I think there is was a huge stereotype of gay men being "sissy's" in the 60's and that stereotype hasn't really changed much since then. Though now we have been exposed to gay characters such as the "bear" in the film "American Wedding", we are still being exposed to the stereotype that all gay men have lisps and love the color pink. Fierstein said that he would rather have negative exposure than none at all and I can understand his argument, but at the same time think that that argument can be even more harmful than no exposure of queer identities on the film. If the gay character is always the one being murdered, or always the villain, what is that telling America's queer youth? That they too are evil and deserve to die. More and more I see queer characters being introduced in films like "Janice Ian" of mean girls, but are given the identity of "heterosexual". The same thing goes for the grooms butch sister in "Bridesmaids". I was excited to see a "butch Lesbian" on the TV who, despite her craziness, wasn't a villain, but then comes the scene where the character is seen all over a man. Other stereotypes see in Hollywood films is that all lesbians are "man-haters" or don't really have any male friends. An example I recently saw was the newly introduced lesbian character on the sitcom "New Girl" who has no interest in even speaking with one of the male characters even though he clearly is not hitting on her. So the stereotypes have shifted from evil sinning gay people, to maybe not so harmful stereotypes, but the stereotypes still exist and I don't see them ever going away. I think that stereotypes can be a way for people to find common identities and have their identities affirmed, as well as bring GLBTQ and Queer communities together. However I want to reiterate that they can still be clearly harmful.
I definitely agree with your post, it's annoying that there can't be queer characters in movies, or television shows that have normal roles like the other members. Instead they have to be different and made noticeable. I would like to see a show where the gay characters simply blend in and that you don't know their sexuality until they show it or say it out loud. I feel like it's too easy for film makers to milk these queer stereotypes so they keep doing it, hoping to get laughs. Even though it is completely overused and inaccurate, they still do it. The thing I did like about that character in Bridesmaids was that she was not made to be automatically a lesbian. I like how she was butch and hitting on men, it showed that not all butch women are automatically lesbian. I like those reverse stereotypes.