The appearance of homosexual characters on television, especially sitcoms, would make their numbers seem more like 15-20% of the population. About the same time that transition was made, humor stopped being funny, with a few exceptions, and instead elicited what laughs it could by being 'edgy' (Nervousness provokes laughter, too, just not the good kind.)
While I won't say some shows are good enough that the requisite homosexual character is tolerated (so long as that is not explicit), for the most part, any show with excess faggotry (open displays of affection) is banned from my house. The BBC got 'edgy' with ads for one show which looked like it would be an interesting concept, and we didn't so much as watch the pilot.
Another show (not sure which network) did the same, and ditto.
Perceptions are molded by such casting (which is not essential to plot development), and tolerances by desensitization to the behaviours, and the media are the vehicle by which both will arrive in your living room.
