In recent news, a teenager who I thought was Nickelodeon’s new star and cash cow, wasn’t invited to their annual awards show.
JoJo Siwa was not invited to the annual Nickelodeon Kids’ Choice Awards, announced via a now-deleted tweet. Despite that, the actress and singer has retweeted a few tweets in support of a video message she posted in response to her absence from the event.
Some of those retweets speculate the reason that she wasn’t invited. About a year after coming out and about a week after debuting a new short haircut, Siwa made it clear online that she did not voluntarily miss the event.
This action brings me to two trains of thought.
One, she’s doing the thing that a lot of child stars do once they reach adulthood- rebel. Getting a haircut is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but this is someone who has a ponytail as part of a signature, marketed look, and a line of hair bows. That defiance– if it can be called that– would probably make the network that profited off of this ponytail look for years a little worried.
The second is far more worrisome. And glaringly obvious. Is there not space in children’s entertainment for LGBTQ+ entertainers and content?
Is this snub an example of an effort to prevent kids from learning about sexual and gender orientation?
Whether or not the reason JoJo Siwa was not invited was because of her recent coming out is still up for speculation.
Her celebrity has only grown over the years, and she is relevant enough in the kid’s entertainment world to be invited.
It’s also not as if her ties to Nickelodeon have severed, starring in a movie produced by Nickelodeon and streaming on Paramount+ just last year.
As mundane as the Kids’ Choice Awards may be, this leads to a crucial conversation in our society right now.
According to Education Week, a little over half of teachers believe in teaching their students about LGBTQ+ issues. And even so, those teachers don’t have the resources or the background knowledge to do so.
Florida’s commonly dubbed “Don’t Say Gay” bill wants to prohibit learning about sexual identity and gender. The people behind it are worried about kids learning about things that aren’t age-appropriate, despite people identifying as LGBTQ+ from a young age. It claims parents need to know what their children are learning in class, but that argument is one that only comes up when teaching something other than the traditional cishet white curriculum. It cleverly doesn’t use any terms regarding sexuality or gender identity, hiding its danger in plain sight, via The Washington Post.
So, if learning about queer people in school isn’t allowed, if queer performers are not invited to the Kids’ Choice Awards, where does that leave kids? Where does that leave queer kids?
In a time where queer people have to fight for their existence to be deemed appropriate for children, it’s disappointing but not surprising that JoJo Siwa was missing from a huge event in children’s entertainment.
Again, it’s all just speculation for now. But there’s no need to speculate how incredible it would be for children to see an out queer woman proud of her identity on their TV.