Why Mainstream LGBTQ+ Representation Matters

I'm overdue to dive into why I feel it's important to even be talking about these things at all.

Council of Geeks
PO Box 4429
St. Johnsbury, VT 05819

[bacul]

Representation... "It is a tiny reassurance that maybe, you are not a monster."
That should be quite an eye-opener for anyone who thinks it's no big deal. It's huge, and frankly a bit heartbreaking.

[isaacrichter]

Yesterday was Asperger's Awareness Day, for which I always write a message on my Facebook about growing up on the Autism spectrum. I remember when my mom told me about my diagnosis, the first thing she told me was to be very discreet about it because it's not so well known (this was in the early aughts, before there was a boom in awareness on the autism spectrum), but as soon as she told me, I started noticing all the things that made me look weird in front of everyone (I already knew there was something different about me and I had seen Rain Man the year before I found out, so I already had my suspicions) and I could see people react to the way I behaved and I realized that the reason everyone reacted to me in a weird way is because everyone expected me to be "normal", not because they expected everyone to be normal, but because no one had any idea that there was something that made me different. Once I started telling people and explaining what happens to me, I was much more accepted by my peers with all my quirks and such and I've made it a point of telling people, because that's the best way to be included in society as a whole. Nowadays, I can use characters like Rain Man, or Sheldon, or Max from Parenthood, or Abed from Community or any number of characters that have been represented on the autism spectrum as shorthand to let people know what they can expect (and even then, every person is different). That's another reason why I consider mainstream representation important. It gives the mainstream audience a frame of reference as to the different kinds of people there are in the world and how all of them can be included, which is why I applaud you for making these videos and for continuing to push for more representation.

[alexcunningham]

Coming from a straight guy, this was a great video . I was always someone who did get frustrated when people were so focused on representation instead of other things, but this was a really great video which put things into perspective when it comes to representation . I applaud you for allowing me to have a stronger understanding of the topic

[clementodenknirps]

I was a boy with long hair and i remember how i happy i was seeing a man with long hair in a movie. Even though it wasnt a core part of my identitiy i can see why representation is important. I would not have thought about this without people like you, thank you.

[leticiacsan]

The first time I read lesbian romance (I was 12 and in love with a girl), I got so excited because all my life I thought that wasn't possible. The first time I saw a genderfluid character on a book, when I was 16, it made me so happy that I didn't shut up about it for 2 weeks. The first time my best friend saw a gay character come out on TV, he decided to come out to his parents.
I've seen people's lives change because of a simple representation on a TV show or movie. That's why representation matters. It has the power to convince us ours lives are worth living.

[dcfan]

For me, as I'm gay and autistic, I can't relate myself with strait neurotypical characters as well as gay neurotypical characters. Similarly I find it hard to relate myself with neurotypical characters as a whole. To me LGBT and autistic representation on TV and in film is a way of making me feel like I'm part of a community and not alone like I was for most of my life.

[prageruwu]

*as a child, if i had seen any trans men in media who werent portrayed as "confused freaks", my childhood would have gone way better*

[thebreeoche]

I'm a trans guy, and I'm a fan of the manga Jojo's Bizarre Adventure. In the sixth part, known as Stone Ocean, there's a very quick scene where the protagonist, Jolyne, is going through the process of entering a women's prison. She asks the guards why there's a man in the line, and they tell her "she took hormones to make herself look like that, she's not really a man" to which Jolyne remarks "he certainly looks like a man to me". It's not important to the plot, we don't ever see this character again, but when I first read that scene I was overjoyed - it's a scene that speaks to the problems of being trans in prison, and the hero of the story doesn't join in with the misgendering of the guards. It's a very nice scene that shows a cis woman thinking of a trans man not only as a man, but also as a potential sexual partner since the line is meant in a flirty way. It's something you almost never see and JoJo is one of the most popular mangas in the world, so knowing a lot of people saw it fills me with joy every time I think about it.

[EDGEproductions]

Before I watch the video...

I’m going to write a massive essay on my opinions on the subject first because my opinion and viewpoint is vital.

