The answer is probably not…unless they happen to be boys.
Recently, an episode of the TV show The Fosters had a scene in which two 13-year-old boys kissed. It also referenced another kiss.
If you read the scene on a page, with no names, you’d have no idea who the kids were. It was that common. You’d probably assume it was a guy and a girl. Change one voice, you’d probably think the same thing. You’d listen to the mildly dramatic teen love scene play out and move on.
Add the visual, a boy and a girl, meh, that’s TV. The same young love scene played out ad nauseum.
Two girls, wait…oh, it’s two girls. Not much to see here. Maybe a protest or two. Been there, done that.
But this is two boys. Two camping, football playing, t-shirt wearing boys.
The critics are not happy.
The Foster’s co-creator Peter Paige had this to say in response:
“More than anything else, we felt responsibility to those kids and to our younger selves who didn’t see themselves reflected anywhere… We’ve all been watching stories about heterosexuals forever… As a gay kid you are always having to translate. You are always having to pretend like you are one of the other characters. You’re not seeing your life accurately reflected…I would say its very easy to balk at or sensationalize the headline, but its hard to deny the truth or the integrity of the whole story… We are here to tell the true stories of what it is to grow up and these are true stories of what it is to grow up as a young, potentially gay person. It’s the truth and that’s all.”
– The Fosters co-creator Peter Paige to The Wrap, defending the choice to show a same-sex kiss between two 13-year-old characters.
Here’s the clip:
(Context: This relationship is something that the show has been exploring since its beginning.)
h/t Queerty
So what if two thirteen year old boys kissed? If it was a thirteen year old girl and a thirteen year old boy, then no one would say a darn thing. But wait, I forgot… If you happen to be gay, then you are meant to be the outcast, crushed, killed, no one cares. Wrong! Fuck everyone who has a problem with boys being in love with boys, and boys kissing boys. I ask you, if it was the other way around…. If most people would be gay, but you would be straight, then you would say the same thing… Read more »
That’s what I have been saying all along. Gay men need to have their own specific programs and support networks. The discrimination among the “LGBT community” is not uniform. Lesbians face far less resistance and discrimination.
I’d say lesbians are more sexualized (and appreciated by a straight-male audience), not more accepted per se.
Then how do you explain the fact that they are not discriminated against in pay wages whereas gay men and transgender women are penalized? Lesbians also face far less hate crimes.
Besides, both male and female homophobes are more homophobic against gay men. It’s not just about a straight “male audience.”