Camping it up and toning it down: gay and lesbian sexual identity in media work

Abstract

By its make-up, Irish screen production is heteronormative. This can be seen in terms of output, representation and production. Accordingly, this article argues that heteronormativity is a structuring dynamic in the identities of gay and lesbian media workers. Its impacts are two-fold and somewhat contradictory. On the one hand, it results in bias and discrimination towards many media labourers, while on the other hand, heteronormativity offers gay and lesbian workers some opportunities to overcome or challenge overbearing structures wrought by heteronorms within media industries. To demonstrate this argument, we maintain that disclosure and the formation of networks play a role in the maintenance of gay and lesbian identities in media work, whereas bias and discrimination serve to other and discipline gay and lesbian media workers for not meeting heteronormative expectations. The article concludes by exploring how gay and lesbian media workers can manage and co-opt their sexual minority identity in a way that can challenge heteronormative expectations, providing a common ground in media work. Furthermore, this article builds on the growing field of Queer Production Studies by contributing towards the field’s expanding set of empirical practices and diversifying the contexts in which Queer Production Studies research takes place.