19 People In The TV Industry The LGBTQ Community is Thankful For

5. Ellen Page and Ian Daniel

Tell me Ellen Page is on screen somewhere and you’ve already got me hooked. But now tell me she’s on a mission to change the worldly views people have about queers- I’m invested. Game over.

Actress Ellen Page and best friend Ian Daniel are using their platform to explore what it’s like to be gay in a different country. Throughout the world, every culture looks at homosexuality different. Through the good, the bad, and the ugly, Page and Daniel are bringing these views to Gaycation.

Season one took a look at places like Japan, Brazil, Jamaica, and the United States. The first episode was an immersion of the two hosts into the contradictory culture of Japan and met people who struggle with their sexuality in a nation against them. They take a look at Brazil, a nation with the highest LGBTQ+ murder rate in the world. Season two took them to India, France, Ukraine, the “deep south” of the US, and had a special presentation after the Orlando shooting in August.

“I feel grateful to be a part of a show that’s offering more — just representation, just simply, for the LGBTQ community,” Page says in an interview with NPR. Daniel adds in, “It’s about creating a space where we can just share those stories.”

Don’t get me wrong- this, by no means, is a happy and dandy show to watch for kicks and giggles. It’s not a sitcom. It’s not fiction. It wasn’t written by a writer wanting to portray positive representation. But that’s the thing. This is the representation. This is an unfiltered look into the world of LGBTQ+, and unfortunately for some, the scene never cuts.