[lesley]

Because if there isn’t, LGBTQ+ kids might think of themselves as weird. When I first realized I was bisexual, I remember telling myself, “don’t tell anyone about this. Hide it.” So, i did. I preoccupied myself with topics, activities, books so I wouldn’t think about it. When I did have time to think about it, i honestly hoped to god that I was genuinely confused because I know my family wouldn’t accept it, especially my abuela. We’re Hispanic/Latino so my family tends to not understand these sort of things. I told my dad who was surprisingly okay with it but I know I can’t tell my grandparents because they’re literally have heart attack.
As I’m watching/writing Fantasy/Adventure LGBTQ+ content, I’m slowly coming to terms with it. One of the reasons as to why I made one of my main male characters (even though I’m female) bisexual is for that specific purpose of helping me.

I was watching dragon prince with my twin sister the other day and there are these lesbians characters. I was so happy to see them that I kept on saying “go lesbians! Go!” My sister got annoyed because I’m not that outspoken about things. I’m quite soft spoken. I’m out to her but sometimes I don’t think she understands or sees it as a problem that should be kept on the downlow. My dad has the same sort of mentality about it, being that don’t bring it up unless it is necessary to the conversation. Sometimes that sort of mentality hurts my feelings but I understand it — don’t become annoying and talk in circles about the same thing (which I tend to do because i also happen to have Aspergers - a form of autism)

[aliyahbentley]

They need to represent asexuals/aromantics etc more

[ДарьяЧернышева-нх]

film "Victim" (1961) literally changed society's mind on gay people in Great Britain. Representation matters a whole lot.

[shrinkingviolet]

Thanks for covering these topics. I'm LGBTQ and people never seem to understand why I think representation in media matters so much. Now I have a video I can send them.

[Never_Really_Here]

Representation helps normalize things and make them appear less mysterious or strange.

People who say the LGBTQ+ community doesn’t need representation, has obviously never felt unrepresented in any form of media; because if they had, they would understand why it’s so important to us.

[sinclairethomas]

Is anyone else crying? Am I the only one crying? I feel like I'm the only one crying!

[quinnsinclair]

The bit about “I didn’t know I could feel this way.” Really hit home. On the CW’s Supergirl they introduced a trans female superhero played by a trans female actress. They don’t go out of their way to draw attention to it. It’s mentioned in her second episode and it comes up once or twice here and there but they don’t make it her defining characteristic. It’s part of her identity but only part. I had no idea how it felt to see someone like me portrayed just as a person, their own wants, hopes and fears; not held back by or defined by being trans. Knowing that the actress is also trans, that this isn’t just Hollywood’s idea of a trans person gives me hope. If she can make it that far maybe so can I.

[megtoon]

That allegory about hiding in a hole and sometimes net getting out made my jaw drop and nearly brought me to tears. I loved this video because of the brutal honesty that's here and how you didn't skip around anything; you just said it, and some people need to hear that. As someone who's bi, it was so nice to see Rosa come out on Brooklyn 99 only for me to realize how little representation of bi people there are, at least where it isn't demonized. But seeing Rosa say it and to not be demonized for it just made me feel...nice. It's the ability to relate, something that humans instinctively need, that makes representation so important. We want to relate to these characters on different things. Sometimes it's our shared job, or maybe a favorite color, but other times it's much bigger then that with gender/sexuality representation, and it's that ability to relate that makes it so important. To quote another one of your videos, "Inclusion helps people not feel like abominations." and it's that there that makes it so important.

[ApollodoraTheExplora]

The first time I saw some bisexual on screen as a hero I just felt invincible. It made me feel like I was capable of being just as awesome myself, and that my sexuality wasn’t something that would hold me back.

I can’t fully put into words how encouraging all your LGBTQ+ videos have been for me. You keep proving yourself as a voice of reason and sense. I’m glad we have you as one of our champions.

[emilymorano]

I remember growing up, I didn't even know what gay was. It was so weird because I knew I liked those with the same gender as me but I didn't even have a word to describe it. On top of that I was bullied relentlessly for being gay, I didn't know what it meant but from the way people were saying it, it sounded like it was something terrible, and I was a nice person so of course I denied it. I'm not sure when exactly I realised being gay and being attracted to men were the same thing, but I kinda just forgot about my sexuality until high school. I'm not sure how seeing representation of gay people on tv wouldve affected me but I know for sure school wouldve been a lot easier. Because, when as soon as I came out in high school nobody even mentioned it, everyone accepted it as a normal thing and if I had been able to say "Yes, I am. And what of it?" When I was younger it would've helped. So I guess what I'm getting at is that representation is also important to help young LGBTQ+ people learn about themselves.

[lynnstarr]

Thank you for those words at the end there. I didn’t know i needed to hear them, but they made my eyes water.