LGBTQA+ Representation: Don’t Turn that Dial

Matthew Shepard was laid to rest at Washington National Cathedral on Oct 26, his ashes interred after a public service, and then given a private family ceremony. For those unfamiliar with his story, in Oct. 1998, Shepard was assaulted by two men he had encountered in a bar in Laramie, Wyo. They tied him to a fence on the outskirts of town where they left him for dead after beating him into unconsciousness. Shepard was found the next day, and later died of his injuries. Matthew Shepard was murdered because he was gay. He died at the age of 21, the same age as I am now.

More than twenty years after Shepard’s tragic murder, those in the LGBTQA+ community still have to contend with a host of problems living in the United States. Rates of violence, housing and healthcare discrimination are still big issues. But I’m not going to talk about that. Better voices have explained it much clearer than I can, such as NPR, or Human Rights Watch, both covering the legacy of Matthew Shepard and why his interment at the National Cathedral is so significant. Instead, I’m going to talk about something that can be easy to overlook but can be equally important in the fight for LGBTQA+ rights: representation.

Everyone knows what gay means, or has at least heard the term, but other identities like bisexual, pansexual, or transgender do not have as much awareness in the public consciousness. Part of the problem lies in representation, as there are relatively few representations of LGBTQA+ people as a whole in media. GLAAD is a non-governmental organization that was founded in 1985 by LGBT people in order to monitor how they as a community were being portrayed in media. In their annual report on LGBTQ inclusion in television for 2017-18, the organization found that in broadcast television, “out of the 901 regular characters expected to appear on broadcast scripted primetime programming this season, 58 (6.4%) were identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer.” That statistic is also the highest they’ve ever reported.

If someone doesn’t know anyone who is non-straight, media representation an inclusivity is often what they have to go on. That lack of awareness around different orientations can be hurtful when real people are trying to come out, or have a conversation about the topic with their loved ones.

This lack of awareness is something that I have experienced firsthand. I identify as asexual, meaning that I do not experience sexual attraction. To be clear, I still want a romantic relationship and interested in that emotional connection with someone. I just have no interest or desire in sex. However, while everyone I have come out to has been supportive, they aren’t always understanding. I’ve frequently had to explain what ‘asexual’ actually means, as few people of actually heard of it before. This has led to me being asked some unintentionally hurtful questions.

For example, I have been asked how I expect to have a healthy relationship if I don’t have sex with someone. I understand where this is coming from, the idea of sex equaling love is a message that I’ve seen all over the place, and how sex is somehow the “bedrock” of a healthy, adult relationship. This is something that you see in media everywhere as well. Doing my own research online, I have found many stories of other asexual people being in healthy, happy marriages with partners who understand and support them, even if those spouses aren’t asexual themselves. Without those stories, I would feel alone, and as if my orientation—a pillar of myself and my identity—was invalidated and looked down on by almost everyone else.

A 2011 Study performed by Southwestern University found that “media role models serve as sources of pride, inspiration, and comfort” to members of the LGBTQA+ community. Going back to that GLAAD report, they found only two explicitly asexual characters in their rather extensive study of television programs. It’s not just aces that are getting the short end of the stick, but also bisexual, pansexual, and transgender characters are all rare to see in media.

Look, I’m not saying that everyone has to be an expert in different sexual orientations, I’m just saying that we have a long ways to go. Representation in media can educate and inform people about the LGBTQA+ community, and having a good role model and examples to lean on can save people some heartache in their lives.