Latest / Pop Culture Junkie® / LGBTQ+ Representation Then and Now: Celebrating Pride Month

Transcript

LGBTQ+ Representation Then and Now: Celebrating Pride Month · Pop Culture Junkie®

• 0:00
  [Music]
• 0:27
  Welcome to the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast. My name is Shauna and I am here with my fellow junkies whose names are
• 0:35
  Nicole and Olivia they both just look to each other like what are names again?
• 0:39
  Who are you? Who am I? What is existence?
• 0:43
  Who am I?
• 0:45
  It's a great Jackie Chan movie. Yeah anyway, what do you guys spin up to? What's what's going down? What's going up?
• 0:52
  It's going around. I feel like I've been living my best in a cold life. I have just been traveling all over the country.
• 1:00
  I know I hate it. Yeah, I'm sure.
• 1:02
  Stay put.
• 1:03
  Stay.
• 1:04
  So I was in Miami, I was in Vegas, I was in Sacramento, I'm about to go back to San Francisco and a bunch of other fun places.
• 1:14
  So really living the flight attendant life, I have just been like unpacking one suitcase and going to another one.
• 1:21
  I guess that's fair because you can't bring like the same clothes you brought from Vegas.
• 1:25
  Well some of them you could. Vegas to Miami. Do you think I'm like not washing my clothes? I mean I don't know your life.
• 1:32
  Okay. Well that's concerning. She smells, she must not be washing her clothes.
• 1:37
  I'm washing Vegas, it probably doesn't really matter.
• 1:39
  Yeah, all the booze just kind of cleans it. Yeah well Vegas is just such a weird place. I spent five days there and that's way longer.
• 1:48
  Yeah, it was for work and so like I wasn't like partying but like you do not see the sun.
• 1:54
  No, you don't really have like real air. You have like scent filled oxygen filled air with a bunch of communal cigarette and cigar smoke.
• 2:03
  So it is just very odd. I get sick every time I go to Vegas.
• 2:07
  Yeah, same. And I think it's because of all of the scent. Like it's like when you walk into a mall and in like a department store and you just get hit with it and then you have a headache.
• 2:16
  It's like perfume and cigarettes and just alcohol and bio just mix together.
• 2:21
  Yeah. And I already have a cheap and rest the voice. Yeah.
• 2:25
  But every time I go to Vegas my friends say I get Lindsey low hand voice.
• 2:28
  Yeah. You just like. Hey guys, you know, like, how we all excited to go to the club tonight.
• 2:33
  She's more like Cho Cho. See what I'm going to smell. I'm gonna smell gonna pack the week.
• 2:38
  I should never have left your own last night guys. Oh yeah, after round with those cigarettes.
• 2:43
  I have to round with that one. Hit of that marble or a light that I just switch very sweet.
• 2:49
  Yeah. Oh, that hurt my throat. Yeah. Yeah.
• 2:53
  But yeah, no, it's been fun. Have you been watching or reading anything?
• 2:57
  So I have been obsessed with Bridgerton. Like it just hits you on it.
• 3:04
  I have my qualms with Bridgerton. I don't. I don't have time.
• 3:09
  Yeah. Well, you can make time for bringing. You make time for a medieval, not medieval Renaissance sex.
• 3:18
  Yeah, it's a Regency Regency period. But none of it is historically accurate or costume accurate in it.
• 3:25
  But it is, it's great. It's season three. And you know, most Netflix shows when it gets to season three,
• 3:33
  it's really make a break. They changed the show runner this time around.
• 3:37
  As well as it feels like they got some pretty significant budget cuts.
• 3:42
  A budget cut. That's good. Yeah. You would think it would get more, but Netflix and the money they're like pumping into their own personal projects.
• 3:49
  They're kind of like limiting that right now. But it's just so good. It's lived in, you know, we're getting.
• 3:56
  And the second part comes out soon. And I'm just so excited. Every season follows like a different couple.
• 4:03
  Right? They're like the main character kind of. Yeah. So there are like eight books.
• 4:08
  And there are eight. They're on book. Yeah, they're books. They're like 80s romance books.
• 4:14
  And yeah, that kind of book. And so there's eight children and there's eight books. And they're all based on that.
• 4:22
  And they kind of follow it. But the book really has or the show is kind of deviated from the book.
• 4:28
  So you read the books at all? No, they're they're very cheesy. Oh, yeah, but I really do like the story. Shonda Rhymes produces it.
• 4:38
  And was the show writer for season one. And then she did Queen Charlotte. And one of the things about Bridgeton is Queen Charlotte is rumored to have actually been a black woman or happy part African.
• 4:54
  And in real life, but they really embrace it. And so they blur a lot of those lines. And I just like I've never seen it.
• 5:03
  But I do like from what I've noticed and read and reviews that there's a lot of body diversity to people of different.
• 5:10
  I mean, is there any like LGBTQ representation and stuff? So they have hinted to say that it's coming.
• 5:17
  They haven't done it for a main character. They're kind of setting it up for side characters at this moment in time. But they're eight books. So they could just be setting up other people.
• 5:27
  They do talk a lot about women's rights and what's allowed then as well as like race politics within it. So it's well done. But then it's also just like such a sexy show.
• 5:37
  And I love how we're talking all deeply. Yeah. So it's very diverse racially. And what about the sex?
• 5:42
  They do be they do be doing so doing it. And you know, Jonathan Bailey is actually a gay man. And he's the lead of season two.
