In light of recent events in the One Direction fandom and everything that has been done that’s upset many members of the LGBTQIA+ community, including myself, I think it’s best that we have a little look back at some of the support that the LGBT have gotten in the media over the last decade or so.
March 27, 2005: Grey’s Anatomy aires on the American Broadcasting Companies and features many LGBT+ couples as well as transgenders, racial equality, and other gender, race, and sexuality topics.
May 19, 2009: The pilot of the Glee aired for the first time on FOX, which had characters of various sexualities, genders and racial backgrounds.
September 23, 2009: The first official episode of Modern Family premiered on the American Broadcasting Company and featured a gay couple who have been seen as normal people by many, and have been good representation of gays in the media.
July 18, 2012: Macklemore, Ryan Lewis, and Mary Lambert released Same Love, a song that supports the LGBTQIA+ community, on iTunes.
July 11, 2013: Orange Is The New Black aires on Netflix and features not only characters of various sexualities but of various genders and orientations.
2014: One Direction fans launch the Rainbow Direction project to help LGBTQIA+ fans feel more welcome into the fandom.
January 26, 2014: Disney Channel featured it’s first same sex couple on the TV show Good Luck Charlie by giving one of the toddler’s friends two mothers.
June 26, 2014: Demi Lovato releases her Really Don’t Care music video which took place at LA Pride and included many of the people who were there celebrating their pride.
June 26, 2015: Gay Marriage is not only legalized in America but supported by popular brands such as JELLO, American Airlines, Cheerios and Google.
July 17, 2015: Harry Styles danced around on stage with a rainbow pride flag in Vancouver, thus making One Direction concerts feel a lot safer for members of the LGBTQIA+ community.
September 18, 2015: The movie About Ray, which is about a your transgender teen, will be released in theaters and have a big impact on the world.
While I could continue on and on about how many times the LGBTQIA+ community, as well as the trans community, POC community, and every other possible racial, gender, cultural, sexual, and religious community has gotten as we’ve learned to accept people for who they are.
If you have any other media moments that stood out to you, I encourage you to share them in the comments and help spread the love and support.