Riverdale, Modern Family and Orange is the New Black: the one thing that all these modern TV shows have in common is that one or more of the main characters are coded as LGBTQ+. Television has evolved over time, but perhaps the most significant change is the regular inclusion of queer characters in contemporary television. In an Australian society where 38% of people voted ‘no’ to legalising same sex marriage, what role will these characters have in helping Australians accept the LGBTQ+ community? And what do queer people think about the characters that are representing them?

We had Dr Scott McKinnon, Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Wollongong share his insight.