‘Glee’ is a tv show that centralizes around a group of students, who are members of the so-called ‘Glee Club’. This choir group consists of various stereotypical high school students: arrogant jocks, beautiful cheerleaders, ugly nerds, unique Asians, an overweight Black American, and an effeminate gay student.
What makes this show so popular is not the clichéd scenario, but the message that the show disseminates through addressing controversial issues like homosexuality. In the current technology-oriented generation, I think the show is clearly effective in promoting gay rights because so many people are exposed to this issue at once just by watching this show, and the fact that the majority of the viewers are teens is also influential because they can grow up to think more flexibly regarding such issues.
If we start analyzing the show, we soon realize that the show is full of homosexuality. There is Kurt, who is the effeminate choir boy; Santana, who is a bisexual; Blaine, who is a gay football player; Rachel's two dads who are married, a rival choir leader who starts dating Kurt, and the list continues. I don't know any other shows that consists of so many gay characters, but I personally think the show balances other issues (like bullying, obesity, teen sex, etc.) well with the issue of homosexuality. Although Kurt is definitely one of the protagonists, the fact that the issue is subtly embedded into the plot also affects the viewers' perspective in the way that it is not forcefully changing their way of thinking, but slowly getting them accustomed to this very idea.
In order to promote homosexuality and gay rights, I think that raising the issue on shows, like Glee, is a great method of opening up people's perspectives. The more publicized homosexuality is, the greater the opportunities to advocate the issue.
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