Although the entertainment industry in the United States has helped advance a more tolerant and inclusive public perception of sexual minorities, Spanish-language television networks are still marginalizing and misrepresenting the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) community in scripted programming.
LGBTQ characters in telenovelas and popular drama series produced in Miami and Latin America are often conceived with pejorative features, and presented through the prism of prejudices and myths commonly accepted in Latin American societies. These programs tend to perpetuate well-known stigmas and clichés associated with homosexuality.
Last year, GLAAD, the media advocacy organization, analyzed all characters on prime time, scripted programs that broadcast between July 2016 and June 2017 on the three biggest networks available nationwide for U.S. Hispanic viewers: Univision, Telemundo and UniMás.
Read more from our news partner, the Miami Herald.
Watch Roth's documentary "Myths and stigmas: gay characters in soap operas."