The Inclusive Culture

As Tony Blair scurries off, it's worth considering how much things have improved for those of an LGBT persuasion since that new dawn broke in 1997.

Because, for all his faults, Tony sure loved the gays. He stormed Middle England with a barrage of Mail-baiting homo-friendly legislation: the repeal of Section 28, age of consent equalisation, and civil partnerships. He even let us serve in the military, presumably because the Navy just wasn't gay enough. But his crowning achievement in relation to sexual politics was to liberalise the culture to such a degree that 'alternative' sexuality became as normalised as anywhere outside San Francisco or the average football team's locker room (don't kid yourselves, guys - we know what you get up to). Blair didn't put Queer as Folk on TV, but in many ways he created the social environment that made it possible.

If his kingdom you seek, look around you – or rather, look to the hot-off-the-press programme of the Edinburgh International Film Festival. Notice anything about it? A diverse and intelligent mix of art-house and popular movies? Well, yes, but that's just proof of the talent of new festival director Hannah McGill. No, what I'm getting at is the paucity of LGBT content on offer.

Now, the film festival isn't a queer-free zone. There's a retrospective showing of Gus Van Sant's Mala Noche, a tender story of the same-sex relationship between a drifter and a Mexican immigrant, and Jeff Garlin's documentary John Waters: This Filthy World, which follows the comic entertainer's day-to-day work as an uber-outré stand-up, professional baiter of the Christian Right, and card-carrying gay.

Otherwise, things are pretty light on light-footed action. This will no doubt itch the more radical of our numbers to complain of the 'marginalisation' of queer identity. Where are the gently-comic coming-of-age dramas about plucky transgendered folk? Why no dark and moving tales of lesbians struggling to come out in Jesusville, Texas? They're all so ... hetero.

It might seem counter-intuitive, if not downright perverse, to say that absence equals victory. Yet, there could be no better evidence of the growing social acceptance of queerness than the diminishing imperative to throw red meat to the 'gay community'. Less and less are we viewed as a 'special' sub-group, who must be appeased and catered for. Instead, we're being allowed (no, I don't like that word either) to mature and take our rightful place as individuals within culture.

This need not necessarily fragment us as a political, cultural, and sexual bloc. All it means is that producers of culture are increasingly making programmes inclusive of LGBT people, rather than box-ticking and meeting their own right-on creative quotas.

I treasure my Queer as Folk DVDs as fiercely as my subscription to Attitude. But there's a difference between longing to see yourself and people like you reflected in cultural products and wanting to hang a 'No Straights' sign outside our little club. No culture can be integrated totally. We should, however, be striving towards a shared cultural space, where queerness and heterosexuality co-exist on equal terms free from discrimination, 'positive' or otherwise.

The signs are good for an LGBT-friendly culture. The gay best friend of so many 90s (straight) chick-flicks is gradually stepping into the limelight. Look at the recent movie Running with Scissors, in which Augusten plays the lead and his straight female friend the sidekick. Or Val Kilmer as the stoical detective hero and Robert Downey Jr as his wacky, flighty buddy in Kiss Kiss Bang Bang. Guess which one liked guys? Not the one you might expect.

On TV, Brothers and Sisters, Channel 4's latest American drama import, has Matthew Rhys as the gay son of a big family, who's not the black sheep of the family, but instead the most level-headed of the lot. There've been gays on Six Feet Under, lesbians on EastEnders (Walford Pride! The L Word be damned), and let's not forget the nation's most famous post-op trans person: Hayley Cropper from Corrie. Yes, the same soap that disrespects us with Sean, the de-sexualised 'camp' one behind the bar in the Rovers, but progress is undoubtedly being made.

This isn't to dismiss the recorded increase in anti-gay crimes (which may have more to do with a new willingness to come forward) or the ugly prejudices displayed by some religious figures. There are still barriers to be torn down. But we should be looking forward to the day – and it's coming soon, I promise – when queerness will no longer be an issue. Culture is heading in the right direction and I hope those of us who are L, G, B, or T will follow it. We have arrived; EastEnders says so. Ditch that rainbow flag and sexual separatism and accept that we're accepted.