There has always been a severe lack of gay people in the mass culture, even now in 2010 when more people are becoming ok with homosexuality. Them being ok with gay people does not mean they are comfortable with having them portrayed on TV, or as something that is completely normal, which it is. The millions of overtly religious old people in this country cause a lack of any sort of diversity in movies and television, with books being one of the only things that really doesn’t get censored anymore, except for in schools.
With that being said, there is an even bigger lack of gay people in the vampire subculture. The only example that I have been able to find for gay vampires is in true blood, the vampire series that is on Showtime. There are slightly more vampires that are lesbian. Carmilla, a novella written by Sheridan Le Fanu in 1872 is the first literary example of lesbian vampires. Lesbian vampire killers, a British comedy about killing lesbian vampires is the most recent example. While their were probably other lesbian vampires throughout the years, they have probably only been put into the movies/TV shows to titillate men, since honestly, in most cases, that’s what lesbians in major TV shows or movies are used for.
There is a line that they straddle though. They pretty up the male leads, making them look stereotypically androgynous or gay, and have them have a really close male best friend, but then pair them up with a hot girl. This leads to subtext between both males, which is what gay people have had to make do with for forever. In interview with a vampire, tom cruises character and brad Pitts character basically make a life together, at least for awhile. The good thing about subtext is that you can find it in nearly everything. In Underworld, between Selene the main character, and any female. In Twilight, between Edward, and any male character.
This just really made me think that gay characters need to be more incorporated into the media. I know it is hard enough to make a good female lead, without making her too whiny or dependent on a man, but if that can somewhat be accomplished, then so can a gay vampire! Or a good lesbian vampire that is not used to lure men to watching whatever show or movie they are in. anything would be good, let’s bring two subcultures together, why not? This way gay people who love vampires will not just have to depend on subtext.