• 5:52
  And let's play that. What I want to talk about it a little bit later. But he went from Bridgerton. He plays a lead straight couple who's, you know, very romantic in this.
• 6:03
  And then goes into fellow travelers, which is a story of these two politicians in the lavender scare McCarthyism era right after doing it. And he is out gay man. He's going to be in wicked.
• 6:16
  So they're uplifting the right people. But never the guy from the first season is so fucking.
• 6:23
  Yeah. Oh my god. I is such an attractive gay man. It's just a guy from the first season.
• 6:28
  And he was like, Jean, something, Rajay, Jean page. Oh my god. He actually did what I did about actors is the way that they get famous.
• 6:40
  They like despise it. And he thought he was better than Bridgerton and refused to come back. He pulled him. He's a bar. Yeah. Well, he did. He refused to come back.
• 6:49
  Because he had to work on his big career. And then the only thing he did was dungeon and dragon. That was a good movie. That was a good one. I saw it.
• 6:56
  It was a great. Yeah. But like no one's not really. I feel it wasn't a blockbuster.
• 7:02
  It has a great rotten tomato square. Everybody watched the dungeons and I was like, oh, five of us love this.
• 7:09
  Yeah. So I've been deep in that rewatched all the seasons, all the spin-offs. I'm just really excited. I'm having a tea party with my friend on Thursday. Thanks for the invitation.
• 7:19
  I'm just getting, I'm watching any of this. I'll be there like that guy was hot. She's great. Where's the booze? You don't get it. You just don't. You just don't fit in. Do you?
• 7:31
  I don't want to fit in. I'm weird. I'm weird though. I call how it's live. What have you been reading, watching, listening to? What's the tea?
• 7:40
  So what I have been doing, I just finished another book. It was called Nerves of Steel. And it was by this pilot. And her name is Tammy Joe Schultz.
• 7:51
  She was a pilot in the Navy and then she became a pilot for Southwest. And it's about her life. But she wrote the book because one of the flights that she was flying had an engine failure. The engine kind of blew up.
• 8:05
  Nope. In the air. And she landed the plane safely. She's a captain. I thought I had heard her name. So it's like a famous mountain.
• 8:14
  Yeah. Happened in 2018.
• 8:18
  Oh, good. Recently. Yeah. And she just talks about her experience being a woman. So early on in the Navy and trying to become a pilot.
• 8:27
  Yeah. And her life living in New Mexico on the farm growing up with her parents siblings. And it's a really interesting book. And being a flight attendant looking at that perspective of things.
• 8:39
  I'm just very interested in these types of things. Absolutely. Yeah. But she landed the plane safely. Only one person did pass away because unfortunately they got sucked out of the window.
• 8:50
  But that's like my biggest. The people on the plane did bring me to be drunk on flight. I call you every see him on an airplane. Just hand me a blood. I got you. I'm just ready.
• 9:01
  The people on the plane did bring that lady back on the plane. She didn't physically pass away on the plane like that. I think she passed away at the hospital.
• 9:10
  From her injuries. But yeah, everyone else on board. Like they dragged back in the window and she was still alive. And then she died at the hospital later.
• 9:19
  Yeah. So she didn't go full. No, she didn't like literally it sucked out. She was like a wacky waiting inflatable or a two man out the window. She didn't fully.
• 9:28
  That was awful. I'm so she didn't fully. She was happy. Well, that's especially scary with the 737 issues.
• 9:38
  Yeah, Boeing shit. I feel like we can't talk about Boeing stuff or like we're gonna get like black bagged. I mean that's my that's who I work for. So I can't really.
• 9:49
  Yeah, we love Boeing. That's my paycheck. But I was gonna just review. That was a really good book. I'm gonna start another book, which I'm really excited for.
• 9:58
  I bought two new books the other day. It was hidden pictures and then local women missing.
• 10:04
  Oh, I'm very sad. I just start the airline. Yeah, going in the back into our baby. Yeah, I love it. Thriller mystery. I have like three at my house that I haven't been starting.
• 10:19
  But I've just been in such a fantasy kick. But right now I'm like on a no reading kick. That's weird. Yeah, it was like a whole year. I mean like.
• 10:27
  Yeah, I just have nothing else to do on my downtime on the plane. So that's when I'm reading it or like when I'm at my hotels. Oh, absolutely. I'll be reading.
• 10:33
  I was like hotel TV like you find those like you can only do so much.
• 10:37
  Exactly. I've seen all of these movies on TV. Yeah, just for my laptop, netbooks it. Yeah, I'll watch stuff on my iPad. But also I did finally watch anyone but you.
• 10:48
  Okay. Yeah, it's so good. It is so good. Yeah, I did it feel like your Australian vacation.
• 10:55
  Kind of like watching and it was really cool because I was able to kind of picture myself in Australia and those spots that they were in.
• 11:04
  So that was really cool to kind of reflect on that. But the movie itself was actually really good. I can't eat Sydney, sweetie.
• 11:11
  Oh, I'm a very confident woman. Sydney, sweetie. It's so attractive. Yeah, I can't like lay eyes on her for too long.
• 11:22
  I know. It makes me feel really bad about myself. Yeah, I don't think I could watch that movie because the whole time I would be like googling like breasts and planets near me.
• 11:31
  Like she's just not in her boobs. Like she's just she's gorgeous. She is really pretty. But it's yeah, I don't know. It was a really.
