If you were a LGBTQ person in the 2000s and had the privilege of owning the Showtime channel, you probably were obsessed with the Showtime Original show "Queer as Folk." Now in the 2000s, I was still a child and could not watch this show, mainly because of the many NSFW scenes within the show (and because I wouldn’t accept that I was gay). However, I spent my entire summer binge watching this show. If you have never seen or heard of the show, it follows the lives of four gay men in Pittsburgh: Brian, Michael, Ted and Emmett. The series shows the drama of love, heartbreak, and betrayal. All of the stuff you would see in dramas like "One Tree Hill" or "Gossip Girl" except with gay people, so it’s more fun. While on the surface it is a bunch of gay men partying and consuming illegal substances, the show tackles many issues that the gay community faces. Of the many issues I’ve managed to compile a list of the three lessons I learned from this incredible show:
1. Love comes in all different shapes, sizes and ages.
The show boasts a “love for all” sort of ideal where there’s someone out there for everyone and fate will eventually being them together. The narcissistic protagonist Brian falls in love with the young artistic Justin and the flamboyant Emmett falls in love with the old, but successful, closeted man George, then falls in love with the closeted football player Drew Boyd, then falls in love with his best friend Teddy (Emmett is just a romantic mess). And Michael’s mom, Debbie falls in love with the hard-headed police detective, Carl and the free spirited Lindsey falls in love with the traditional-minded Melanie. If you watch the show, you’ll see that all of these examples show people that are complete opposites falling in love. The series shows that opposites attract and that love is a force to be reckoned with.
2. Coming out is terrifying, but be unapologetic.
Basically all of season one is of Justin, Brian’s love interest, coming out to his parents and exploring his sexuality. When Justin is explaining to his mom and his therapist that being gay is not just a phase, he spews the greatest coming out speech ever. Though Justin’s parents are not very open to the idea of their son being gay, Justin is completely unapologetic in who he is and eventually his mom comes around and becomes his biggest ally.
3. Having HIV doesn’t make you “dirty” or “unclean.”
So, if you’ve seen the show, you know the beautiful hunk of man that is Ben Bruckner. He’s Michael’s love interest and they make the cutest couple. However, a huge part of the plot in Season 2 is that Ben has HIV. This is something that Michael has difficulty moving past and the stigma that having HIV is “dirty” is still something that men who are HIV positive still face. While the show does not romanticize the disease, they did teach me that men who are HIV positive deserve to be treated with the same respect as people are negative. The show also discusses how to have safe sex with someone who is positive, how to prevent HIV and it highlights types of treatment positive men can get.
If it were up to me, I would make every LGBTQ person watch this show (when they’re old enough) because of how much this show teaches its viewers about gay culture. It shows both the horrors and the beauty of being LGBTQ which I think is something that LGBTQ people need to watch.
