Image via Complex Original
Two score and five years ago, LGBT youth fought back against the NYPD who raided the Stonewall Inn, and inadvertently sparked the LGBT rights movement. Today, in 2014, we’re living at a crossroads in America—gay marriage is now legal in 21 states (and the District of Columbia). The road to acceptance has been complex—activists played a major role in changing people’s mindsets.
Also important, however, has been the influence of the arts. There’s nothing that opens people’s minds to diversity like exposure to it. Here are a few LGBT fictional characters who challenge people’s perceptions. They exist as fully formed characters, and thus, they subvert one-dimensional stereotypes. They’re here. They’re queer. Get used to it.
Ellie in The Last of Us
Debut date: 2013
The Last of Us is one of greatest video games ever made. This is in no small part due to Ellie, one of the greatest video game characters ever written. A sharpshooter with a sharp tongue, 14-year-old Ellie captured our hearts and sympathies—we felt a need to protect her from Hunters, and Clickers, and God knows what else. It was in the DLC Left Behind that we discovered Ellie's orientation, when she shared a sweet, romantic kiss with her best friend Riley. We hope that a fungus doesn't destroy Earth, but we do hope that people will be this open-minded 20 years from now.
Sophia Burset on Orange Is the New Black
Debut date: 2013
Transgender characters are some of the most discriminated against members of the LGBT community. It's difficult to find well-rounded trans characters on TV, let alone a trans character of color. Enter: Sophia Burset, the prison hairdresser on Orange Is the New Black. Sophia wrestles with the stigma of her orientation—her hormonal treatments to continue her transition, and the disapproving attitude of her young son. The actress, Laverne Cox, is also a transgender female, and she recently appeared on the cover of Time.
Kevin Keller in Archie Comics
Debut date: 2010
It doesn't get any more traditional and Middle America than Archie, Jughead, and the rest of his gang. They seem like they were ripped directly from the Saturday Evening Post. So, imagine our surprise when Kevin Keller moved to Riverdale. Kevin was the series' first openly gay character. Everyone found out after Kevin turned down Veronica's advances—there's no straight man who could manage that. Kevin became a popular member of the gang—in the “Life of Archie” storyline, in fact, Archie sacrificed his life for Kevin, throwing himself in front of an assassin's bullet.
Gobber in How to Train Your Dragon
Debut date: 2010
Big, strong, and slightly scary looking—that's Gobber in a nutshell. Gay men are stereotyped as being effeminate, but no descriptive can encompass an entire group of people. Gobber is a perfect example of this. Sometimes, a gay man can be a Viking. Who kills dragons. With a sledgehammer.
Kurt Hummel on Glee
Debut date: 2009
Kurt is every gay bullying victim in every American high school. We've watched Kurt grow comfortable in own skin over the course of four seasons. From coming out to his father, to facing down his bully, to transferring schools, to dating his first boyfriend, Kurt's successes (and failures) have been ours. And what a voice. You keep doing you, Kurt. We're hoping for more show-stoppers in season six.
Neptune on Sailor Moon
Debut date: 1994
“But wait,” you might say. “Aren't they cousins?” Nope, that's only in the English dub. In the original Japanese version, Neptune and Uranus were lovers. The developers changed their origins when the anime show came to America—they anticipated the controversy of exposing LGBT issues to a younger audience. Thankfully, the world has changed in the 20 years since the show debuted. The reboot, which started this summer, will keep the LGBT characters in tact.
Cameron and Mitchell on Modern Family
Debut date: 2009
Modern Family represents three different family structures—a traditional nuclear family with three kids; an older man with a second wife, a stepson, and a newborn; and a gay couple, Cameron and Mitchell, with an adopted child. The best thing about Cam and Mitch is that they are proudly out, but never in a way that is meant to ridicule or demean. They experience relationship problems, but they are not 'gay' problems—they are problems that every couple experiences. Cameron and Mitchell: educating the masses that LGBT individuals are as boring as the rest of us.
Patty on The Simpsons
Debut date: 1989
We had our suspicions about Patty for years. There was the time she appeared on a gay pride float. And then there was the other time that she saw a naked Homer and remarked, “There goes the last lingering thread of my heterosexuality.” When Patty finally came out in the 16th season, her younger sister Marge was the last one to accept her. The irony, of course, was that Marge supported gay marriage—she only objected when it was a member of her own family. It's the sort of 'not in my neighborhood' hypocrisy that deserves to be lampooned. Progressives need to show consistency in their principles to gain traction.
Damian in Mean Girls
Debut date: 2004
Janice says he's “too gay to function,” but remember—it's only okay when she says it. Damian, played by Daniel Franzese, was the one-liner guru of the movie: “Oh my God, Danny Devito, I love your work!”; “She doesn't even go here!” Earlier this year, Franzese came out, and in his statement to the press, the actor wished that he had Damian's courage to be himself when he was younger. So do we.
Dumbledore in The Harry Potter Series
Debut date: 1997
Professor Dumbledore needs no introduction, but just in case, here's what it says on this Chocolate Frog Card: “Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon’s blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and ten-pin bowling.” J.K. Rowling announced that Dumbledore was gay after the release of the seventh book, and people immediately started poring through the pages to find clues and hints. The truth is, there weren't any. Dumbledore wasn't gay to make a point or to drive the plot—he simply was. It was only an issue if other people made a big deal of it. Rowling's announcement made global news. Hopefully in the future, these once-controversial issues will be commonplace.
Ellen Morgan on Ellen
Debut date: 1994
This took a lot of guts. Ellen DeGeneres had a highly-rated, critically acclaimed sitcom on ABC, where she played a fictionalized version of herself. It would have been easy to stay on a safe, non-controversial path. Instead, DeGeneres' character came out of the closet in the fourth season, and she broke new ground for LGBT characters in Hollywood. The show never recovered from the controversy. Ellen was canceled the following season, and DeGeneres wouldn't regain her prior fame until 2003, when her performance in Finding Nemo captured everyone's hearts again.