#5: Supergay to Save the Day!

Throughout middle and high school, when I was in my "young adult" years, I loved to read. It was a rare occasion to find me without a novel. I would go to the library and browse the young adult section choosing which ever book caught my attention that day. Up until now I never really paid attention to the fact that at least ninety percent of the novels I read were based around a white, heterosexual and her (or his) struggles to overcome the obstacle she (or he) happened to be facing in the novel. I had plenty of friends who were not white, and a few who were homosexual. While reading the article, "Say Yes to Gay YA" by Rachel Brown and Sherwood Smith, it dawned on me that I had never read a story where the main character was of homosexual orientation. I don't believe I've ever seen a TV show, or even a movie where the protagonist was LGBTQ. I have read or watched texts that had a LGBTQ character, but never as the lead.

This is a problem. There are so many people in our society today that identify as LGBTQ. Where are their superheros? When do they save the world?

When I was younger, around 12 or 13, I had a good friend named Josh. In 7th grade Josh "came out of the closet." He was ridiculed and teased. In 8th grade Josh committed suicide.

Heterosexual men and women are in the forefront of our media today. We read about them, watch them on TV and they play in our movies. People from the LGBTQ community do not have strong, popular people to identify with. It is hard for a young adult to admit that he or she may not be a heterosexual, and I think that our media is to blame for this. Most young people are very emotional and sensitive. They hit an age where they are trying to figure out just exactly who they are. A lot of them try to fit in, sometimes disregarding strong feelings of their own in order to conform with the people around them. In the article, Rachel and Sherwood discuss a novel that they have written where on of the lead characters is a gay man. The agent they present their novel too turns them down saying that they would have to make him straight in order for their novel to be published. This is insane to me. There are so many Young Adults that would love to read about a gay man and how he dealt with(in Rachel and Sherwood's novel) the world after the apocalypse.

I think that if there were more stories about LGBTQ people dealing with the same things that our popular heterosexual characters deal with, young LGBTQ adults would feel more accepted in our society. Not only that, but, heterosexual people could read the stories and see that we're all very much a like, and become more accepting. We need to go the extra mile to get people of all sexual orientations in the foregrounds of our media so that everyone feels accepted. Maybe if we allowed more LGBTQs to play the lead, LGBTQs would have someone to admire and give them strength when society looks down on them. If my friend, Josh, had some one he could look up to and let him know that he is not alone, he may still be here today.