The idea of Trans TV presents ‘a link between the new affordances of digital, internet-distributed platforms and more transgressive and minority content on television’, according to Goddard and Hogg. 

LGBTQ+ content is heavily tied into internet-distributed television and the ability to appeal to ‘ever more niche and activated users’ with newer television models. Streaming platforms account for 87% of available LGBTQ+-related representative content, according to Nielsen’s report on LGBTQ+ representation in media and advertising. 

The entertainment industry has historically found it difficult to portray marginalised communities, with big companies seemingly reluctant to allow for representation out of fear of controversy. This is explored greatly in the Netflix documentary ‘Disclosure’, which looks at stereotypes, memes, and tropes in the media that ‘inform everything from dating and domestic violence, to school policy and national legislation’.

Cable television can be argued to have a focus on money-making productions, whereas streaming platforms can experiment with a wider range of content, supporting more unique and diverse projects. It could be argued that the global reach and on-demand factors of streaming remove capital barriers that might cause traditional television to take fewer risks such as creating niche content, especially one that focuses on a marginalised community. 

The rise in the openly transgender and non-binary population is seen in the total of 262,000 people who indicated that their gender identity was different from their sex registered at birth in the UK 2021 census. This can create a picture of the ‘niche’ market that streaming brands such as Netflix can appeal to through their ability to be easily accessible worldwide, with shows such as Big Mouth, The Umbrella Academy, and Sex Education.

By Lilly Khaokham

Michael Goddard and Chris Hogg 2020, ‘Introduction: Trans TV Re-evaluated part II’, Trans TV Dossier 3, Critical Studies In Television 15: 3: https://journals.sagepub.com/toc/csta/15/3

Michael Goddard and Christopher Hogg (2018), ‘Introduction: Trans TV as concept and intervention into contemporary television’, Critical Studies in Television 13:4: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1749602018798217

https://www.nielsen.com/insights/2023/streaming-platforms-offer-the-most-lgbtq-representation-but-not-enough-for-video-hungry-audiences/#:~:text=Streaming%20platforms%20account%20for%2087,and%20so%20do%20heterosexual%20audiences

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2020/jun/18/disclosure-laverne-cox-netflix-documentary-trans-representation