Each one hour episode is divided into five or six segments which include stories devoted to the following topics:
Youth and Education
A number of studies have demonstrated a staggeringly high suicide rate among gay youth. Since television may provide the only access to young people in isolated communities, these IN THE LIFE segments provide a particularly important vehicle for the dissemination of vital information. Young viewers can discover that they are not alone and get information about social service organizations that they can contact for help. Segments have included school curricula, the Harvey Milk School, gay and straight high school groups and gay and lesbian senior proms.
Health and AIDS
These segments concentrate on the grassroots efforts by gay and lesbian people to combat the AIDS epidemic and other health issues. Coverage has included the Boston/New York AIDS Ride, The Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, the March On Washington and the support offered by The Mautner Project for Lesbians with Cancer in Washington D.C. While major commercial television news sources may comment on these issues, IN THE LIFE provides the only in-depth television coverage from the gay and lesbian perspective.
Arts and Culture
These segments, encompassing comedy, dance, film, drag performance, music, theater, media and literature appear in most in every IN THE LIFE episode. Featuring such gay and gay-supportive personalities as Maya Angelou, Charles Busch, Melissa Etheridge, Harvey Fierstein, Janis Ian, Kevin Kline, Tony Kushner, Nathan Lane, Lypsinka, Sir Ian McKellen, Paul Monette, Chita Rivera, Joan Rivers, Wesley Snipes and B. D. Wong, these segments highlight artistic achievements by gay and lesbian people. This provides a positive and entertaining catalyst toward serious discussion of important issues.
Workplace
These segments explore the rapidly changing environment and increasing visibility for gays and lesbians in the workplace. Issues have ranged from gays in the military and lesbian and gay journalists, to corporate culture and gay and lesbian employees, including responses at The Walt Disney Company and the Chrysler Corporation.
Relationships and Family
These segments confront a wide variety of issues absent from mainstream media except in tones that are often extremely sensationalistic. From the ongoing debate on same-sex marriage to gay parenting, immigration, and aging, IN THE LIFE presents everyday individuals struggling with issues unique to the gay experience in America.
Global Issues
These segments focus on gay rights struggles and issues in other parts of the world and have included visits to Cuba, South Africa, Romania, Ireland, France, the Philipines, Brazil, Amsterdam, Hong Kong, and China for coverage of the 1994 Beijing International Conference on Women. The latter, for example, focused on the impact of a small group of lesbians at the conference, including an interview with a representative from India who, for the first time, acknowledges her own lack of awareness about even the existence of a lesbian population in her country. The April/May 1998 international episode called IN THE LIFE GOES GLOBAL is one of the series most critically aclaimed programs to date.