Homophobia is still alive and well.
I’m sure many of you are aware that Rowan Blanchard (from Disney Channel’s Girl Meets World) came out as Queer a few days ago. I know that there are many people in the Queer community that have mixed feelings about how she has chosen to identify. Whether or not you agree with term she used, right now she is still the first current Disney star to openly speak out not only about her own sexuality but also about the LGBT representation she wants to see on her show. As a result there is rampant hate and homphobia being thrown her way and we can not stand for it. Every time someone is brave enough to try and bring more representation into family media thousands of homophobes come out of the woodwork and ruin everything before the idea even has a chance to flourish. (warning: some of these comments are pretty dark)
We’ve seen these comments a thousand times. It happened the last time Disney tried to introduce LGBT representation and it’s going to keep happening if we don’t do something about it. So what am I asking? I’m asking for you to support this girl and support this show. For every negative letter Disney gets I want there to be thousands of positive ones. For every view the show loses I want us to start watching the show. And for every mean and hurtful comment Rowan receives I want us to support her. As a community we have got to stand up for the LGBTQ kids that desperately need this representation. Think about yourself when you were kid, think about what it would have mean’t for you to have been able to turn on the tv and see someone you could relate with. This could be a reality for so many kids but we have to fight for it.
Edit: For everyone asking for contact info here is what I found.
Disney’s Television Contact Email: datgcommunications@abctv.com
and for those who have access to it Girl Meets World usually premieres new episodes Fridays at 8:30/7:30c pm
Lastly in response to everyone who was saying “most of these comments aren’t homophobic they just think she is too young” . The concept that a teenager is not old enough to know their own orientation is completely rooted in homophobia. The vast majority of Disney show’s showcase different types of straight relationships among teenagers and no one see’s anything wrong with it. The truth is a 14 year old is plenty old enough to know who they are attracted to. If that wasn’t true then there wouldn’t be high school sex ed classes because “they’re too young to think about that stuff anyways”. The reason why so many of us feel like any sexuality besides straight is an “Adult Only” topic is because of the heteronormativity in our society. Due to the distinct lack of representation and becuase of misconceptions spread by society people view LGBTQ+ orientations as inherently more sexual and promiscuous when that is not the case. There are a magnitude of LGBT kids out there and right now they are still being told that what they feel is something to be ashamed of. This will not change if we do not open our eyes to the underlying inequalities in our society and work to change them.
For more info please see a previous post of mine about this exact topic.