Yesterday and today of the LGBTQ+ community

Option B:

One story that I can relate to our LGBTQ+ class is the graphic novel and TV series “Heartstopper.” This story is about young teenagers in high school who are going through a process of discovering and finding themselves. Although it can sound superficial, what I like of this story is that it is a cliché, however, I consider that we are used to watch these kinds of stories but mostly represented by heterosexual couples. A heterosexual boy or girl in high school who falls in love and discovers himself or herself in the process. Heartstopper offers different gay and lesbian love stories, that are not only represented with homosexual young characters, but also with actors and actresses members of the LGBTQ+ community.

I consider that Heartstopper can be related to Angels in America because both are a fictional story with visual and written support that show stories of the daily life of gay people, however, in different times and realities. The LGBTQ+ community has historically been shown in the most representative mass media as a community full of suffering, losses, pain and sickness, and represented with adults, not youth. We can see that representation in the fictional play (and TV show) Angels in America. It is a story where adults not only have to deal with the problems of their lives like any other adult, but also with the troubles, worries and weight of being gay. Hearhopper allows us to see that the LGBTQ+ community is not something that happens in very specific or unfamiliar situations. It is a reality around us, that can occur everywhere, at any age, and that can be more than suffering. It can also be romantic, hopeful and with happy endings, as any other love story we are exposed to in movies, series, books, social media, etc.

These two stories are contrastive because they show the two different parts of the gay community, but both equally real and important. It is essential to acknowledge the background behind the LGBTQ+ community, but also to see it as past and visualize a better present and future where the community is growing and finding more support among them.

El fenómeno del momento es Heartstopper: los libros más adictivos hablan  del amor entre dos chicos y tendrán una serie en Netflix Podrás escuchar a Andrew Garfield en Angels in America | El Aquelarre