“Fiction and homonormativity: representation of LGBT characters in a webseries (France Télévisions)”

How to represent LGBT charaters in a web series? What choices should one make to produce a story broadcasted on the Internet? For this paper, I will focus on a french LGBT web series produced by France Télévisions, during the late 2010’s. This web series has been written by an openly gay scriptwriter and it follows the story of Bilal, a young gay man from the suburb, who decides one day to move to Lyon, where he meets Anthony. Anthony is an older gay man that Bilal had known several summers ago. Thanks to Anthony, Bilal discovers the activist world of the LGBT center of Lyon. The first season of this web series follows both story arcs: the personal story of Bilal and Anthony, and the political story of the LGBT center.

            How a LGBT web series, which wants to be seen by a wide audience, ends up pushing away the most marginalized queer voices? This question will be answered through a study conducted thanks to a participant observation of seven months, with me being present during half of the shooting period, and through comprehensive interviews of several members of the production. The works of David Halperin, Michel Foucault and Eric Fassin will also be used.