• 11:40
  The movie itself is good. Yeah, I would pop it for sure. Yeah, I went to high school with Glenn Powell. Did you really? Yeah, in Austin. Oh, that's so cool. Yeah. Yeah.
• 11:48
  Yeah, I heard that he stopped acting though after that movie. I don't know if that's sure. No, because I just saw him in a mood. Yeah, actually he's on a fast track to being like a leading romcom.
• 11:58
  Yeah, action star man. He's kind of like going for Matthew McConaughey vibes, which makes
• 12:04
  I read it right. Austin like same area. As long as he plays the bongos naked and gets high and then talks about it. And I can see it.
• 12:12
  Oh, they do have LGBTQ representation in that movie as well. Yeah, yeah, Sydney Sweeney her sister in the movie is getting married to another woman. Yeah, I didn't know that going into it.
• 12:24
  She was going to a wedding. I needed. I love it when it's just a star in like it's just so natural. Yeah, yeah, it's like a healthy room. Yeah. What have I been up to? I have two healthy feet. No. Yeah.
• 12:35
  Your girl doesn't have a broke. Well, it's still I guess there's bone growth and I don't have to wear a boot anymore. So that's nice. I don't like that word bone growth. Yeah, but there's two words. There's bone growth. My bones are going like this together.
• 12:49
  It's a bone growth. There we go. That's how my doctor said it to me and I went. Yeah, freak. Mrs. Trudeau there's a lot of bone growth.
• 12:58
  I love that. So that's it. Yeah, that's it. So why don't we get back to the topic now? So that's my personal life and I moved and I have a pool now, which is amazing. It is a gorgeous home.
• 13:11
  Oh, I've been just swimming all the time working and swimming and healing. I know I'm going to swim so fast. So far, I've just been kind of floating and drinking, which are two of the things that I do the best.
• 13:25
  Which I did before I broke my head. I'll do after I broke my head. I've been doing a lot of face up floating. That's good. Face down. Yeah. Please. Please.
• 13:36
  No. I would like it. Well, speaking of Glenn Powell, something that I watched recently was hitman. Okay. It is on Netflix. It's like a romcom movie starring Glenn Powell and he is playing.
• 13:51
  I supposedly true character whose name is Gary Johnson. They take a lot of liberties in the film. And I think they say that fresh off that it's like it's kind of loosely based on a true story.
• 14:03
  So Gary Johnson is a professor who's really good at trinkets and electronics and such. And so he starts volunteering for a police unit in New Orleans.
• 14:16
  And so he's kind of the guy in the van who has like the headphones on while somebody else is doing the undercover hitman scenario. And one day the guy who's supposed to be playing the hitman loses his job. Right.
• 14:31
  And so they're like, Gary, you're in good in there, man. And he's just creepily good at it. He's really good at this. Yeah. I saw like a still of what he looked like.
• 14:42
  Like like undercover. I was like, yeah, you look like you want to murder. It's pretty funny actually because he has all these different costumes and scenarios.
• 14:51
  And I haven't seen Glenn Powell and a lot of stuff before, but he's so charming in this movie that like in the very beginning, you believe that Gary is a dork.
• 15:01
  He shows up and he has his tucked in polo with his gene jorts, his ugly glasses. And he's just like a professor. He goes home to his cats literally.
• 15:11
  And then all the sudden he's kind of thrust into this world where he has to pretend to be a hitman. One of his cases, he has to pretend to be a hitman for this.
• 15:20
  Strangely just outrageously gorgeous woman. My husband and I the entire time are just like, is this woman her name is, Audrey, Arjona.
• 15:32
  Okay.
• 15:33
  Gorgeous. And she wants to hire, she thinks his name is wrong to kill her husband. He's immediately smart. Right. I mean, as one is want to do.
• 15:45
  Good for her. He's immediately smitten with her and is like, you don't want to kill your husband. Just leave him. I don't want to have to arrest you.
• 15:54
  Yeah. And high chinks and so. Okay. It was really funny. I laughed throughout. It's romantic. It's a romcom.
• 16:01
  Your favorite.
• 16:02
  Glenn Powell is fine.
• 16:04
  So have you ever seen that meme where it's like Glenn Powell looks like a copy bar who wish to come to become a human being?
• 16:14
  And I don't know what it is. I think it's his finirs. He got some sort of cosmetic surgery. He has finirs and like hooded.
• 16:23
  No, I got some sort of cosmetic surgery and it went copy bar. I don't know. Listen, I know what he used to look like. Really?
• 16:31
  Yeah. So, but even when Powell is like movie movies, he did. He's hot, but he's not like going to be on my list of celebrity freebies. Right.
• 16:39
  Yeah. He's handsome, but I could see copy bar. Like both copy bar. Yeah. Yeah. Those things are swole copy bars. Yeah. They're like swole rats.
• 16:50
  I've never like they're big sexually admired a capybara. I would hope so. But you just said they're like they're buff rats.
• 16:58
  So I didn't say sexualize them. That's true. She didn't. She said it from a purely aesthetic like Jim stand-of-feet.
• 17:06
  Yeah. Yeah. We got copy bars. This is fucking rats. You're all only copy bars only glint ball. Only the ones that wish to come to life.
• 17:15
  And maybe Chuckie cheese. Who is hotter Chuckie cheese or Mickey Mouse? Chuckie.
• 17:22
  Nicole. You're not getting out of answering this. I mean, depends what Chuckie cheese we're talking about.
• 17:29
  That's a different era. There's a crepe was out there. Cheese.
