As much as many like to ignore it, queer and trans people have existed since the dawn of time. In Mesopotamia, also known as the world’s first civilization, same-sex couples were common. Some historians even believe based on art from the time that they were seen as equals. Mesopotamian religion also depicted LGBTQ+ gods, and priests and priestesses shared similar identities. Couples consisting of two males are mentioned in literature from the Han Dynasty in ancient China. During the Pre-Meiji Period in Japan, beginning in 800 CE and ending in 1868 CE, same-sex couples were respected and encouraged by Buddhist sage Kukai, and a novel written by Lady Murasaki featured a bisexual main character. In ancient Egypt, gender identity was more fluid, and same sex relationships were accepted, as long as the men didn’t “act feminine.” Famous Greek philosophers Aristotle and Plato were both in support of same-sex relationships. In Rome, many married men would have male lovers. Thailand, Africa, and India all have early mentions of a third gender. Native American tribes also recognized a third gender called “Two-Spirit” and two-spirited members were often held to very high respect in their society. Homophobia and transphobia were not really seen in history until the rise of Christianity (Mark). Therefore; if queer and trans identities date back to some of the earliest of humans, why is it such a big deal for these types of people to be represented in the media? We see people of all different eye colors, hair colors, shapes, sizes, and skin tones on TV. The LGBTQ+ community deserves to be accurately portrayed in our media just like everyone else.
Most queer films don’t even make movie theater releases. People only know about the films that feature popular actors and spark controversies, like Brokeback Mountain. Being exposed to people different from yourself in the media helps you to be less prejudiced of a person and better understand others. Queer and trans stories being shared also allows for needed conversations to be had (Gray).
Seeing LGBTQ+ people represented in the media helps get rid of prejudice and helps young queer people to better understand their identities. Growing up bisexual in a place where there weren’t a lot of people like me was difficult. But, I could look to the media to see my identity represented. For a while, the only representation I was seeing were men. The first queer person I saw on TV was in 2018 when I was ten years old. One of the three main characters in my favorite Disney Channel show, Andi Mack, came out as gay and made headlines for being the first Disney Channel character to do so. The show was actually banned in Kenya after an episode featured the queer character, Cyrus Goodman’s, coming out scene because it could negatively influence how children view certain family values. Cyrus’s plotline focused a lot on self-discovery and acceptance which can really speak to young queer viewers (Gemmill).
Once I hit middle school and was dealing with my own self-discovery and coming out as queer, I was able to look to the hit Netflix series, Heartstopper, to feel less alone. Heartstopper was originally a webseries turned graphic novel by author Alice Oseman before Netflix adapted it. It follows queer high school student, Charlie Spring, as he navigates his first relationships and faces bullying due to his identity. The show has so much representation. It portrays gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, non-binary, asexual, aromantic, disabled characters, and characters of color, while also discussing topics of mental health. Heartstopper is the perfect example of queer media that really helps the younger community. It makes you feel less weird and crazy if you see people like you on TV.
A study shows that people who see LGBTQ+ characters in the media are more likely to be accepting and supportive of the community. In 2021, for the first time, a report found that about 50% of LGBTQ+ identifying characters on cable TV were of color, which is a large increase in diversity. Queer women are getting increased representation in film, but there is still a lack of trans, non-binary, disabled LGBTQ+ characters, and HIV positive queer characters (“In Focus: LGBTQ Representation in Entertainment and Gaming”).
TV and film isn’t the only place where representation matters. As of 2021, about 10% of the gaming community identified as LGBTQ+, and 1 in 3 faced harassment due their sexual orientation while gaming. There is work being done to increase diversity in video game storylines, especially with The Sims and Xbox Game Studios (“In Focus: LGBTQ Representation in Entertainment and Gaming”).
Though queer and trans representation has been increasing, there is still a huge lack of female LGBTQ+ representation. In 2017, queer women only made up 1% of characters on television, but contributed to 10% of overall character deaths (Mozzachio). Before the end of 2016, 25+ lesbian and bisexual women characters died on TV that year. Most of these deaths were to propel forward the stories of straight and cisgendered main characters. It sends out a really bad message about the way that queer women are viewed. Are they just there to help the story, and then get killed off to shake things up or discard them away like trash? With the majority cause of the deaths of female queer characters being violent, it isn’t a very good look. It’s as if writers just don’t know how to fully flesh out queer characters and queer love stories, so they cut them short (Yohannes). This contributes to a very old trope nicknamed, “Bury Your Gays.”
There is also an issue when LGBTQ+ characters, especially transgender characters, are played by actors not in the community. Queer and trans people should be able to tell their own stories. The film Boys Don’t Cry, directed by Christie Vachon and starring Hilary Swank, tells the true story of Brandon Teena, a transgender man who was murdered by the friends of his ex-girlfriend. While this film was extremely historic for the LGBTQ+ community, its main character was played by a cisgender woman. Also, Teena happens to be one of the only transmasc characters that people know from the media, and his story is a tragedy. Trans people deserve to be represented and recognized in all types of stories, not just tragedies (Mozzachio).
