LGBT representation in television is very important for those viewing it. It allows the normalization of it to occur, and be more broad in representation so that everyone feels as though they belong. If everyone in books, movies and tv were straight cis people, that would be a false view of how the real world actually is. There is a diverse amount of people in the world of different sexualities, gender identity, and so much more. This can also allow people to feel more comfortable with who they are, and no longer afraid to embrace themselves.
The LGBT representation in media right now has been growing, but it needs to grow even more. Many tv shows have just dipped their toes in the water to see how audiences will react. There has been some minor outrage from people who saw queer couples on commercials, even though it did not affect the overall ad, it just showed that instead of a straight couple there was a gay couple. People were mad at the mere fact that there was a queer couple, not the product.
This may have deterred some media companies from putting out media that contain LGBT characters, but the few shows that have inserted it in in the past decade have seen positive reactions from both those of the LGBT community and not in it. For example, the show Modern Family has a gay couple in their cast. Although the show is a comedy, there are some serious moments addressed and they have never outright flaunted the fact that there is a LGBT couple in there. By allowing viewers to see into their daily lives as well as viewing it as a normal thing, people have felt more comfortable about either coming out as gay to their family or being more comfortable with homosexuals in general. This is all because they are just a normal part of this family. Nothing holds them back, and they do not hold their family back. People watching the show with their families have been able to gauge their parents reactions as well as help educate their parents to show them that being a homosexual is not bad at all. Modern Family has had a positive impact in the LGBT community by having representation.
Another show that educated those about some aspect of LGBT is Bojack Horseman. The show had a scene in one of the episodes dedicated to explaining asexuality. This normalized asexuality as well as showing several characters identifying as asexual. If memory serves me correctly, they even touched on the difference between asexual and aromantic. This educational moment in a serious-comedy-drama of a show, it was very impactful because of how casual it was presented. These identifiable characters that were created to be related to can become even more identifiable because of what they represent. The audience for Bojack Horseman are young adults trying to live in a modern world. The show has its vulgar moments, but that representation is still important nonetheless. It reached a demographic of people who may understand that LGBT people exist, but may not know more aspects of it. This can also allow people to realize that they may identify as that specific sexuality without ever really knowing. Some people are never able to figure out their own sexuality because they do not have anything to base their experience off of in order to figure out who they are. With the asexual representation, some people may have realized they were asexual because the explained experience of one character could be identical or similar to their own.