Interviewing out lesbian, gay and bisexual creatives and executives about getting queer stories in mainstream Australian scripted television

In recent years, an expectation has emerged in Australian television production culture to include an out queer positionality as a key creative when developing gender and sexually diverse stories. However, the hidden labour of out queer writers, producers and commissioners has long been part of these processes. This paper illuminates how queer labour is a significant contributor to these stories appearing in Australian scripted television. It draws new insights through analysis of my interviews with 10 out lesbian, gay and bisexual television professionals. It argues interviewing queer television professionals offers specific insights for production culture research about how these representations make it onscreen. Through examining my interviews with publicly out television professionals, this paper argues the value of their positionality in researching production culture. It reveals how their positionality faced challenges and supported opportunities as they sought to advocate queer stories in Australian scripted television.<p></p>