LGBT Tech & Civil Society Groups File FCC Comments in Staunch Opposition to Identity-Based TV Ratings
- Shae Gardner
- May 26
- 2 min read
Last week, LGBT Tech, Public Knowledge, Chamber of Progress, HTTP - Hispanic Technology & Telecommunications Partnership, and Hispanic Federation filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in response to the FCC Media Bureau’s Public Notice in MB Docket No. 19-41, which asks whether programming that includes gender identity themes should receive different ratings or additional descriptions, including in programming otherwise rated appropriate for children or general audiences.
Our filing explains that the FCC lacks statutory authority to alter the private, voluntary TV ratings system. It also warns that any effort by the government to pressure or encourage identity-based classifications would raise serious First Amendment concerns.
Beyond legal issues, our comments emphasize a broader public-interest concern: government-encouraged warning labels tied to gender identity would send an extremely harmful message to families, programmers, advertisers, platforms, and LGBTQ+ young people themselves.
A ratings system that flags transgender identity as uniquely sensitive does not simply inform parents. It tells the public that some people’s ordinary presence is a matter for caution.
The comments also place the current inquiry in historical context. American media systems have repeatedly treated LGBTQ+ identity as inherently mature, controversial, or morally suspect. From the Production Code to broadcast standards-and-practices rules to advertiser pressure and parental advisories, LGBTQ+ representation has often been restricted not through outright bans, but through labels, private gatekeeping, and risk-avoidance.
The FCC should focus on real improvements: increasing public awareness of the existing ratings system, improving transparency, clarifying complaint processes, and ensuring consistent application of existing content descriptors across platforms.
None of those reforms requires creating an identity-based warning label. The FCC should reject any approach that marks a class of people as inherently requiring warning before their ordinary on-screen presence may reach a general audience.
