The closet may still be the worst place to reside but it is becoming a bit more bright. Representation is being seen more and more because the closet door is being opened and people are starting to feel comfortable in their own skin, a crazy concept that only 10 years earlier would have caused many to laugh in my face for saying. Musicians, actors and talk show hosts are open about their sexuality in hopes that it will encourage the ones still stuck in the closet to take that first step out. However, for the strides the LGBTQ+ community has made in the media, it still has a few more steps to take. The quest for representation isn’t to have a character that identifies as gay but to have a character that identifies as gay and still has some depth to them. Their main problem shouldn’t always be that they are gay.
Recently people have been doing what they do best, and creating a stir on Twitter about giving Elsa, the "Frozen" princess, a girlfriend. The hashtag is followed by reasons that are both hilarious and terribly true and most come back to the same main reasons. Elsa should have a girlfriend because homosexual princesses are just as cool as heterosexual princesses because representation means something, especially at a young age. Because being queer isn’t odd and perpetrating that mindset is isolating and marginalizing a group of people who are told to just let it go. Because Elsa’s sexuality won’t affect a child’s sexuality. Elsa should have a girlfriend for a variety of reasons, but this hashtag is not the first calling for media to help out the community.
Earlier this semester the hashtag, #lgbtfansdeservebetter circulated the Twitter world in regards to the very sudden and very useless death of a main character in the show "The 100." Only a few brief moments after the two main love interests get it on, Commander Lexa dies right before fan’s eyes. The scene between when they come together to when she dies is 15 minutes of a roller coaster of emotions. The producer of said show had said that he would not kill off the obviously queer character and fall into the “dead lesbian trope.” The death of this character caused an outrage in the LGBTQ+ community because a little representation without so much blood would be cool every now and again. The queer women of Buzzfeed released this PSA in order to make a point:
Twelve dead queer characters just in 2016, we are only five months in and the media has a lot of explaining to do. When characters are portrayed and happen to not die they are riddled with stereotypes. The whole focus and exciting part about the queer characters is that they aren’t straight. Kids watching this type of television who are questioning their sexuality might be scared to come out because then the most interesting thing about them is being gay. It is a valid fear and it often feels like you have to work twice as hard so people don’t see your sexuality first. "Pretty Little Liars" did a wonderful job portraying their queer character, Emily Field, as being more than her sexuality. She was a swimmer, a high school student and a murder-solving stressed out girl. The show has been praised for its portrayal of a girl that has a real storyline. Connor Walsh from "How to Get Away with Murder" may identify as LGBTQ+ and Callie Torres is more than being gay and so on. These are all adult shows or at least things that children wouldn’t be exposed to until later in life.
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend is a calling for media to step up their game and give little boys, little girls and all in between someone to look up to. Disney could radically change the way that the LGBTQ+ community is seen. However, Disney must be given some props for showing a lesbian couple on their show "Good Luck Charlie." They tried and in return they got backlash so strong that the youngest actor on the show received death threats. A child at the tender age of six really had no say in if the characters were portrayed as gay or not and yet there are people out there so afraid of homosexuality because it is inherently different from them.
The most compelling argument for Elsa’s unspoken sexuality is the ballad that was stuck in our heads for months. "Let it Go" is the moment Elsa is free to be herself, to express herself however she may please even if that means leaving her family behind. She had to keep her biggest secrets from everyone she knew because she was worried it would hurt them. It is no surprise that the LGBTQ+ community resonated so well with Elsa. “Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know.” 40% of homeless youths identify as LGBTQ+, and statistically speaking one out of five people are LGBTQ+. Only about five out of the 10 feel comfortable enough to ever come out of the closet. Some people step out of that closet and are immediately pushed back in by those who are supposed to support them. Elsa having a girlfriend would show healthy representation to people young and old.
#GiveElsaAGirlfriend because it might be the easiest way to show support for the LGBTQ+ community.