• 17:34
  There's also so creepy Mickey's out there though too. Yeah. You're you're over complicating it. I'm gonna go Mickey.
• 17:41
  Okay. Are there any other anthropomorphic mouse? Is that any? No. I think we're good. We're ready to be. No.
• 17:47
  No. You said right to be an or for. Radish.
• 17:50
  Radish. For sure. A man who takes control. A man who could cook.
• 18:00
  Alright. So our mouse scale is Radish who he's first because he takes control and can cook. Yeah.
• 18:06
  And then Chuckie cheese because he's kind of like a bad boy. Yeah. I don't know.
• 18:10
  It's like a skater boy. He's like a skater boy and then Mickey because he's kind of like a little too straight like us for us.
• 18:15
  Yeah. And then glint ball. Yeah. Glint ball is a happy bar. No, no. No, no. That's correct. The only answers.
• 18:25
  Sweet.
• 18:26
  Pop culture junkie is celebrating pride month. Happy pride month you guys.
• 18:36
  June. We love it. This week I'd like to look back on how people of all gender identities and orientations have been represented in movies and television.
• 18:46
  See how things have changed from then to now and to see filmmakers and television producers could do even more spoiler alert. Of course they could.
• 18:56
  I did a brief dive into kind of like the historical rundown of LGBTQ representation and pop culture. Of course people could do better.
• 19:06
  There is a lot of work to be done. But I do think it's important to look back at where we've come.
• 19:13
  How far the society has come in LGBTQ representation and acceptance and really just how people can see themselves portrayed in television.
• 19:23
  So LGBTQ representation and pop culture has evolved significantly over the years. It used to be a lot of subtle nods and now it's more explicit portrayals where we can really see.
• 19:32
  Yeah, these people are gay. It's not just kind of a wing winged nudge nudge.
• 19:36
  Various forms of media have depicted gay characters and storylines which really contributes to greater visibility and acceptance.
• 19:45
  We of course know shows like queer eye, RuPaul's Drag Race, which celebrate LGBTQ identities. And then there's movies like Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name that offer more nuanced depictions of queer experiences and have really went on to win a lot of awards.
• 20:01
  There's still a need for more diverse and authentic representation, but we're going to go through a quick rundown.
• 20:08
  I've just kind of the history of LGBTQ experiences and pop culture. Just a disclaimer, I might say gay representation instead of LGBTQ a lot.
• 20:20
  I don't want to pretend like I'm erasing any of the other experiences there are so are very important. So I'll start with kind of our first little bits.
• 20:30
  And again, we're just kind of focusing on pop culture representation. So there are a lot of historical things that we left out here, but we're just kind of talking about movies and television things like that.
• 20:42
  So we'll start back in the swing in 60s, 1968. The queen was released and became a cult classic. It was considered a time capsule of queer life from that time period.
• 20:54
  It was a documentary about old school drag performers competing in a pageant. And one of the judges was Andy Warhol.
• 21:02
  Pretty cool.
• 21:03
  Yeah, I think he's really kind of seen as such a gay icon because he did put such a platform to a lot of different communities back then and really made them just so cool and illustrious and a part of the scene and.
• 21:19
  Exactly. Highlighted in a way. That wasn't demonized.
• 21:23
  You know what's so interesting to think is like 1968 as I'm reading this is not that long ago in like the grand scheme of time.
• 21:31
  And I mean, there was so much sexual repression in television before that too. I mean, I remember even like in I love Lucy, they had to sleep in separate bedrooms and like that was a straight couple.
• 21:44
  Imagine even in like the 60s having gay representation was so revolutionary and also scary for the people involved honestly love baby.
• 21:54
  Yes.
• 21:55
  1971 there was an episode of all in the family called judging books by covers. It became the first sitcom to ever feature a gay character on television.
• 22:07
  Despite Archie bunkers use of gay slurs throughout the episode, it's reversal of stereotypes is revered as groundbreaking for its time.
• 22:16
  72 a short lived ABC sitcom called the corner bar includes the first recurring gay character on American television Peter Panama. What a name play by Vincent and I'm so sorry.
• 22:31
  She a valley that's right. Scivelli. She a valley. Scivelli. Yeah, 1972 the first recurring gay character on television love that.
• 22:43
  Yeah, well, unfortunately we do skip a few years in this timeline about 18 and in 1990 we have Paris is burning and it's released as a documentary that captures the lives and times of LGBTQ New Yorkers and ball culture, which you'll see a lot of
• 23:00
  iconic footage from this I remember watching this in my gender studies class a lot of that early voguing.
• 23:07
  Yes, I love that. That comes from Paris's burning and it really shows the struggles of the gay community with they were facing in 2016 the film was selected for the preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress.
• 23:22
  It's such a glimpse into the politics that people have in to deal with. I can't see it before actually it's definitely something worth. Yeah, I see.
• 23:31
  Yeah, well, I can't mention I think I watched it in a gender study that's in 2016 and it really does talk about the struggles that people were going through in that community and ultimately was just a great glimpse into right before this awakening liberation of LGBTQ people.
• 23:51
  In 1991 the Fox sitcom rock breaks ground as the first show to air a gay wedding on television. Love that. And then most of us are familiar with this or at least I hope so it's iconic Broadway in 1996 we have rent, which is a musical that addresses the critical issues of the time including the HIV and AIDS epidemic,
• 24:14
  drug use and sex work, ultimately communities that were impacted and being demonized within the AIDS epidemic.
