This unit will examine lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered characters on television and in film. Beginning with an historical examination of queer absences, demonisation and subtextual representation, the course will move on to early examples of queer characters in film and television. We will then explore in close detail significant contemporary queer film and television texts. The course will ask students to interrogate not only the positive or negative implications of these characters and images, but what political and cultural specificities they represent. We will also engage with the critical discourses surrounding LGBT film and television, addressing major theorists and theoretical trends in the analysis of these texts. In order to hone students' research skills, the final major assessment will constitute a research paper on queer representation in a film or television series of their choice.