![]() Encarnación (2014), a Professor of Political Studies at Bard, has argued that democracy should also be considered as a third component to the acceptance of LGBT rights given that “although gay rights are not found in all democracies, gay rights are virtually nonexistent in nondemocracies” (p. Therefore, the level of religion and wealth for each country sampled in this study will be examined. The more wealthy and the more secular a country is, the more likely that country is to favor LGBT rights (Pew Research Center, 2013). This research asks the question, what is the relationship between the publication of this image and a country’s level of democracy, wealth and religion – socio-economic factors that have been found to be correlated to the acceptance of LGBT rights. This research will examine media outlets from a sample of countries to see first, which countries covered this anti-gay protest and second, which countries included this particular pro-LGBT image rather than the images depicting the anti-LGBT marriage march. In the week that followed, the image went ‘viral’ around the world as an icon of ideological support for LGBT rights. In 2016, at one of the “March for the Family” protests organised by National Family Front (Frente Nacional por la Familia), a photojournalist snapped an image of a 12-year-old boy who stood against a sea of anti-LGBT marriage protesters in Celaya, Mexico. Thus, while gay marriage is now legal in Mexico, only a very small percentage of Mexican states allow gay people to be married. ![]() His proposal came after a Supreme Court ruling declaring that a ban on same-sex marriage was unconstitutional. Mexico as a country reflects that division: gay marriage is legal in Mexico City as well as several Mexican states, but in September of 2015, 100 cities in all 32 Mexican states hosted a march entitled “March for the Family” to protest against President Enrique Peña Nieto’s proposal to legalise gay marriage. Thus, there appears to be very clear national distinctions in how local cultures consider the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. It is now legal in 22 countries around the world, but homosexual acts remain punishable by death in 10 countries and are now illegal in a further 65 countries following relatively recent international legislation. Earth’s inhabitants appear to be effectively split to the prospect of homosexual unions. In doing so, this study interrogates the cultural factors that may be influencing the use of a particular digital image during an informational age where electronic images circulate around the world in lightning speed.įew topics elicit such a globally divisive response as gay marriage. The research then compares that visual media representation – as a framed ideological, cultural construction – to the wealth, religion and democracy of a particular country, three factors that have been suggested to be related to LGBT acceptance (Encarnación, 2014 Pew Research Center, 2013). This study examines how a select group of countries around the world visually framed one particular protest in Mexico, which was related to LGBT rights. Keywords: Viral image, democracy, wealth, religion, ideology, international news Introduction These factors may help to coalesce into a cultural perspective unique to each country examined ![]() The findings of this research could potentially suggest the presence of ideological biases at the national level in regards to how international news stories are told and also which news stories are even addressed. This research will examine newspapers from a sample of 17 countries to see where this particular pro-LGBT image was used. In 2016, an image of a 12-year-old boy who stood against a sea of anti-LGBT marriage protesters in Celaya, Mexico went ‘viral’ around the world as an icon for LGBT rights. Thus, there appears to be very clear national cultural distinctions in how local cultures consider the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. However, homosexual acts remain punishable by death in 10 countries and are now illegal in a further 65 countries. Gay marriage is now legal in 22 countries around the world. Journal of Intercultural Communication, ISSN 1404-1634, issue 49, March 2019 Exploring national culture through international media The publication of a viral pro-LGBT image compared against a nation’s wealth, level of religion, and democracy Linda Jean Kenix University of Canterbury Abstract Exploring national culture through international media ![]()
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