• 24:23
  Later one a Pulitzer prize for drama and became one of the longest running musicals in the history of the great white way.
• 24:30
  And if you've never had a chance to see it live, they made it into a movie and it was amazing.
• 24:35
  I love the movie. I have not seen it live. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to be a gay person in the time where HIV and AIDS was really first hitting the news and how scary it was because they're demonizing it so much and really placing the blame on gay communities right.
• 24:57
  Well, if you look at it today, I mean gay people still can't go to blood donation exactly and that comes ultimately from the AIDS epidemic. And so there are some very unfortunate assumptions that we still and biases that we carry today.
• 25:14
  Absolutely. But yeah, just such a such a sad time to look back on and and reflect upon.
• 25:21
  And then in 1996 again, which I know I have talked about multiple times on this podcast. One of the most popular sitcoms of all time, Friends features a lesbian wedding of two supporting characters Carol in Susan.
• 25:36
  The episode was called the one with the lesbian wedding.
• 25:40
  And the bride did not kiss the other bride at the end making the wedding a little less unrealistic for viewers. And they end up going on throughout the entire series having a relationship and stuff so it is represented throughout the entire series.
• 25:55
  And the other characters are I mean, obviously we've said that Friends is a product of its time. So there are some jokes that don't land anymore.
• 26:02
  Yeah, but the other characters are pretty accepting of the fact that yeah, Carol's a lesbian even Ross who was the one that was married to Carol. Like in towards the end, they become more accepting to that Chandler's dad is obviously trans.
• 26:15
  Yeah, yeah. So that is sure I always were good about that.
• 26:18
  Yeah, too.
• 26:19
  And in 1997, perhaps one of the most famous coming out announcements of all time Ellen DeGeneres comes out on the cover of Time magazine and her TV character becomes the first leading character to come out on a primetime network television show, which obviously this was the year I was born.
• 26:36
  Oh, my gosh, that's crazy.
• 26:38
  I still remember her announcement being a huge deal.
• 26:45
  That's awesome about everything, especially her getting her own talk show as well and her being a gay talk show host as well as being like a huge deal.
• 26:54
  But yeah, she wanted to do generous, but she's a little problematic now.
• 26:58
  Yeah, so she's forever a cornerstone of gay culture.
• 27:02
  Yeah, she made, she made headwaves for sure for yeah.
• 27:05
  Yeah, I think Ellen comes from a time period as well with women, especially in Hollywood. It was a time where only one woman could succeed and you probably had to be a little vicious.
• 27:18
  And then I can't even imagine being also a gay woman.
• 27:22
  I'm sure that's incredibly hard and has its own set of struggles there.
• 27:26
  But yeah, I think Ellen was really kind of a pioneer for the lesbian community and was willing to kind of be one of those first people.
• 27:34
  I love that cover.
• 27:36
  Yep, I'm gay.
• 27:37
  And now it's crazy to be like, oh, how could you ever announce you through that way?
• 27:42
  I know. There was a timer. We didn't know Ellen was gay.
• 27:45
  I was four, so it is funny to think back at like other celebrities too.
• 27:49
  I might as well ask to power. She's like, I can't believe Liberace.
• 27:53
  She was gay.
• 27:55
  The ladies loved him and like Lance Bass and Ricky Martin.
• 27:59
  And I love that we've gotten to that point where we're just like, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 28:05
  But love it.
• 28:07
  And then in 1998, Will and Grace debuts on NBC seamlessly bringing two gay series regular characters into the Lame Grims of America.
• 28:15
  The series goes on to air for eight years, winning 16 Emmys and becoming part of the NBC's highly successful must-see TV lineup on Thursday nights.
• 28:25
  I love Will and Grace so good.
• 28:27
  I've only seen a couple episodes.
• 28:29
  I've never watched all the way through.
• 28:31
  The episodes I've seen.
• 28:33
  Do you see gay people?
• 28:34
  Obviously. That's why it was my idea to do a Pride episode.
• 28:37
  So good. I love Will and Grace.
• 28:42
  It's just a classic.
• 28:44
  It's classic.
• 28:45
  Yeah. It's good stuff.
• 28:46
  Classic, I haven't watched.
• 28:48
  You know, to be fair, like you said, you were what like three years old.
• 28:52
  One, you were one.
• 28:54
  You crashed down baby Nicole.
• 28:58
  Yeah. I was watching Jack and Karen.
• 29:00
  Oh, it's fine. But it was on for a long time.
• 29:02
  It was. It was. I used to watch Frazier back in the day.
• 29:04
  I have no excuse not to watch Will and Grace.
• 29:06
  Yeah.
• 29:07
  In 2000.
• 29:08
  And I should mention again, there are other things.
• 29:10
  And I would hate for anybody to be listening to this.
• 29:12
  Be like, they forgot this.
• 29:14
  Well, like obviously there's other things.
• 29:16
  But for the sake of a episode, I'm only choosing some highlights.
• 29:21
  In 2000, a show called Queer Is Folk began airing on Showtime.
• 29:26
  It was based on the UK version of the same name.
• 29:29
  It's an American series that told the story of five gay men and was lauded for its sincere depiction of the LGBTQ community,
• 29:37
  quickly making it one of the most watch shows on Showtime.
• 29:41
  My favorite TV show of all time, the year 2000 as well.
• 29:45
  Buffy the Vampire Slayer, elated fans, when Willow came out during an episode titled "New Moon Rising,"
• 29:52
  she went on to have a relationship with Tara McClay, played by Amber Benson in the series, which paved New Ground.
