Two years ago, the BBC launched the UK's first SSA dating show, I Kissed a Boy. Last year, they aired a follow-up series named I Kissed a Girl. With the intention that each year would alternate between gay/bisexual men and lesbian/bisexual women.
As a lesbian who watched IKAG with her housemates last year (mostly straight, bar one gay man - mixture of men and women), I found it incredibly refreshing to see lesbian relationships on television, especially with a cast that was relatively diverse and wasn't just conventionally attractive femme white women. It opened a lot of conversation about my own experiences as a lesbian and whether the show reflected it, (I loved the episode where they talked about embracing the word lesbian because it's not a dirty word and why the L is first in LGBT). No other show specifically about lesbians has taken in so many people (trash TV has no limits, I suppose) and encouraged discussion with people. Although I have my issues with reality TV, it made female homosexuality visible in a way that it's never felt visible before.
I had been pleasantly surprised that the show had been about homosexuality and not pushing an agenda of Trans Women being Women, with all the contestants being biologically female.
This year, with the return of I Kissed a Boy, they have introduced a trans contestant. You can tell by the body language of the others in the villa maserria that they don't want to be anything other than accepting (I mean, they're on national television - what choice do they have), and it's just so enraging. When it aired, this show was groundbreaking. I'm only one episode in, but this open letter from the LGB Alliance sums it up very well.
BBC Series ‘homophobic in the extreme.’ - LGB Alliance UK
This is the FIRST dating show exclusively for SSA people in the UK, and not even two years in, people are being told they need to accept someone who is OSA.
I've seen a lot of people in the UK who have seen it say they think this is going to Peak a lot of gay men, and I think they're right.
