Has the media affected the way we look at gays and lesbians?

Throughout doing my research, I found that there have been many common stereotypes and depictions associated to homosexual characters on television and in film. Many male gay characters were often portrayed as very feminine, sissy and weak. Gay women were portrayed as very tough and masculine. Although sometimes these depictions are somewhat true in reality, has the media gone overboard and made us have more prejudice towards homosexuals? The Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation decided to get invovled because they were bothered with how gays and lesbians were being portrayed in the media. They felt that the stereotypes presented on television and in film were being brought to real life as well. They tried to get broadcasters to give more accurate representations of gays and lesbians in order to promote more acceptance and stop the prejudice. Americans were being affected by this. They were seeing the way that gays and lesbians acted on television and that did not appeal to them, so therefore they did not like gay people in general. Groups have acted to make sure that accurate depictions came into the media so that people would be more accepting and stop being prejudice. What people saw on television in the beginning were false representations.