By Kayla Knudsvig
In media, we often see one sexual orientation represented, and only two gender identities (male and female) represented as well. Additionally, transgender and nonbinary/gender non conforming characters are a rarity. It sends this message that being anything but male or female and heterosexual isn’t right since other identities aren’t seen in television shows and movies among other types of media.
In her article ‘Lack of LGBT media representation is dangerous’ for The Wilson Beacon, Adelaide Kaiser writes “Children need representation in the media to show them what they could be.”
If children were to see representations of LGBTQ+ people, they would grow up knowing that it isn’t wrong or bad to identify as part of the community. Kaiser also wrote that “Transgender characters have even less representation.”
“There were only 16 transgender characters on TV last year, which pales in comparison to the number of cisgender cast members.”
Adelaide Kaiser
Transgender individuals often have trouble figuring out what their identity is. However, if trans characters were included in television shows and movies, people might be able to identify themselves easier after seeing someone fictional go through the same struggle.
To explore this issue, I will be analyzing the popular television show Brooklyn Nine-Nine. The show features two characters who identify within the LGBTQ+ community. Detective Rosa Diaz is bisexual and Captain Raymond Holt is gay. The fifth season of the show demonstrates how important the characters and their relationships are.
Why Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s Queer Characters Are Important
In the episode “Game Night,” she comes out to her parents, who are less than supportive. A lot of members of the LGBTQ+ community have experienced this, so Detective Diaz’s experience means a lot to people. Her father’s comment of “you were so nervous, we were worried you were gonna tell us you were gay,” stings and disappoints her, which is something lots of people can relate to.
Rosa feels hurt by the reaction she gets from her parents, but her coworkers in the Ninety-Ninth Precinct don’t see her any different after she comes out to them. Before coming out to her coworkers and parents, she’d come out to Detective Charles Boyle. His reaction was positive and supportive, setting a great example of how one should react when a friend or loved one comes out.
Captain Holt’s relationship with his husband Kevin is portrayed exactly like a heterosexual relationship in other television shows in the way that there isn’t a big fuss made about them being together. As a black, gay police officer, Captain Holt has faced many struggles in his career and risen up to prove anyone who doubted him wrong, which can be inspiring to young people in the LGBTQ+ community.
Building Visibility
Additionally, I created a set of graphics using GLAAD’s 2018 overview of findings. I included the statistics of representation of LGBTQ+ people in media and included a QR code for people to scan that will take them to the website. The graphics can be seen below! These will be hopefully posted on the activist blog’s social media accounts. The purpose of this is to show people why LGBTQ+ representation in the media is so important.
