Last Sunday night, Andy Cohen hosted a Queer-Eye (for the Straight Guy) 10-year reunion special, where the Fab Five sat around and discussed their experience with the show. During the show, Thom Filicia discussed the significance of their presence on television a decade ago, and how there was very limited representation of gay individuals on TV during that time. While Queer-Eye is definitely critiqued for perpetuating somewhat limiting stereotypes for gay men, it can be argued that the Fab Five, and this show, really helped the visibility of gay life in the media, and "ended up making over the mainstream media’s representation of gay men." (2nd EW article) This show presented gay men interacting with straight men in very normal social ways, and helped make LGBTQ life more mainstream in pop culture. This show also encouraged a lot of discussions around LGBTQ issues, such as the use of the word "gay" as a derogatory term, or "making-better" a trans-male in one episode. If you are interested in watching the show, all five seasons are currently on Netflix! (that's how I've been spending my free time...)
http://popwatch.ew.com/2013/10/20/queer-eye-10-years-later-react/
http://insidetv.ew.com/2013/10/20/queer-eye-10-years-later-the-fab-fives-make-better-legacy/
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