Heterosexuality offered a stable lifelong route map: find a life partner, marry, settle down, have children. As someone who didn’t come out until I was 20, what was so terrifying in adolescence was the sheer loneliness of the closet.
The one exception I recall was a teacher warning against anal sex. I grew up in the age of section 28, which prohibited the so-called “promotion” of homosexuality in schools and in practice stifled all discussion of LGBTQ+ issues. Many queer older millennials have been dazzled by the show, but also felt a sense of grief and loss at what they never had: either acceptance from our straight peers, or affirming representation on our television screens. Representation is at its core, with lesbians and queer people of colour – including a young trans woman who has transferred to the girls’ school – as key protagonists. Written by the stunningly talented 27-year-old queer author Alice Oseman, it features a young geeky gay boy who falls for a rugby jock who, it transpires, is bisexual.
It is squarely aimed at teenagers, which is one reason it is so pivotal. It’s important to stress that it was not made for a geriatric millennial like me. I found it impossible, then, not to be moved by Netflix’s new school drama Heartstopper, which should be considered one of the most important LGBTQ+ shows ever made.
