LifestyleIn your opinion, what are some good examples of media (books, tv, movies, podcasts, etc.) that accurately portray the LGB experience?

submitted by lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian from (self.LGBDropTheT)

Bonus points if it's created by someone who actually is LGB. I recently read "The Private Report on My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness" and found it really refreshing in the fact that I could actually connect with it and saw myself at times in the main character.

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[–]MatthewofHouseGraySuper straight ally :) 17 insightful - 1 fun17 insightful - 0 fun18 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

For GTA 4 there's a DLC called the "Balled of Gay Tony" and as the name suggests, one of the main characters is gay. When it came down to the handling of this character it was done in a way where you known he's gay, but it wasn't over the top and he acted just like any other GTA character who isn't gay. This probably isn't an example of something you're looking for, but I do want to bring it up because his character wasn't "in your face type of gay" nor was he a "pussy" for being gay.

[–]ArthnoldManacatsaman🇬🇧🌳🟦 19 insightful - 1 fun19 insightful - 0 fun20 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

My favourite example of this is Raymond Holt from Brooklyn 99. His sexuality is important, and we learn that he's faced difficulties in his career because of it, but it's only one small part of who he is and there's nothing stereotypical about him at all.

Like or leave B99, but Raymond Holt is far and away my favourite example of gay 'representation' in popular media.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 14 insightful - 1 fun14 insightful - 0 fun15 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Captain Ray Holt was one of the best examples of a gay male character on modern television. He was actually more famous for who difficult it is to read his emotions because of his stoic, robot like personality, and he still has his moments of emotion and goofiness. I liked the dynamic between him and his husband, they way they are affectionate with each other is restrained but it works for their stoic personalities.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Lol I nominated Rosa for a good bisexual portrayal.

The show is fun, a little too nice and cringy sometimes but I've always liked it.

Holt actually has a personality and genuine personal flaws unrelated to his sexuality, both necessary to build a good character but rare when writing gay ones.

I shudder to think that it might be because writers subconsciously see being gay as a flaw already ☹️

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian[S] 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Not quite, but it's a better example than most.

[–]Elvira95Viva la figa 12 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

Ellie in the last of us 2, Camino and Maite acacias38, Cristina and Isabel, tierra de lobos, Mildred and Gwendolyinm but especially Ellie

[–]julesburm1891 11 insightful - 3 fun11 insightful - 2 fun12 insightful - 3 fun -  (0 children)

I related to Héloïse in Portrait of a Lady on Fire a lot. Obviously, I have no experience being a 18th century French aristocrat. I do know what it’s like to grow up and come of age in a situation where it’s unthinkable that you might have desires that don’t match up with expectations though. The storm and sadness that creates is very accurately portrayed in the film.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries" 11 insightful - 1 fun11 insightful - 0 fun12 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I really felt the main character Megan in “But I’m a Cheerleader” and especially her “I’m a homosexual” moment. That movie was also a lot of fun.

I also very much enjoyed “Portrait of a Lady of Fire.” I felt the chemistry and it didn’t feel cheesy. It very much helps that it was directed by a lesbian and one of the two leads is played by a lesbian. If only we could get such realistic portrayals of female-female desire, flirtation, and romance taking place in the modern day.

[–]julesburm1891 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

But I’m a Cheerleader aged so well. That movie is an absolute delight.

[–]yousaythosethingsFind and Replace "gatekeeping" with "having boundaries" 5 insightful - 2 fun5 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 2 fun -  (0 children)

I know! It’s so interesting to see commentary on it from around the time it came out. People panned it for playing into stereotypes when I think it subverted stereotypes. Megan didn’t change herself upon realizing she was gay. And the camp was all about enforcing gender stereotypes based on the idea that the young gay characters needed to be taught to be re-educated on their gender identity. They actually used the words “Rediscovering Your Gender Identity. Re-watching that in 2021 was like 😳.

At the same time the movie made it clear the that homosexuality itself was the biggest transgression because heterosexuality was the biggest component of gender identity. We know this because the main character Megan already acted in every other way consistent with how they were teaching her to act, from her academic prowess to her extracurriculars, to her rule-following, to her appearance and clothing. But all of that wasn’t enough because she was homosexual specifically. Everyone needs to re-watch this movie in 2021. For real.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 9 insightful - 1 fun9 insightful - 0 fun10 insightful - 1 fun -  (5 children)

Ser Loras Tyrell in Game of Thrones. He was a minor character, but a badass swordsman with a big impact on the show. His only flaw was that he slept with gigolos, but that was typical for the time for swordsmen to sleep with prostitutes in the show’s setting. He’s handsome, charismatic, brave and cunning.

Another gay character I can think of is Drew Allister from the Night Shift. He’s the only reason I watched the show. He’s a doctor who uses to serve in the army during don’t ask don’t tell, and he comes out in the first season after his boyfriend gets injured in a bus crash. He’s not stereotypical at all, being a soldier who is into MMA and boxing. He was also a bit of a coward in the first two seasons about coming out - he almost didn’t attend his boyfriend’s operation because he was scared to come out, until his coworker called him out on it. From that point onwards he’s been brave about his sexuality, but still doesn’t want it to define him.

[–]Q-Continuum-kin 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (4 children)

I really liked Loras Tyrell but I felt like they kind of ruined him at the end the way he gave in to the brainwashing so fully.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Yeah, I did not like how his character ended up.

[–][deleted] 6 insightful - 2 fun6 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 2 fun -  (2 children)

A general sentiment about the series.

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Season 8 is horrible. Those two writers rushed it so they could work on Star Wars. But it looks like Disney doesn’t want them, so they’ve got their comeuppance.

