As Attitude celebrates a milestone birthday you might expect me to roundup how far gay rights have come in the last twenty years. But frankly we all know that many legislative battles have been won, and there aren’t many more to fight. But is it the same with media coverage?

Back in the late 1980s Section 28 allowed many tabloid and broadsheet newspapers to launch vicious attacks on gay people, the like of which I’d like to think we wouldn’t see today. Indeed, it is fair to say that by and large even papers like The Sun and the Mail are far more sympathetic to us than they ever have been before. That’s not to say that that there isn’t room for improvement, there is.

However, it would be crass to pretend that on issues like civil partnerships and celebrities and sportspeople being comfortable to declare their sexuality, times haven’t changed. Even on equal marriage the most homophobic parts of the Daily Mail have struggled to be as outraged as they once might have been.

The one paper which doesn’t seem to have got the message is the good old Daily Express, whose readership is, admittedly, mostly over 60, if not 70. In 2010 they carried the headline NOW ASYLUM IF YOU’RE GAY – THEY MUST BE FREE TO GO TO KYLIE CONCERTS AND DRINK MULTI-COLOURED COCKTAILS, SAYS JUDGE. Now, as someone who has boogied his arse off with the Prime Minister only feet away from Kylie’s bum and also enjoyed the odd multi-coloured cocktail (non alcoholic, of course) I had to laugh at that one. But in many ways it was no laughing matter and led to a demonstration outside the Express HQ.

The truth is that most newspapers are led by the lifestyles and proclivities of their readers and the editor of The Sun knows full well that most of his readers have a much more liberal attitude to gay issues than they did even ten years ago. That’s why when Tom Daley came out their copy oozed understanding and empathy in a way which even five years ago would have been incredible. Even when they had a front page EXCLUSIVE on his boyfriend being the ripe old age of 39 the article itself was less prurient than a normal Sun reader might have expected. And the next day on its front page was not only a story with the sympathetic headline POP HUNK PAL WHO HELPED DIVE STAR COME OUT, but also a story about a girl who believes she is a boy. This wasn’t a sidebar story, it was the main front page splash. Twenty years ago one can only imagine the headline Kelvin MacKenzie might have used, but instead, in December 2013 it was headlined I’M A BOY, SAYS TWIN GIRL 6 – MUM FIGHTS BIGOTS. And inside was a double page spread giving a totally sympathetic hearing to the mother.

The blanket positive coverage given to the footballer Thomas Hitzlsperger’s decision to come out, and the story of Robbie Rogers, the former Leeds player, were further examples of how far things have come. However, it would be nice to think that in ten years’ time neither of these events, or Tom Daley’s very public coming out, would rate more than a couple of lines in a sidebar on page 58. The fact that celebrities declaring themselves gay is still considered news shows there is still some way to go before full equality is achieved. The day when a boyband member doesn’t consider it necessary to announce to the world he is gay, but merely turns up to an awards ceremony holding hands with his latest beau will be the day when we can think to ourselves that our work is done.

It’s easy to criticise the press, especially the tabloid press, but let’s not pretend that their coverage of how gay people are being treated in other parts of the world is anything other than exemplary. Vladimir Putin will have been furious to see page after page ridiculing his anti-gay laws.

So yes, the media can be infuriating and outrageous at time. But let’s acknowledge that its coverage of gay people and gay issues has changed for the better in the last few years. Credit where credit is due.

This article first appeared in the March edition of Attitude Magazine