12 LGBTQIA+ tropes we don’t want to see in pop culture anymore
Not every trope is necessarily harmful. However, there are a few LGBTQIA+ tropes we can do without moving forward.
We’re already a full month into 2019, but that won’t inhibit us from reminiscing on the milestones in LGBTQIA+ representation in 2018. After Hayley Kiyoko’s “Girls Like Girls” music video rounded out #20GayTeen with an overwhelmingly (and well-deserved) 100 million views, it only seems right to continue to review the representation in our community.
Last year gave us new bops by LGBTQIA+ artists from Hayley Kiyoko, Kehlani, Janelle Monáe and beyond. Aside from an ever-expanding playlist, the United States also elected multiple LGBTQIA+ politicians during the Midterm Elections, which will help combat anti-legislature.
Although LGBTQIA+ inclusion has gradually increased in televised programming, quantitative representation in films has had some blips in progressive representation in recent years. As the most recent GLAAD study on Studio Responsibility and LGBT media notes, representation for the community declined in 2017 by a little over 5 percent.
The statistics for 2018 might not be available, but there are several televised productions that have continually contributed positive inclusivity by casting gay, bi+, and transgender talent and portraying characters who are LGBTQIA+. Shows like Pose, Killing Eve, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, She-Ra and the Princesses of Power, Marvel’s Runaways, and Black Lightning have continued to bolster healthy representation for a variety of identities within the LGBTQIA+ community.
These shows will thankfully continue to amplify disenfranchised identities with dynamic new narratives; however, it’s easy to see that there are still some lingering, and often harmful, LGBTQIA+ tropes that impact pop culture outside of these productions.
We’re hoping this year that new films, shows, books, and otherwise will consider opting out of these clichés because we’re honestly tired of consuming these in our media diet.