Two sixteen year old boys sit at the back of the school bus holding hands. Both are quiet, but the bus echoes with the same loud whispers that follow the boys everywhere they go. That is so gay! God says that's wrong! It's gross! The whispers hurt the boys, but they continue to suffer in silence and nobody is willing to speak up for them for fear of going against the crowd. In Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears A Who, an elephant called Horton discovers a city on a speck of dust inhabited by a species of very small persons, the Who's and decides to protect them because 'a person's a person, no matter how small.' Today, homosexuality is attacked by many groups such as the church, media, and businesses. If someone were to speak up for these individuals, like Horton did for the Who's, people like the two boys might not have to sit at the back of the bus, but at the front accepted as part of society now matter how different they may be.
The first time an on screen kiss was televised was in 1960 on the family favorite British soap opera, Coronation Street (Coward). It was a breakthrough for a society where the issue of homosexuality was rarely talked about, let alone shown on TV. Years later, homosexuality is appearing everywhere-shows like Sex in The City, Queer Eye for The Straight Guy, and Will and Grace have shown that it, quite frankly, sells. All My Children became the first show to include a major homosexual role in Bianca Montgomery played by Eden Riegel.
Homosexuality is also being openly portrayed in other countries, many of which where the issue has been taboo for several years. For example, Bollywood, India's major film making industry, recently released a film called Dostanaa directed by Karan Johar. The film takes place in America, where two individuals pretend to be gay in order to rent space in an apartment, as one of the rules state that any man who rents a room must be married. They get the rooms, albeit renting both instead of one, and end up battling their feelings for their beautiful room mate, a mother's reactions, and several other obstacles put in the way. While the film is politically incorrect and sometimes outright offensive, it shows that homosexuality is becoming an open topic where it was once considered shameful to mention it. Thus homosexuality is becoming better portrayed on television shows and more frequently around the world, and is slowly ditching it's image as dirty and immoral.
However, the news media still tends to distort the lives and experiences of homosexuals. A 1998 study that analyzed 50 years of coverage of gay and lesbian issues found that homosexuals are often linked to criminal behavior without evidence to support such claims. It was also discovered that the media liable to reprint offensive and homophobic messages (Bennett). When HIV/AIDS became a public health issue in the 1980's, coverage of homosexuality became even more intense and negative, portraying gay men as a serious risk to society. The coverage essentially showcased society's dislike and fear for the gay community. But overtime, as homosexuality continues to come into light and people gain a proper understanding for it, it is quite possible that homosexuality might gain the positive depiction it deserves, just as the Who's were accepted as people when they raised their voices loud enough to be heard.

Homosexuality has been attacked in many groups such as the church, the media, and in business much like the Who's in Horton Hears A Who. Maybe if someone speaks up for them like Horton did, they would become an accepted part of society.