Brandon Flynn, one of the breakout actors from Netflix’s 13 Reasons Why, has spent the last two years fielding questions about his personal life. In 2017, he wrote a passionate post on Instagram, advocating for an Australian vote that allowed for same-sex marriage. Soon enough, news sites such as HuffPost and E! News were reporting that he’d come out of the closet.
Flynn, 25, says that wasn’t the case. “I was embraced, so I never want to take that away from people who have been supportive of me, but in no way, shape or form did I say that this is me coming out,” says Flynn, who at around 15 years old had told his friends and family that he was attracted to men. “I had done that years ago. Being in the industry makes you somewhat of a public curiosity. Hence all of a sudden I was a gay actor, just because I was supporting human rights.”
Flynn is aware that he’s benefited from decades of progress. Unlike one of his favorite movie stars, Montgomery Clift, who remained in the closet, Flynn has been afforded the freedom to be with whomever he wants to be with, which is a gift he can pass along to his fans. “Personally, deep down,” he says, tearing up, “I’m happy to be the guy that any gay boy at home can say, ‘f***, it’s totally possible to do anything.’ Because it is. No matter how scared you are, or no matter how much hate you have to deal with, there are opportunities for us.”
Many of the people interviewed for Variety’s inaugural Pride Issue talked about how it’s the best of times for LGBTQ actors, writers, producers and other storytellers. From FX to Freeform, there have never been more cable TV channels with empowered gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender protagonists. But there’s also the caveat that change comes in waves, which can sometimes feel slower than it should.
On TV, the representation of LGBTQ characters has been bolstered by the streaming services — Netflix, Amazon and Hulu — which are programming to teenagers and other viewers who value inclusivity. “The one thing about the entertainment industry that I love is that it reflects the society that it caters to,” says Raven-Symone, the actress, singer and star of the Disney Channel’s Raven’s Home. “The LGBTQ community wants to be represented on a medium that they watch as much as everybody else.”
But the movies are still lagging far behind when it comes to visibility. Rocketman, starring Taron Egerton as Elton John, was a victory for the community. Yet, it also could have been an opportunity for a gay actor to play a high-profile role, which went to a heterosexual star. There are no openly gay or transgender characters in most of the major studio film franchises — from Jurassic World to J.K. Rowling’s Fantastic Beasts. And while coming out has become easier, there are still scarcely few openly gay or lesbian movie stars on the level of a Jennifer Lawrence or a Chris Pratt.
“There’s a big difference between society as a whole and what’s going on in social media,” says Nico Tortorella, a co-star of the TV Land series Younger, who identifies as non-binary. “It’s a confusing time, that’s for sure. In terms of representation in Hollywood, yes, it’s getting better. But a lot of characters we write for queer people are still determined by the violence they experience.”
The threats are very real. According to the Human Rights Campaign, at least 29 transgender people were killed from violent acts in 2017, an unsettlingly high statistic. The Trump administration has been known to stoke fears as it attempts to scale back LGBTQ rights. As a result, there are mixed messages being sent in society. On the one hand, Trump has banned transgender people from serving in the U.S. military and plans to make it easier for adoption agencies to reject same-sex couples. On the other hand, Pete Buttigieg is the nation’s first openly gay viable presidential candidate, whose campaign continues to pick up momentum. The list of those in Hollywood who have fund-raised for the mayor of South Bend, Ind., include Ryan Murphy, Katy Perry, Orlando Bloom and Greg Berlanti. “As an out gay person, I’m so glad that I’m at the age that I’m old enough to remember how it was,” says Berlanti, the prolific TV producer behind Arrow and Supergirl. “But I’m young enough that I can appreciate that these things are happening in my life. I never thought they would.”
In 1997, Ellen DeGeneres kicked down the closet door as the first openly gay woman to headline a TV series. The cancellation of her sitcom one year later led to questions about her career prospects. Some 20 years after that, there are now many examples of LGBTQ characters on TV who are thriving, including the transgender chosen families on FX’s Pose,” the bisexual assassin on BBC America’s Killing Eve, the pansexual brother on Pop’s Schitt’s Creek and the gay and sexually fluid teenagers on The CW’s Riverdale.
The critical success of Ryan Murphy’s FX series Pose,” set in the 1980s New York ballroom scene, could force the industry’s hand, compelling it to tell more inclusive stories. At the Cannes Film Festival in May, Leyna Bloom became the first openly transgender woman of color to debut a movie there in its 72-year history with the indie drama Port Authority, which touches on some of the same themes that Pose explores.
These days, gender fluidity has become a fashionable form of activism at Hollywood’s biggest premieres and awards shows.
“I have a lot of friends who are male and will show up to red carpets in this really beautiful, plain and simple women’s clothing, or unisex clothing,” Flynn says. “And that’s still out of the ordinary for older generations. But that is perfectly f***ing cool and OK. I think they are so brave, because they just get to stand by who they are and let the world see it.”
– Courtesy: Variety.com
