Why does it matter if the artist/actor/author is LGBT+?

I think that it's about finding them, every where you look you see a straight _______, but I have found it rather difficult to find different forms media that are LGBT+ other than on here. Not sure if that's it but that is what I think.

 

Personally, I think it's to do with loneliness and self-reassurance. For people struggling to accept themselves, they may seek out people with similar stories and relatable art. Just to find others like themselves and go "hey it's just not me, there's nothing wrong with me after all". Plus I find there are LGBT artists out there that have positive songs out there about being gay and such. It isn't all doom and gloom like on the news where XX amount of people were killed for being LGBT or some guest on the news comes on to talk about "ex gays" or someone comes on the news and claims that they're straight now. Ugh.

It's just nice to have a break from the negativity for once and to be with people who just get you.

In terms of things being LGBT related- you talk as if most of the people only search for LGBT related stuff here (which makes sense considering we're on a forum about LGBT rights and stuff) which I don't think is true. I think that there are people that search for information on LGBT content here because, as you mentioned before they want to have something they can relate to. I think it's also good because it can help people come to terms with who they are, even when people try to convince them otherwise.

Also, I don't know about you but I love a well written fictional story as I like to escape reality now and then when life gets rough. I wish that I'd come across more books that deal with acceptance and the likes. But yes I know, we're a minority and I should stop acting like we're in the majority yada yada yada.

So I've decided to start writing my own story instead, one that deals with the main character going through the main five stages of grief whilst trying to come to terms with who she is, with I guess the secondary character being there to be the logical one who balances out what she's going through. I have it all planned out, haven't wrote all of it down yet though.

I think the main reason is comfort, it's comforting having these songs, or stories or YouTubers or whatever because it gives a sense of community, of belonging to something. I tend to struggle with the feeling of "I shouldn't exist, why am I alive?, my life is trivial" a lot. Listening to light-hearted songs that feature LGBT themes can help sometimes, it takes the weight off it and you can laugh at how strange life is as such. Even non-LGBT related songs can help with this, particularly when my mind starts going to dark places when I try to get to sleep, I find cheesy pop music helps.

LGBT YouTubers can be a good source to learn about the LGBT community, I learned a great deal from them, I didn't feel so alone anymore and Q'n'A videos helped answer a lot of my questions I had about the subject before I came across EC.

 

Honestly, I don't specifically seek out LGBT artists to follow, but I've found that many of the people I've just naturally been drawn to over the years without knowing their orientation have turned out to be LGBT.

I will say though, that when I've checked out some of the people others have listed as favorites, that I have discovered people I like that I might otherwise have never heard of, so I think there's some value in it, particularly for the ones that don't have much of a mainstream following.

 

I agree with you that the artist or whatever doesnt have to be LGBT to be good. Being LgBT has nothing to do if your work is good or not, which I consider a good thing, because saying somethings bad just bevause the creator is straight doesnt make sense to me. You sexuality has nothing to do with your work.

But I understand that you feel more conected to someone who is LGBT too and is so open about that. I wouldnt say that idolizes them, but it gives me personally a feeling of relate or I-want-to-be-like-them-one-day.

 

It has to do with relate-ability rather than actual ability. My favorite actor, singer, guitarist, author, and power ranger all have one thing in common: all straight. Their sexuality has nothing to do with their ability to perform their job - nor should it.

Finding out an actor/whatever is LGBT means that you can relate to them a certain special level that you can't with a straight actor. And being a public figure, if they decide to come out or make a stand for LGBT rights or something, that can impact other people.

 

I mean it's quite simple for me: if I wasn't gay then I'd be a different person and I'd have different experiences and I'd probably lead a significantly different life - it doesn't define me but it is most definitely part of my identity.

So because of this, naturally I'm drawn to LGBT issues and if a film is LGBT-themed, I'm more likely to be interested in it.

This is an LGBT forum after all. And it's not as if we're going to start topics on 'who are your favourite straight artists' when the majority of artists are straight anyway.

 

Because their stories are different. If I am looking for a generic story, any author/ artists/singer/etc would suffice. But if I am looking for stories about us, about the joys and struggle of being LGBT, I would look for creators who are also lbgt, because they share with us the same experience. This is not to say straight author can't tell lgbt stories, but their experience will always be from an outsider's perspective.

 

Well, often people really mean art/books/etc. not by lgbt people, but about the lgbq experience, which is unique.

Plus, it just can be refreshing to see a change from the straight cis white men who have produced most of the famous works in both history and modern culture. To be clear there isn't anything wrong with that, of all my favorite books are written to white cis straight people, and only a few by women, and that doesn't diminish from their value, but sometimes a change is welcome and interesting.

 

It doesn't really matter in terms of their work, but seeing gay people in the media makes me feel more normal and reassures me that I'm not a mistake. Plus it's fun to claim them as "one of ours." I guess it's exciting to learn someone is something besides straight and cis because it's encouraging. If my favorite celeb has the guts to go public, then maybe I can one day too.