Another problem is queerbaiting. According to Pink News, one of the largest LGBTQ+ news and media websites, “Queerbaiting refers to when someone attempts to attract an LGBTQ+ audience by hinting at a queer identity or using queer aesthetics without identifying as such” (James). So, television shows and movies hint at a possible queer character or a possible couple to attract LGBTQ+ viewers, and then give little to no payout, leaving such audiences to feel cheated and sidelined. The hit Netflix series, Stranger Things, is very guilty of this. Many fans of the show feel queerbaited by the characters of Mike Wheeler and Will Byers, who seemed to be moving towards a relationship with each other until it was abruptly squashed out in the second half of the fifth and final season. The relationship pairing, named “Byler” by fans, is incredibly popular and has many supporters. One supporter in particular has a lot of traction on social media, named Ernest Device. Device believes that Byler is a new form of queerbaiting that is slightly more progressive but still negatively affects the community, where one of the characters is confirmed queer while the other is left more ambiguous. In the case of Byler, Will Byers was confirmed to be gay and in love with Mike, with Mike Wheeler left more up to interpretation until ultimately ending up with a girl. Device explains, “You don’t know what’s going on in their head. It’s just kind of left in the air, and story ends are not completed, and then you can go, ‘oh, it’s just a one-sided queer romance’” and compares Byler to the non-canon relationship pairing of Dean Winchester and Castiel from CW’s Supernatural (James). Device, along with many others, firmly believe that if Byler was a heterosexual pairing, the writers would have made it canon. After years of pining, Will’s crush for Mike was written off as a sort of “hallway crush” in the end of the final season, as if it didn’t influence him as a character for multiple seasons of the show, and the writers stomped out any possibility of Byler. Characters like Mike are left poorly written and underdeveloped, while characters like Will are pushed away and off to the side. As Device puts it, “there’s either vagueness or an erasure of feelings” when it comes to a lot of homosexual or bisexual characters (James). Byler could have been a great win for the LGBTQ+ community, with a queer couple front and center of such a popular show, and Mike Wheeler could’ve been a very well written queer character. Instead, Byler has just gone to rest in the graveyard of queerbait couples and Mike Wheeler is left with a seemingly unfinished storyline.
Some may say that gender identity and sexual orientation are private, and not to be shown or spoken about on TV, or that they don’t want youth to be exposed to those kinds of things. This is rooted in homophobia and transphobia. Failing to represent certain groups of people in the media pushes forward a narrative that they don’t matter, and there is something wrong with having that identity. This is extremely harmful to LGBTQ+ people, especially those in the process of figuring out who and what they are. They should be able to look to the media to feel seen and to possibly better understand themselves. No matter what, the LGBTQ+ community has and always will be here. They deserve to have accurate and plentiful representation in the media, just like straight and cisgendered people. Queer and transgender people exist and deserve to be seen, heard, and understood.
Works Cited
Gemmill, Allie. “’Andi Mack’ Has Been Banned in Kenya Because of Its Coming Out Storyline.” Teen Vogue, 26 October 2017, https://www.teenvogue.com/story/disney-channels-andi-mack-coming-out-storyline. Accessed 14 April 2026.
Gray, Johnnie. “The Importance of LGBTQ+ Film: Distribution Insights with Effective Pedagogical Practices.” Video Trust, https://www.videotrust.org/stream-magazine-issue-2/importance-of-lgbtq-film.
“In Focus: LGBTQ Representation in Entertainment and Gaming.” GLAAD, https://glaad.org/reference/entertainment/. Accessed 14 April 2026.
James, Alastair. “Drag king goes viral with theory on ‘new style of queerbaiting’ after Stranger Things finale.” Pink News, 14 January 2026, https://www.thepinknews.com/2026/01/14/drag-king-goes-viral-with-theory-on-new-style-of-queerbaiting-after-stranger-things-finale/.
Mark, Joshua J. “LGBTQ+ in the Ancient World.” World History Encyclopedia, 25 June 2021, https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1790/lgbtq-in-the-ancient-world/. Accessed 20 April 2026.
Mozzachio, Hailey. “Opinion: The Importance of the LGBTQ Representation.” Tulane University, 20 November 2019, https://liberalarts.tulane.edu/newsletter/opinion-importance-lgbtq-representation-media.
Yohannes, Alamin. “Bury Your Gays’: Why Are So Many Lesbian TV Characters Dying Off?” NBC News, 4 November 2016, https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/bury-your-gays-why-are-so-many-queer-women-dying-n677386.
