Representing Gay Males in Hypermasculine Personal and Professional Environments

Abstract Book of the 5th International Conference on LGBT studies

Year: 2026

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Representing Gay Males in Hypermasculine Personal and Professional Environments

Kylo-Patrick Hart, Janice E. McCall

ABSTRACT:

The representation of gay males in various television series, from the medium’s inception to the present day, has undoubtedly influenced the way that many audience members regard and respond to gay males in the real world. Numerous studies have demonstrated that these influential media representations impact the ways that heterosexual individuals come to understand male homosexuality and related forms of queerness, significantly affecting relationships within and among various social groups over time. Accordingly, this presentation begins by providing a brief overview of representational trends pertaining to gay males in television series over the past several decades. It then proceeds to articulate and analyze the representational contributions of two particularly noteworthy series that premiered in 2025 — Boots, about the experiences of a closeted gay adolescent who joins the U.S. Marine Corps on a whim; and Heated Rivalry, revolving around the enduring secret romantic and sexual relationship between two rival professional hockey players — which break substantial new ground, in very different ways, in portraying the lived realities that many gay males commonly experience in hypermasculine personal and professional daily environments.

Keywords: Anti-LGBT; Homosociality; Identity; Repression; Television