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In the Life, a time-honored television series advocating visibility and equality for LGBT people, will air its last episode ever in December, according to a statement released Wednesday.
"Creating high quality, in-depth journalism is expensive," wrote co-chairs Henry van Ameringen and Jayne Baron Sherman in the press release. "However, we are committed to using our available resources to reach the broadest possible audience."
In The Life Media, the production company behind the television series, was founded in 1992 with a mission of bringing real LGBT stories into the media. The television series is a two-time Emmy Award nominee and the recipient of several LGBT media awards, including recognition from NLGJA and GLAAD.
Episodes of In the Life chronicle the real stories of LGBT people on topics like religion, political affairs, youth issues, HIV/AIDS, and more, with full episodes and clips available online. As ITLM's website notes, LGBT people were virtually invisible for most of the history of broadcast television. In the Life helped bridge that gap before shows like Will & Grace or Queer as Folk came along.
"Studies show that visibility is the driving force behind this rapid shift in cultural attitudes toward the LGBT community," according to the press release. "As the media organization that pioneered LGBT visibility on television, we believe ITLM played a significant role in this historic progress."
The end of In the Life doesn't mean an end for the media organization. ITLM says it will work with other organizations to create a web-based archive of historical videos documenting the LGBT rights movement, enhancing the organization's online presence and hopefully broadening its reach.
"New digital technologies provide the way forward for ITLM’s work to live on," the release states. "Our aim is to provide access to this material so that it will continue to be used to advance equality."
