{"id":54114,"date":"2024-06-29T09:00:54","date_gmt":"2024-06-29T07:00:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2063584"},"modified":"2024-06-29T14:26:15","modified_gmt":"2024-06-29T12:26:15","slug":"tnia-miller-lgbtq-representation-needs-to-go-beyond-coming-out-stories","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/tnia-miller-lgbtq-representation-needs-to-go-beyond-coming-out-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"T\u2019Nia Miller: LGBTQ+ representation needs to go beyond coming out stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

RadioTimes.com Guest Editor T’Nia Miller sees out Pride Month by looking at if coming out stories are a thing of the past. <\/p>

By T’Nia Miller\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 29 June 2024 at 07:00 AM<\/p>

\n\n

Hear me out\u2026 are queer coming out stories a thing of the past?<\/p>\n

Coming out stories are undeniably important, but they\u2019re not the be all and end all of the queer experience.<\/p>\n

A role is exciting to me when it\u2019s not solely about the struggle LGBTQ+ people go through, but the joy of being human navigating this landscape called life. Where our experiences of sexuality and gender and more are woven into the fabric of stories rather than being at the fore.<\/p>\n

We have seen these types of stories more and more in mainstream TV and film in recent years. I believe these types of stories are ultimately more dynamic in \u2018normalising\u2019 the queer experience and moving the needle forward in the right direction.<\/p>\n

I can remember some of my early experiences watching TV and there only being three channels at the time. Just seeing anyone that was slightly representative of you was huge.<\/p>\n

At my grandparents\u2019 house, we had the one telly in the lounge, and whoever was watching the telly at the time would shout out to the rest of the family: \u201cQuick, quick, quick \u2013 there\u2019s a Black person on TV!\u201d And we\u2019d all run at lightning speed to see a Black figure soft focus in the background \u2013\u00a0 we felt validated. I recall that being a win.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t much better with LGBTQ+ representation. In 1994, Channel 4 aired the first female same-sex kiss on British TV on Brookside, a sweet moment between Beth Jordache (played by Anna Friel) and Margaret Clemence (played by Nicola Stephenson). It came five years after EastEnders<\/a> aired the first kiss between two male characters in 1989. But again, that was it.<\/p>\n