Back in 2018, Hayley Kiyoko, lesbian popstar, dubbed by her fans as “Lesbian Jesus,” coined the term 20GayTeen as the new name for 2018, claiming the year to be a good year for the LGBT+ community.
And 20GayTeen did deliver. This year was full of new LGBT+ content across media forms, breaking barriers and stereotypes that were unheard of in the past. Countless celebrities found the courage to come out and let the world know their true selves, and the LGBT+ community welcomed them with open arms. Even with the past election, there were several members of the LGBT+ community who were elected into government positions.
Here are some of the highlights from 20GayTeen:
In Movies:
1. Love, Simon highlights the struggles of coming out in high school.
2. Bohemian Rhapsody, starring Rami Malek, talks about the sexuality of Freddie Mercury and his struggle with AIDS. Rami Malek also received a Golden Globe for his role as Mercury.
3. Alex Strangelove, a Netflix original, features a high school student questioning his sexuality, and how confusing and painful that process can be.
4. Boy Erased is about a gay boy who is sent to a conversion camp by his religious family.
5. A Kid Like Jake features a four-year-old boy who realizes they are transgender and want to be a boy.
In Music:
1. Troye Sivan releases his second album, Bloom.
2. Hayley Kiyoko releases her first album, Expectations, which won a Video Music Award for Push Artist of the Year.
3. Janelle Monae releases her album, Dirty Computer, which features the songs, “Make Me Feel” and “Pynk,” which both highlight the artist’s sexuality.
4. King Princess releases her first EP, Make My Bed.
In TV:
1. Season 1 of Queer Eye first aired on February 7th.
2. The final season of the Netflix original, Sense8, aired on June 8th, featuring a gay wedding.
3. The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina includes a trans girl names Susie.
4. Elite, a Spanish murder mystery and Netflix original, has a gay couple. One of the boys is Muslim, and his storyline shows the struggles of LGBT+ Muslim youth.
5. Riverdale reveals Cheryl Blossom as gay in its second season, and she finds love with Southside Serpent, Toni Topaz.
6. Steven Universe features a wedding between Sapphire and Ruby, the two gems who form Garnet, in their newest season.
7. Adventure Time ends their final episode with a long-awaited kiss between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen.
Other News:
1. Panic! at the Disco singer, Brendon Urie, and Janelle Monae both come out as pansexual.
2. Actress Josie Totah comes out as transgender.
3. Rebecca Sugar, writer for the Cartoon Network show, Steven Universe, comes out as non-binary.
4. Amandla Stenberg comes out as gay.
5. Tessa Thompson comes out as bisexual.
6. Kyrsten Sinema becomes the first openly bisexual senator.
7. Jared Polis becomes the first openly gay governor in Colorado, while Sean Patrick Maloney becomes the first openly gay Congress member from New York.
8. Danica Roem is the first openly transgender state lawmaker in Virginia.
Even though 20GayTeen is over, Tumblr was not ready to move on from such an inspiring name. Before the end of December, members had already dubbed 2019 as 20BiTeen to keep the year-long pride going.