Culture

2020 Superbowl Ads Are Making History for LGBTQ+ Inclusivity


Only a handful of ads have been positive, such as Coca-Cola’s “The Wonder of Us” commercial in 2018, which featured the use of “them” as a pronoun — a major moment for non-binary visibility — or a 2016 ad for Axe that celebrated nontraditional masculinity.

“We’ve certainly noticed the dearth of LGBTQ characters in Super Bowl commercials in the past,” says Cyd Zeigler, co-founder of Outsports. “It’s not surprising — these commercials are very expensive, and companies want to hit the widest swath of the market as they can.”

But now, Zeigler says, commercials that omit queer characters stand out more than in previous years. That’s in part because other media has become so much more inclusive. “You’re seeing it more in TV shows, you’re seeing it more in movies, you’ve never had as many out LGBTQ players in sports before,” he says.

As a longtime sports reporter, Zeigler says, old assumptions about homophobia in sports are no longer true.

“I talk to athletes who are gay and straight in the NFL, and they say they never hear gay slurs in a locker room,” says Zeigler. “I just had a lengthy meeting today with somebody at the NFL, talking about how to build inclusion. There’s a commitment on behalf of the NFL to demonstrate how inclusive football is.”

Why is this change happening now? “It’s possible it’s the result of a lot of small changes,” says Michael Bronski, professor of the Practice in Media and Activism in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality at Harvard. “With enough smaller TV shows … putting on LGBTQ characters, gradually they’ve been accepted. And then it might just be that the Super Bowl was like, ‘well, we could start accepting an LGBTQ performer.’”

As always, there’s been a bit of a backlash from conservative quarters, but not in any way that’s remotely credible. One of the only organizations to protest this year’s ads was the American Family Association’s “One Million Moms” project (which, ironically, has only a few thousand followers on Twitter).

One Million Moms’ outrage centered around the ad with drag performers, a tough case to make in today’s media environment. “It completely misunderstands the fact that drag in the past ten years has become integral to American entertainment. It’s no longer deviant, and bizarre, and threatening,” Bronski says.

That fact might be a little disheartening for those who have appreciated drag as edgy or dangerous. The mainstreaming of queer culture may not be entirely welcome news to all queer people.

Bronski points to a notion by political theorist Herbert Marcuse known as “repressive tolerance,” in which structures of power offer compromises rather than allow marginalized groups to fully advance.

When marriage equality seemed likely to become the law of the land, for example, many states offered civil unions as a weak “middle ground” solution. In the same way, allowing drag queens to sell hummus might be a weak gesture hinting at full inclusion without actually providing any substantive structural change.

In other words, while it’s nice to see more queer people on television, Bronski says, “let’s not confuse it with social justice.”

Nevertheless, any step forward is likely to be welcomed by most viewers. In particular, it’s significant that the Amazon ad features a lesbian couple, rather than just showing Ellen on her own.

And who knows — this could pave the way toward future representation at the country’s most-watched sports event. In fact, we could be just one year away from the first openly gay Super Bowl player. Scott Frantz, an openly gay player at Kansas State, is likely to be drafted this spring, and could be on a team when the next football season starts next September.

“I think the NFL has been ready for an out player to play in the Super Bowl for some years,” says Ferrero. “The notion that the American public is going to speak out against an out player or against an LGBTQ inclusive ad in the Super Bowl — those days are gone.”

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