• 29:59
  It made Buffy the first show to develop an accurate and evolved lesbian relationship between two main characters.
• 30:06
  I can't talk enough about.
• 30:08
  I mean, obviously I am obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
• 30:11
  And it is also product of its time. There are things that didn't age very well, especially like racial depictions and Buffy.
• 30:18
  But I do think it was so important to show Willow and Tara in that loving.
• 30:25
  Just normal as much as O2 witches.
• 30:30
  They're involved with the Vampire Slayer in a world full of demons gonna have.
• 30:34
  But their relationship was really sweet.
• 30:36
  There was something only thing about them, and it wasn't stereotypical, and they had nuance.
• 30:42
  They had friends and hobbies.
• 30:45
  I remember the season finale of season four.
• 30:49
  It's all kind of based in a dream scape.
• 30:53
  And the two of them are very clearly together, but they haven't shown them kiss yet.
• 30:57
  And Zander's having a dream.
• 31:00
  And the two of them are supposed to be kissing, but it doesn't show it.
• 31:03
  It just kind of alludes to it.
• 31:06
  And they don't show the two of them actually kissing on screen until the season five episode called The Body when Buffy's mom dies.
• 31:14
  And I always love it. That was their first kiss because Willow is just weeping.
• 31:19
  She's broken. Like Buffy's mom was like her mom too.
• 31:22
  And Tara goes in and kisses her in a moment of like comforting her.
• 31:26
  It wasn't like I, yeah, like male gay center kiss. It was a I love you. And you're my person and like you're crying.
• 31:33
  And I'm gonna kiss you. And just I love that.
• 31:36
  Yeah.
• 31:37
  In 2007, so after appearing in beloved queer films like Wigstock and Two Wong Foo, Candice Kane stars in the ABC series Dirty Sexie Money,
• 31:48
  making her the first transgender actress to play a recurring transgender character on prime time television.
• 31:56
  We've gone on to have more transgender representation in pop culture, but I do think it's important to have an actual transgender person play transgender character.
• 32:05
  I agree.
• 32:06
  We've seen a lot of people.
• 32:08
  Dirty Red Mane says that's one of his biggest regrets.
• 32:10
  Exactly.
• 32:11
  Exactly.
• 32:12
  That character and of course winning for that.
• 32:15
  Yeah.
• 32:16
  I would agree with that.
• 32:17
  I think we have a lot of cis people who have played transgender roles like Jared Leto's done it too.
• 32:21
  It's not authentic to the story.
• 32:24
  Yeah.
• 32:25
  And I think there's so much nuance to that and understanding.
• 32:29
  And I think there was a time where that was really hard to be with.
• 32:34
  I mean I think Eddie Red Mane did it better than Jared Leto, but Jared Leto's also just eroded.
• 32:39
  Is Jared Leto's a shitty person?
• 32:47
  Yeah.
• 32:48
  And just didn't talk to any of the trans community when portraying that role.
• 32:53
  And they got a lot of flack for that after winning an Oscar for it.
• 32:56
  So some other highlights in the LGBTQ space.
• 33:00
  In 2009 we have the iconic RuPaul drag race.
• 33:05
  Love it.
• 33:06
  And I think the first time I ever heard RuPaul was in the Lizzie Mcguire movie.
• 33:08
  That was my iconic intro to RuPaul.
• 33:11
  I remember my way.
• 33:12
  I remember my way.
• 33:13
  I remember my way.
• 33:14
  Yeah.
• 33:15
  So cool.
• 33:16
  I love RuPaul.
• 33:17
  That was my introduction to them.
• 33:20
  And you know, I think that they've just done so much for the drag community.
• 33:25
  There's so much artistry, dance, music, and it has gone on to be a cultural touch zone.
• 33:31
  Cutting uniqueness, nerve and talent.
• 33:33
  Yeah.
• 33:34
  And I think that show has just brought it into the mainstream.
• 33:40
  And it continues to be such an iconic piece of media through all this time and only growing in popularity.
• 33:47
  Really brought like drag.
• 33:48
  I mean, obviously drag has always been an art form.
• 33:51
  So I don't want to credit RuPaul's drag race for suddenly everyone loves drag queens.
• 33:56
  But it really kind of helped bring it, I think, to the cultural fore.
• 34:00
  Yeah.
• 34:03
  Where, you know, there's a lot more drag branches going on now.
• 34:06
  And my first experience knowing what a drag queen was, my mom and grandma,
• 34:10
  back in the day, used to love going to Las Vegas together.
• 34:14
  And it would just be there a little weekend getaway and they would always get on a greyhound bus.
• 34:19
  And go to Vegas the other for the weekend.
• 34:22
  And then they would come back and they always subject going to a drag show.
• 34:25
  And then my mom would bring me back the play bill almost where like the catalog from the show.
• 34:31
  And I would flip through it and I was like, oh my god, it's Britney.
• 34:35
  It's Madonna.
• 34:36
  It's Cher.
• 34:37
  It's Tina because they're all dressing up.
• 34:39
  And that was my first time being like, this is insane.
• 34:42
  Like you have to go see everybody and look.
• 34:45
  They're men.
• 34:46
  Oh my god, that's incredible.
• 34:49
  I don't know.
• 34:50
  I love it.
• 34:51
  Yeah.
• 34:52
  I think when I was talking about Jonathan Bailey earlier, he just did a show with Matt Balmer.
