Grafton Globe Newspaper
Winter 2020 Edition
Today, in modern media, there has been an increase in the number of shows and movies that include LGBT themes or characters. In 2018, according to GLAAD, “The percentage of LGBTQ series regulars on broadcast primetime scripted programming is up to an all-time high of 8.8 percent” (GLAAD.org). Back on January 4, Grafton High School’s Gender and Sexuality Alliance (GSA) had a discussion surrounding the topic of LGBT+ characters in media, good vs. bad representation, LGBT+ role models and LGBT+ media in general.
Members from the club shared their role models which ranged from actors and voice actors to singers and youtubers. Some of the role models included Brendon Urie from the band Panic! at the Disco, Isabella Bennett from the band Steam Powered Giraffe, Shane Dawson the youtuber and more. Our discussion on good vs. bad representation focused on how there has been an increase in positive LGBT+ representation in the past few years but also an increase in bad representation as a result. Some of the positive examples included popular television shows such as Steven Universe, Yuri on Ice, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, the O.A and Adventure Time. However, one of the more popular, if not the most popular, LGBT+ representations to come out in the past year was the movie Love, Simon based on the book Simon vs. the Homosapien Agenda by Becky Albertalli. However, as mentioned, we also talked about bad representation as well. Some of the topics that came up included The 100, Voltron, Call Me by Your Name and Orange is the New Black. Most of the examples mentioned used the popular “bury your gays” trope except for Call Me by Your Name which features a minor dating a 24 year old. The “bury your gays trope” is when a show kills off a LGBT+ character solely for the purpose of progressing the main, usually straight and cisgender, character. The trope also refers to the stereotype found in television where gay characters won’t have happy endings. Another topic that came up is the topic of Queerbaiting, or the act of hinting at, but not actually confirming a same-sex romantic relationship. This concept also is used when describing a show that uses representation to attract an LGBT+ audience, but the representations is superficial or full of stereotypes. The discussion was an overall success, one member exclaiming in response to it that “It’s so incredibly important for LGBTQ youth to be allowed to see themselves in the characters they encounter in the media in a healthy way”. The GSA’s next meeting will be held on March 1; the topic of the meeting is to be determined.
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February 2020
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