It ‘s pride month! When it comes to the struggles and the overcomes of the LGBTQ+ community, the media has earned a main space, due to the representativeness and the impact that it has on society. But it wasn’t always like that. For a long time, all the romantic movies and books were only about straight couples. Let’s see some characters that were important in the breaking of that mistaken paradigm.
- Paul Korner
-
The very first gay couple portraied on the screen was on the first pro gay german movie, directed by Richard Oswald, Different from others, during the Weimar Republic, in 1919. The story is about Paul Korner, a concert violinist who falls in love with his student, Kurt. When it was released, few people had the courage to applaud.
The criticisms were based on the german law, which classified as a crime any homosexual acts between men, and the penalty was death. And that was what happened with Paul Korner at the end of the movie: he killed himself in order to not be murdered, in front of an open book where the law was written. In the last scene, it is possible to listen to someone – identified – giving the news to Kurt, saying “You have to live to end the prejudices that made this man one of the countless victims. Give him back his honor and fight for justice, to him and to all who have gone before him, and also to all who will come”.
As a result, the film was immediately banned and after the Nazis came to power, almost all copies were destroyed. All but one, which is in the possession of the University of California, purchased from the estate of Hirschfeld, who inserted the feature in his other film “Laws of Love”.
- Evelyn Hugo
-
The book “The 7 husbands of Evelyn Hugo” is an important masterpiece that portrays the reality of multiple celebrities who have to hide their sexuality.
Evelyn is a famous latin actress who used to be portrayed to her fans as someone with multiple men in her life (which led her to be victim of slut shaming), when in fact, she was bissexual and spent almost all her life trying to hide her relationship with another actress, Celia St. James. Evelyn confesses it all to a journalist who will write her biography after her death.
- Sophia Burset
-
As a character of the series Orange Is The New Black, Sophia Burset is a transgender black woman at the Litchfield Penitentiary. The reason she is in prison is because of credit card fraud. Prior to transitioning, Sophia struggled to pay for the sex reassignment surgeries and, in between all the desperate to feel like her true self, decided to use stolen cards to fund the operations. It shows the struggles that transgender community has to face in order to become who they want. Sophia’s journey hasn’t been an easy one and she’s been through a lot — racism, transphobia, and the generally unjust conditions of prison life, just to name a few — but her kind and loyal personality makes her one of the most inspiring and influential characters ever.
- Juliano
-
The play written by Paulo Gustavo, Minha Mãe É Uma Peça, was so huge and well claimed that it became a movie. Inspired by his own personal life, Paulo Gustavo produced a comedy trilogy about an average brazilian family that lives in Rio de Janeiro. Hermínia, the main character, is a divorced woman who, originally, lives with her two children: Juliano and Marcelina. The plot begins when Juliano, gracefully, confesses to his mom that he is homossexual and has a boyfriend. At first, Herminia seems shocked, but assured her son that he was very loved and her only concern was what he would suffer outdoors, because there is still a lot of mean homophobic people in this world. The issues that Juliano faces are approchead in a humoristic but emotional point of view.
The movie is known in Brazil for helping a lot of members of lgbtq+ community coming out to their families, along with teaching a lot of families on how to be more open about accepting their children.
- Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce
-
The relationship developed from best friends to lovers was a success among the Glee fans. Santana Lopez and Brittany Pierce, commonly referred as Brittana, originally were best friends and as the show goes on, they started to realize that their feelings for each other could be beyond friendship. Being a teenager in high school implies facing and exploring your true self, which can be really tough sometimes. Santana was closeted on the begginning of the show, and her sexual awakening was very important for the fans, especially the ones who were going through the same pact.
- Cole
-
Cole is a character on the series The Fosters, as a transgender male who was kicked out of the house by his byological parents upon identifying himself. After being through a lot of unfortunate episodes, he finally found a place that took care of abandoned children. But still, Cole was forced to reside at Girls United due to being assigned female at birth.
- Dreamer
-
Nia Nal, also known by her code name Dreamer, is a fictional character from the series Supergirl, portrayed by Nicole Maines. It’s the TV’s first transgender superhero and she will make her first appearance in the upcoming DC Pride anthology comic. Dreamer will be joined by a number of other LGBTQIA+ heroes and DC will also release a series of Pride-themed variant covers throughout the month.
- Captain Raymond Holt
-
As a gay, black police officer, Captain Holt is one of the main characters in the series Brooklyn 99. Although when the show beggins, it portrays him already living an estabilized life, ocupying the most prestidgious patent in the military career, it has been revealed that Capitain Holt experienced discrimination, profiling, homophobia, and slander for many years but fought through it all and married Kevin Cozner, a classics professor.
——————–
The article above was edited by Camila Nascimento.
Liked this type of content? Check Her Campus Casper Libero home page for more!