image :  Harvey Milk, a gay rights activist (http://latinolikeme.wordpress.com/2008/11/, retrieved 12.1.2011)

Analysts said that even if the representation of gays has made considerable progress on television and film, the

lives of gays and lesbians is still systematically obscured or distorted in the mledia.

In the press:

In 1998, Lisa Bennett published the results of a study that lists 50 years of coverage of issues relating to

homosexuality in The Times and Newsweek. The results concluded that in the news media reinforce prejudice

and discrimination against gays and lesbians and often combine them without evidence of criminal or deviant

behavior. The media also often repeated offensive or homophobic comments. She said also that in general, the

media strengthened the idea that gays and lesbians were, by definition, inferior.

Before the beginning of the homosexuals protest movements in the 1970s, they appeared  rarely in the headlines

of the news. In the 1980s, when the emergence of AIDS had become a public health issue, the coverage had

become more important and more negative: gay men were often presented as serious dangers to society.

Today: An article published in July 2001 in “A rayons ouverts” (the newspaper of the National

In movies:

Lots of movies speak abouts the homosexuals,

In the most famous there are:

• Harvey Milk (by Gus Van Sant, 2008, USA)

• I love you Phillip Morris (by Glenn Ficarra and John Requ, 2009, USA)

• Brokeback Mountain (by Ang Lee, 2005, USA)

Harvey Milk, the movie (http://www.premiere.fr/Bandes-annonces/Video/Harvey-Milk-VF) , (http://www.premiere.fr/Bandes-annonces/Video/Harvey-Milk-VOST) speaks about the first homosexual who was elected at an important place in politics.

I love you Phillip Morris, the movie (http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xbf7rf_i-love-you-phillip-morris-trailer-h_shortfilms), (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSTX6ApX_1k).

Brokenack Moutain , the movie (http://www.cinemovies.fr/fiche_multimedia.php?IDfilm=3297) , (http://www.cinemovies.fr/bande-annonce-hd-3297-32026.html)

image : http://stkarnick.com/culture/2010/08/21/the-kgb-and-the-lgbts/

The homosexual movement has gained a lot of power during the last century. When a few decades ago just being

 homosexual was dangerous, in many states of the United States of America gay and lesbian people can be

themselves openly.

The attitudes towards homosexuals vary a lot, however. In some states, the gay and lesbian couples have a

freedom to marry (e. g. Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont...), but in some states the attitudes are still

very conservative. The United States of America is a very large area, which consists of many different attitudes,

issues and lifestyles.

Even though the homosexual movement has existed very short time, is has achieved a lot. Considering that the

homosexual movement has really started in the 1960's, especially the attitudes towards homosexuals have

changed a lot. It was just about 40 years ago, when homosexuality was regarded as an illness!

The growing equality between different sexual orientations is a very important issue, but it also apports its

difficulties. The right to marry is a contemporary issue as is also the repeal of the ”Don't Ask, Don't Tell” policy.

 Especially the right to marry divides the opinions, because traditionally the marriage is only for the unions

between a man and a woman.

The homosexual movement has made the United States of America a very heterogenic area, and this only seems

 to be the beginning. For example, the ending of the ”Don't Ask, Don't Tell” is a major improvement, which

wasn't always considered possible.