Racial vs. Gay Diversity in Daytime Television

by: Herndon Davis, herndon@herndondavis.com In 2009 daytime television staunchly remains the least racially diverse form of American entertainment.

But despite the shocking scarcity of people-of-color there has been an infusion of gay and lesbian characters popping all across the sudsy landscape creating a pink-triangle emblazoned gay renaissance filled with social statements and PSAs.

 In fact what was once considered to be historic, bold and taboo is now becoming commonplace; the visible and integrated presence of gay and lesbian characters on daytime dramas. Meanwhile people-of-color characters continue to be occasional dots on the canvas of turmoil with restricted storylines and long periods of non-representation.

But gays and lesbians are now receiving longer storylines as their characters come out the closet and even marry on daytime television. Even though only a handful of daytime dramas have actually created gay/lesbian characters, their storylines have gained significant attention in recent years.

In fact the current onscreen gay/lesbian super-couples have an intense online following where fans chat endlessly about character portrayals and the direction of their storylines.

But for Latinos, Asians, and Native Americans, rarely do they ever see themselves portrayed during the daytime hours of drama and betrayal. And for African Americans you can literally count on one hand the number of black characters that populate each idyllic town in daytime.

So why is this??? And what is being done to more racially integrate these cast of characters while continuing to forge gay inclusion within daytime?

Daytime's Bitter Issue with Race --->Read more here!! or Click here: http://bit.ly/8lKqa