• 34:57
  It was called fellow travelers.
• 34:59
  It was about taking people through the lab and their scare, the macarthi era,
• 35:03
  and then all the way into the AIDS epidemic.
• 35:06
  And it's this really complicated, difficult story about coming out and embracing yourself
• 35:12
  and two people who are on very different tracks.
• 35:15
  And I just thought it was really beautiful.
• 35:17
  I think it was one of the first times that I saw a gay relationship, really,
• 35:23
  the nuance presented and all the things that come with that through a time period
• 35:29
  where we were really evolving and opening our eyes.
• 35:32
  And so if you listen to this list and you really liked it, I would definitely say, check that out.
• 35:38
  It was called "Fellow Travelers."
• 35:40
  It's on showtime, beautiful movie.
• 35:43
  Right.
• 35:44
  And then we have performers like Chapel Rhone, who is the last being.
• 35:48
  Yes.
• 35:49
  But it full on "Does Drag."
• 35:51
  She just performed at the governor's ball.
• 35:53
  Oh my gosh, you looked insane.
• 35:55
  She was so good.
• 35:56
  She came out in drag dressed as the Statue of Liberty.
• 36:00
  And was smoking in like a big apple ball.
• 36:03
  Yeah, she came out of a big apple and then she had an outfit changed, became a tabsy.
• 36:08
  And you know, I think throughout time and throughout history,
• 36:12
  there has been so much great influence on art from LGBTQ.
• 36:17
  Oh my God, so excited to see how this continues as we as a society really embrace this culture
• 36:24
  and accepting people different from us.
• 36:27
  Oh my God, yes.
• 36:28
  I stopped it at 2017.
• 36:30
  Obviously there's been so much since then.
• 36:32
  But "A Moonlight" made Oscar history in 2017, becoming the first LGBTQ-themed film to win the best picture
• 36:40
  during a memorable award ceremony.
• 36:42
  Nicole, do you want to tell us about the first gay lesbian kisses ever shown on television?
• 36:48
  So the first gay kiss on television in the United States is often attributed to an episode of the show Dawson's Creek.
• 36:55
  In 2000, the character Jack McFee played by Kirst Smith, shared a kiss with his boyfriend Ethan portrayed by Adam Kaufman.
• 37:05
  The first lesbian kiss on television is often credited to an episode of the show LA Law, which aired in 1991.
• 37:12
  The kiss occurred between the characters CJ Lam played by Amanda Donahue and Abby Perkins played by Michelle Green.
• 37:20
  I feel like 1991, that's...
• 37:22
  I mean, it's not late, but it's not early. I feel like it's...
• 37:25
  Yeah, I feel like...
• 37:26
  I first heard a lesbian kiss before the two men kisses.
• 37:29
  I was gonna say, like the lesbian kisses.
• 37:31
  And I know we all grew up, especially like millennials, but those kind of like sex comedies that were so popular for a long time that kind of played up like the lesbian kiss is the ultimate like...
• 37:42
  The girls on the jack of fuel.
• 37:44
  Men, I can't...
• 37:45
  The girls are only kissing for boys, but like no, there's actually like...
• 37:50
  We don't do this to perform for men.
• 37:52
  So I guess that doesn't really surprise me.
• 37:55
  I just want to run down some notable LGBTQ figures that we've already talked about a few, but obviously there's Ellen.
• 38:00
  Neil Patrick Harris, Janelle Monae, Ian McKellen.
• 38:05
  I'm sorry, so Ian McKellen.
• 38:08
  Cynthia Nixon, Kristen Stewart, Anderson Cooper.
• 38:11
  Oh, I love Anderson Cooper.
• 38:13
  Elton John, Sarah Ramirez, and Billy Porter.
• 38:16
  Cape Blancheett?
• 38:17
  Oh, I met Billy Porter in Miami.
• 38:20
  Oh, I'm so excited.
• 38:21
  I mean, I sent him a drink. He came over.
• 38:24
  I said he wanted a bug. I mean, looked like he was on a date.
• 38:27
  He's got divorce. And I sent him over a drink and he came over to me and I gushed with him about...
• 38:32
  Not you sending us a liberty.
• 38:34
  Yeah, well, I want to come talk to me, but it would be annoying.
• 38:37
  I can't do it.
• 38:38
  And so I said that I loved his Christian Seriano dress.
• 38:42
  It's the rainbow one that is remembered to have been daily supposed to wear it at the Stonewall performance that she canceled last minute.
• 38:51
  Like she did.
• 38:52
  Yeah.
• 38:53
  Taylor, no.
• 38:54
  Yeah, I know. But other movies, I think, like, "Brokeback Mountain" was such a cultural moment to see two Hollywood heartthrobs coming in and being an independent movie about two cowboys.
• 39:10
  On a bashetly kissing each other on film, which is kind of just...
• 39:14
  I mean, we went through that weird time period in the 2000s where everyone was saying that "so gay" is a joke and an insult.
• 39:21
  Which Hillary jump obviously solved for us.
• 39:24
  She had RuPaul in her movie and she made the "don't say gay" video.
• 39:28
  When you guys say that's okay as an insult, that's really rude.
• 39:32
  It's like me saying it's so stupid when someone wears a top as a shirt or a skirt as a top.
• 39:38
  That's so girl wearing a skirt as a top.
• 39:41
  Yeah.
• 39:42
  That's it. That's it.
• 39:43
  But...
• 39:44
  So did you be too cute?
• 39:45
  I love that.
