In the last week or so, I've been noticing that there is a lot of focus on gay teens in entertainment. And I honestly don't think I could be any happier about it.
I have spent a large part of my adult and young adult life with friends that don't identify as heterosexual, cisgendered people and, much like many millennials, I've struggled with my sexuality too. The problem is I've not seen many accurate or positive representations of non-heterosexual individuals in media.
Since the Macklemore song "Same Love," I have long hoped for a good lesbian couple in music or on a television show or in a movie. I thought that I would be satisfied when Once Upon a Time brought Mulan into the mix in Season 2 and revealed that she had feelings for Aurora. Unfortunately, Aurora's story dictates that she would end up with Prince Philip and she did, leaving both myself and Mulan sorely disappointed. To this day, they are still my Once OTP (yes, I am bringing that back) and I'm still mad that they didn't end up together, but I've moved on.
In more recent times, with the release of Love, Simon I hoped to all higher powers that I would finally get a couple comprising of two women. It took a little time, but the millennial influence in the media finally delivered.
At the beginning of the week, I was searching for new music and was listening to a Top Hits playlist while working on something and found "Playinwitme" by KYLE. The song features Kehlani and usually in a duet between a man and a woman, she addresses the man and vice versa, but Kehlani is addressing another girl when she sings. I was so I excited, I stopped whatever I was working on to listen to the song again, a little closer.
Then, just a few days ago, I was catching up on the newest season of Once Upon a Time and I finally got the fairytale female couple I had always wanted--and with two of my favorite "next gen" characters at that. I screamed because I was honestly so excited. Finally, today, I went to see Blockers with my little and, to my pleasure, I knew right from the get go that one of the teen girls was a lesbian. Luckily, she revealed her sexuality to her friends at the end and got to have a great dance and kiss with the girl she'd been staring at the whole movie. I cheered rather loudly since we were the only two people in the theatre.