess one could say that "LGBT is the next black."

Posted by Alice at 17:44 | Comments (2) | Trackbacks (0) |

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We are such a commodity! But never underestimate the power of a cheap whore, Alice. Even as "tokens" there is still an effect. I know, I know, no body wants to be the token anything, but that's all Reality TV is about: the heteros aren't tokenized for their sexuality, perhaps, but rather for their lifestyles or their beliefs (religious, political, or otherwise). It could be worse. You could have been invited to participate in another Real World; at least the main focus of this show is the purchasing of a house. Keep us posted and if it airs we can have a viewing party at Sacha's.

#1 Alex Barreto on 2006-04-22 20:11

Here, here! There are so many people in the world that don't realize gay people buy homes. I'm not kidding here! They think we spend all day prowling around the park to pick up tricks, stealing their children in recruitment drives, and splattering blood on each other while eating shit to get off.

Sounds like the people on the show are attempting to be truly inclusive. Perhaps you can even directly request that they respectfully treat you like "Dick & Jane" and not refer to you as the "lesbian couple looking for their first home."

Represent, yo!

#2 Big Mouth (Homepage) on 2006-04-24 10:38

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