With Rupaul's Drag Race, and Will & Grace, and One Day at a Time, many other LGBT+ people and characters are starting to become a part of mainstream media, and the importance of this lies in how it affects those growing up with this media.

In today's rather....tense political climate, talking about social issues is much more prevalent than ever before. Activism has become mainstream, and with that, many people have begun to voice their unique life perspectives and stories. Political opinions are being formed at younger and younger ages, and children learn from mimicking what they observe.

So where do these two ideas come together? Simply put, positive media for minorities, can provide a more positive outlook from the viewer. This isn't just speculation, one example of this happening is Modern Family. After the show increased in popularity, acceptance for two of the characters (being a married gay couple with an adopted daughter) had spiked as well.

As a member of the LGBT+ community, growing up, I didn't have many characters in the media that I could really identify with. However, now there are numerous diverse and complex LGBT+ characters, as well as some that even help educate about intersectionality.

When I look to the younger generation, and see a new wave of activism and gender identity, I realize that these were the people raised with LGBT+ issues being a conversation. Activism isn't taboo anymore, and while there are many differing opinions, there is a dialogue in place that creates an LGBT+ space.

With normalization, comes acceptance, and with a very unstable political climate, acceptance matters now more than ever.