• 39:46
  She's on Disney Channel.
• 39:47
  I love it when we have Alley's like that. I mean, like, "Share Madonna." I mean, "Lady Gaga" is openly bisexual.
• 39:55
  But, you know, you got to have Taylor Swift has come out in her Alley ship in years as we're here for.
• 40:01
  Come out.
• 40:02
  Come out.
• 40:03
  Yeah, I'm really excited.
• 40:06
  I think as we evolve as a culture, I'm excited for more bisexual representation.
• 40:13
  Absolutely. You know, in the 90s and the 2000s, it was very like, "Well, you're one or the other in a very binary thinking."
• 40:21
  That's like sex in the city.
• 40:22
  I just watched that episode recently where Carrie goes on a date with a bisexual guy and it's like,
• 40:27
  and this is a quote, not something that I, a bisexual person, will it?
• 40:31
  She's like, "I just think that being bi is like a one train stop away from being from gay to gay town."
• 40:39
  First of all, gay town sounds like an amazing place and please book me a ticket to gay town.
• 40:43
  First of all, it's called Fire Island, babe.
• 40:45
  [laughter]
• 40:49
  It is very annoying to gay town right now.
• 40:51
  It exists.
• 40:52
  Or go to Martha's Vineyard in the summer.
• 40:54
  Oh my god. I'm down.
• 40:56
  Down, down.
• 40:57
  You might get Lyme disease though.
• 40:59
  So...
• 41:00
  That just ruined it all.
• 41:02
  I just want to get drunk with a tan.
• 41:04
  I just want to go to gay town.
• 41:05
  I just want to be gay with a tan.
• 41:07
  [laughter]
• 41:09
  I want gay town no-ticks.
• 41:11
  I should say gay town no-ticks.
• 41:13
  [laughter]
• 41:14
  But yes, there needs to be more like,
• 41:16
  and that's another thing and buffy that I kind of had a quorum with.
• 41:19
  Willow is obviously bisexual.
• 41:21
  And all of a sudden, she's with Tara and they're like,
• 41:23
  "She's a lesbian!"
• 41:24
  And I'm like, "Shouldn't know what I'm like."
• 41:40
  We're very binary.
• 41:41
  And you know, it's an evolution.
• 41:42
  Keep having conversations.
• 41:43
  I think our that highlights perspective and humanness within those stories,
• 41:45
  even when they are different from us,
• 41:47
  as really taken the LGBTQ movement forward in ways that we didn't see
• 41:51
  in our parents' generation.
• 41:52
  100%.
• 41:53
  I mean, and then just the legalization of gay marriage.
• 41:56
  I mean, if we step outside of pop culture for a minute,
• 41:58
  and what was that 2008?
• 42:01
  That sounds about right.
• 42:02
  I think, I'm so sorry if I got that wrong.
• 42:04
  And then revoking, don't ask, don't tell.
• 42:07
  Yes.
• 42:08
  And just more trans representation and things like that,
• 42:11
  I think is just so important.
• 42:12
  And obviously, we have such a long way to go.
• 42:14
  And I don't want this to come out sounding like,
• 42:17
  we're like, we did it!
• 42:18
  It solved everyone's fine.
• 42:20
  But like, it's just important to look back on how far we've come,
• 42:23
  and like, how far we need to go.
• 42:25
  And I just, I love the representation of people being able to see themselves
• 42:29
  on screen.
• 42:30
  And yeah, I think that's just...
• 42:33
  Happy Pride, Mom!
• 42:34
  Happy Pride, Mom!
• 42:35
  I love it!
• 42:36
  This one's for the girls' gays and the days.
• 42:38
  And we love you.
• 42:39
  If there are no girls' gays,
• 42:41
  these are gots that I'm not going.
• 42:43
  I'm not interested.
• 42:45
  All right.
• 42:47
  I think that just about wraps up another episode of Pop Culture Junkie Podcast.
• 42:52
  Do you guys want to tell everybody where they can find ya?
• 42:54
  You can find me, Libya, on Instagram, @livimariez
• 42:59
  L-I-V-I-M-A-R-I-E-Z.
• 43:03
  You can find me, Nicole, on Instagram, and TikTok,
• 43:05
  @nicole_eldridge
• 43:08
  You can find me, Shauna Trinidad, on Instagram,
• 43:11
  and TikTok, @shaunatrinidad S-H-A-U-N-A-T-R-I-N-I-D-A-D.
• 43:18
  Don't forget, you can find the Pop Culture Junkie Podcast,
• 43:20
  social media links, and more on our website, PopCultureJunkie.com.
• 43:25
  From there, you can find our podcast and all platforms,
• 43:28
  and you can follow, subscribe, rate, review, all of the above, preferably.
• 43:34
  You can also check out the brand new, reasonably priced tiers on our Patreon.
• 43:38
  Even at that low, low cost, you will help us bring you the best of Pop Culture every week.
• 43:45
  Find us at patreon.com/popculturejunkiepodcast.
• 43:49
  Sign up for the uncensored content we promise to love you forever.
• 43:55
  Come back next time for another hint of Pop Culture.
• 43:59
  The Pop Culture Junkie podcast is produced by Jeff Markin
• 44:06
  and Cheryl Lightfoot for the Pop Culture Entertainment Network.
• 44:11
  So entertain me, entertain me right now.
• 44:14
  I need it bad, I need it bad.
• 44:17
  Cause I need it bad, I need it bad
• 44:22
  [Music]