[–]ChunkeeguyTeam T*RF Fuck Yeah 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Shame 🔔 Shame 🔔 Shame 🔔

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (6 children)

Realistic bisexual characters are rare. I think both Rosa Díaz from Brooklyn 99 and Queen Maeve from the Boys are accurate at their heart- they're both wildly overblown though. I felt their storylines at least.

I can't recall ever seeing a fictional portrayal of a bisexual male.

[–]PenseePansyBio-Sex or Bust 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I can't recall ever seeing a fictional portrayal of a bisexual male.

They're certainly few and far between! Even compared to bi female characters, who aren't exactly overabundant either. Especially in well-written, non-cringe form.

Here's some examples of at least halfway decent fictional-bi-guy rep:

  • Det. Timothy Bayliss, Homicide: Life on the Street (till they managed to drop the ball anyway)
  • John Constantine, Legends of Tomorrow
  • Jacob Cullen & Christopher Ferris, As Meat Loves Salt by Maria McCann
  • Joe Macmillan, Halt and Catch Fire
  • Prince Oberyn Martell, Game of Thrones
  • Lieutenant Billy Prior, Regeneration Trilogy by Pat Barker
  • Darryl Whitefeather, Crazy Ex-Girlfriend

Yeah, it ain't much, but at this point I'm glad to find anything at all...

[–]RedEyedWarriorGay | Male | 🇮🇪 Irish 🇮🇪 | Antineoliberal | Cocks are Compulsory 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Wasn’t expecting this many bisexual male characters, but I’m happy to see this. I will never forget the sex scene between Prince Oberyn Martell, his wife and Loras's favourite gigolo, where Oberyn and the rent boy talked about being gay and being bisexual without using the terms.

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian[S] 6 insightful - 1 fun6 insightful - 0 fun7 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

The only time I've seen 'bisexual' males in movies is when you've got a seemingly straight lead that gets seduced into sleeping with a man, like in Rocky Horror and Cabaret, but even then, it might be a case of bicuriousity more than actually being a bisexual.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I hadn't even considered older movies. Wasn't there a bisexual character in Velvet Gold mine? Was the lead bi? I feel like it got brought up.

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I haven't watched that, but he's definitely with both women and men according to the wiki synopsis.

[–]SilverWolf 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Brokeback mountain maybe? I think both the guys were married to women, but they might have been beards, can't really remember.

Edit: Wikipedia has a page "category:Male bisexuality in film" with 100 results

[–]GayBoner 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

Some gay recommendations; all are set in historic time periods so not 100% representative of the modern LGB experience, but all amazing pieces of work that really reflect on the modern struggles of accepting oneself / being accepted:

Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin

The City and the Pillar by Gore Vidal

Brokeback Mountain

The Imitation Game

IMO the vast majority of LGB movies are pretty bad, but the above two are incredible and award winning.

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian[S] 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

I had to read Brokeback Mountain in uni, and we had to read parts aloud for some reason. How the men in the class squirmed. It was interesting to see their reaction.

I've had Giovanni's Room on my list to read, since I really enjoyed Beale Street.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

I had to read Brokeback Mountain in uni, and we had to read parts aloud for some reason.

Your professor was trolling you lol

[–]lovelyspearmintLesbeing a lesbian[S] 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Male professor too, so made it all the more interesting.

[–]boypower 7 insightful - 1 fun7 insightful - 0 fun8 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Here's a few manga recommendations

Ao No Flag by Kaito - A coming of age high school love drama. That might sound boring at first but it gets somewhat interesting eventually. The portrayal of the gay guy and the bi woman are both very discreet and well done, and people looking for something relatively inoffensive and non-stereotypical might get a kick out of these. For a manga, it exceeded my expectations.

My Son Is Probably Gay by Okura - Another good portrayal of a gay high school student and his everyday life trying to juggle his closeted identity while simultaneously having a major crush on his friend. It's very cute and wholesome. This one is made by an actual gay man as well.

[–]PatsyStoneMaverique 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Hey lesbians, I just read V for Vendetta recently- how do y'all feel about Valerie?

[–]grixit 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Mary Renault wrote a lot of historical novels with gay men in them. Plus a couple based on greek mythology.

[–]GayBoner 2 insightful - 1 fun2 insightful - 0 fun3 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

The Charioteer is pretty good 👍🏼

[–]SuperGayIsOkay 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

It's a fetish for them.

[–]Kai_Decadence 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

2 come to mind.

  • Ellie (The Last Of Us) ~ I don't care what people say, the way that her lesbianism was portrayed and developed in the DLC for the first game where she bonded with her friend Riley and kissed, I thought it was sweet and even though they don't end up together, the way Ellie was developing with the Lesbianism felt natural. Not forced at all in my opinion.

  • Kung Jin (Mortal Kombat) ~! They didn't let homosexuality define the character as a whole and allowed his skills to do the talking. I do think it would've been nice if we saw him kinda hinting about it more like maybe playfully flirting with some of the other male characters but for MK's first gay character, I think it was done rather nice as an introduction.

[–]LizardDad 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

Queer as Folk (haven’t seen the UK version) is great for an accurate lesbian and gay experience IMO

But I’m A Cheerleader is has a fun and camp twist to it too

[–][deleted] 3 insightful - 1 fun3 insightful - 0 fun4 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

I recently watched this a few months ago. Always bothered me though that they completely sidestepped around Lindsey being bisexual. She had the fling with the art guy and also seemed to be half in love with Brian. I did like Melanie though. Anyways this show and The L Word definitely had their issues but I think were groundbreaking for the time.