Indeed, the GLB identity development process, including the realization of one's same-sex sexual desires and coming out, has been conceptualized as a dynamic process that is mediated by the cultural and historical context in which GLB individuals live ( Hammack, 2005). In Study 2, we sought to extend the findings from Study 1 by conducting qualitative in-depth interviews with GLB individuals in an attempt to uncover the processes by which the media interacts with GLB identity in a way that the survey format of Study 1 did not allow.Įmpirical attention on the relationship between the media and GLB identity can be justified by the role of contextual factors in GLB identity development ( Hammack, 2005).
In Study 1, we sought to confirm the existence of the relationship between the media and GLB identity by conducting a quantitative survey of GLB participants at a gay pride festival in Texas. As such, the purpose of the current investigation was to examine the influence of the media on GLB identity. As the prominence of gay, lesbian, and bisexual (GLB) figures in the media has risen, it seems likely that the media's impact on the lives of GLB individuals has also grown. In the years since Ellen, television shows such as Will and Grace, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, and The L Word, movies such as Brokeback Mountain and Angels in America (which was also an influential play), and musical artists such as Melissa Etheridge, Rufus Wainwright, and The Indigo Girls have emerged, appealing to a wide audience of both homosexuals and heterosexuals. Ever since Ellen DeGeneres made television history by coming out of the closet on her popular primetime sitcom Ellen in 1998, gay and lesbian characters have become increasingly prominent in the media (see Gross, 1994, and Hart, 2000, for discussions).