Why LGBT representation in pop culture matters

Remember that moment when Korra and Asami kissed? Remember swooning to Hayley Kiyoko’s “Girls Like Girls”? Cheering for Queer Eye? Crying over Moonlight or Love, Simon?

Rare moments in pop culture allow LGBT people to see themselves fully, such as in Tangerine or Sense8, but in other moments we learn to catch glimpses of ourselves, like when Magnus and Alec fell in love on Shadowhunters or Janelle Monáe’s “Dirty Computer” emotion picture. These moments are few and far between, and sometimes we invent them: there’s a queerness to certain pop culture icons that are never fleshed out even as others live the lives we wish we could.

This is a space where pop culture becomes a mirror and delivers with it a reckoning of who we really are. This is a space for People Like Me.

People Like Me

Natalie Wee is a writer and community-builder of Peranakan descent.

Keep Reading

The cast of All Stars 11

‘RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 11’ is a second chance for the bracket format. Will it work this time around?

Early enthusiasm for the Tournament of All Stars last season was dampened by the back half of the season, raising the question of whether this format is viable in the long term
A flaming torch

‘Survivor’ helped me climb a volcano

Instead of training for a gruelling day-long hike, I listened to podcasts about my favourite TV show. It paid off
Michaela Coel and Anne Hathaway

‘Mother Mary’ nails how devastating a first lesbian breakup can be

In A24’s new pop star drama, Anne Hathaway captures the physicality of a tormented ex-lover aching for answers—and deliverance
The cover of Afternoon Hours of a Hermit; Patrick Cottrell

In ‘Afternoon Hours of a Hermit,’ Patrick Cottrell writes a protagonist who does everything wrong—again

The pseudo-sequel to Cottrell’s acclaimed first novel brilliantly retraces old ground
Advertisement