Professor Damien Ridge, Professor of Health Studies, wrote an article for The Conversation about the new Channel 4 series It’s a Sin, and how the media fuelled the homophobic response to the HIV crisis.
In the article, Professor Ridge discussed how the success of Channel 4 series It’s a Sin reflects how much the media portrayal of LGBTQ+ life and those living with HIV has changed.
Discussing media depictions during the epidemic, he wrote: “People living with HIV were depicted in the press as the dangerous ‘other’…The impact of media sensationalism on people living with HIV – and even institutions – was of shock and shame…The press divided people living with HIV into the ‘guilty’ – those thought to have brought HIV infection upon themselves, like gay men – and ‘innocent victims’ like those with haemophilia who were infected with HIV from donated blood.”
He added: “However, for all the homophobic and negative coverage, one unintentional side-effect of this media sensationalism was the emergence of moving, human accounts from openly gay men and people living with HIV. As one psychiatrist saw it, the fact that ‘so many articulate, presentable people with HIV were in the media…had a huge impact in terms of normalising homosexuality and HIV’”.
Professor Ridge also reflected on how things have changed, and wrote: “The changes in attitudes towards LGBTQ+ people means a show like It’s A Sin can not only be made in the first place, but can also be wildly successful. This reflects the importance of allies – and the positive role the media can play.”
Read the full story on The Conversation’s website.
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