Niche programming and television networks devoted to the glbtq community have developed in Canada, as they have in the United States.

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PrideVision TV

PrideVision TV was launched on September 7, 2001 and is touted as the world's first Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender television network to broadcast twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The network is licensed by the Canadian Radio Television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) to provide television service targeted to the gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender community.

The network is guaranteed distribution through Cable and Direct-To-Home satellite companies that provide digital television services in Canada. Two and one-half million households are expected to have access to digital channels in Canada, though the numbers who have subscribed to PrideVision is still unknown.

PrideVision TV offers a range of programming, dealing with subjects ranging from current affairs, documentaries, health and fitness, lifestyle, and finance to relationships, music, cooking, and travel. Entertainment programming includes popular movies and comedies from around the world, Canadian drama, arts programming, biographies, and variety shows.

Among the offerings of PrideVision TV is Shout! (2001- ), a weekly current affairs program, dealing with the ongoing concerns of the glbtq community. Indeed, PrideVision TV opened its studio in the heart of Toronto's "gay ghetto" to promote the network and facilitate audience interaction on Shout!

PrideVision has also developed a travel show titled Bump! (2001- ). Its two hosts travel the world in search of fascinating glbtq human-interest stories. Bump! presents a new location each week, delving into the local social scene.

Another new program, The UnderCovers (2001- ), offers live phone-in sex advice. It takes viewer e-mails and phone calls from the glbtq community. PrideVision also airs popular glbtq dramas and comedies, such as Gimme Gimme Gimme, Undressed, So Graham Norton, and Metrosexuality.

Although an emerging network, PrideVision's mandate to air Canadian content should give cause for optimism to Canadian gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered filmmakers, producers, directors and performers.

American television sitcoms have consistently reflected the presence of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered people, often in distorted and stereotyped ways, but occasionally in ways that acknowledge our humanity and complexity.

In 2005 Canada became the fourth country to recognize same-sex marriages; the milestone victory solidified Canada's position as a leader in the struggle for glbtq equality.

The queer community has used documentary film to resurrect historical memory and to permit the marginalized to bear witness, as well as to build an image base that reflects our diversity and counters distorted representations.

Canadian filmmaker Lynne Fernie has had a varied career in the arts, but is best known as the co-director of the celebrated 1992 documentary Forbidden Love: The Unashamed Stories of Lesbian Lives.

A smash hit on British television, comedian and talk-show host Graham Norton has been out, proud, and outrageous from the beginning of his career.

Montreal-born playwright and novelist Michel Tremblay draws on his own Catholic working-class background in his presentation of bar culture characters and their relatives.