"Pose" Takes Place in the 1980s, But Conversations About LGBTQ Homelessness and AIDS Are Still So Important
Pose has introduced viewers to a roster of diverse characters, including a number of transgender characters, homeless youth, and other colorful personalities who live, thrive, and struggle in New York City's underground ball scene in 1987. One of these characters is Damon (Ryan Jamaal Swain), a gay black teenager who is kicked out of his Pennsylvania home after his father finds a gay porn magazine in his room. Pose follows Damon's story as he journeys to New York City, where he is initially homeless but finds a sense of family by joining a house. Although Damon’s story is fictitious, his life reflects the stark reality that many LGBTQ homeless youth still live every day, decades later. Pose matters because it reflects what’s really going on in the world.
A 2017 study from the University of Chicago's Voices of Youth Count Initiative, an effort dedicated to educating the nation on the extent of youth homelessness, interviewed 26,161 people to assess the epidemic of homeless youth in America. It found that Black/African-American youth had an 83% higher risk of reporting homelessness. The number is even more dire for LGBTQ youth, with that group having a 120% higher risk of reporting homelessness.
During the second episode of Pose, Damon meets Ricky, another homeless teenager. The budding romance between Damon and Ricky is very similar to any other romance between two teenagers, regardless of race, sexuality, and class: We get to watch as they quickly fall for each other. But what sets this romance apart from other depictions of young love in popular culture is the talk that Damon’s house mother, Blanca — played by MJ Rodriguez — has with Damon. She talks to him about sexual positions, sexual safety, and HIV/AIDS. Damon couldn’t talk to his parents about this, so this is a first for his character.
In a more recent episode of Pose, Blanca is concerned that Damon may have contracted HIV, after he becomes sick. The house mother has Pray Tell take all the younger characters to get tested to know their statuses.
Of course, many remember the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. But HIV/AIDS is still very much an epidemic today, especially among Black/African-American gay and bisexual men who have sex with other men. According to the CDC, in 2016, Black/African-American gay and bisexual men accounted for 26% (10,223) of the 39,782 new HIV diagnoses in the United States.
Damon's narrative on Pose is so vital because it's one that still exists today. While it takes place during the 1980s, hopefully it creates more discussion about what's happening right now by putting a spotlight on the challenges that LGBTQ youth face and how HIV/AIDs disproportionally affects Black and African-American people and all communities of color. It's important to put a story to those statistics, to show that there are faces and people behind those numbers. Television and film are art forms that have the power to drive conversation and influence public sentiment. So, when these stories are being told in a genuine and nuanced way, they offer a voice and representation to an often-overlooked community.
This is also particularly vital considering that, when it comes to LGBTQ representation, there's often only a certain type of story depicted in popular culture. GLAAD’s annual Where We Are on TV 2017 report revealed that across all forms of television, LGBTQ characters are still mostly white: 77% of LGBTQ characters on streaming, 62% on broadcast, and 64% on cable. Black LGBTQ-identified characters on streaming made up of only 7%, 20% on broadcast, and 10% on cable. Pose is groundbreaking not only for its ability to tell a resonating human story but also for the simple fact that it portrays LGBTQ Black people and communities of color.
Pose is incredibly noteworthy for validating and highlighting something many queer people experience: finding a family after not being accepted by blood relatives. We see that in the way that Blanca looks after Damon as a son, offering him information and education so he can make smart decisions. We see that in the Christmas dinner scene where Blanca cooks the holiday meal and hands out gifts to her children — a holiday celebration among a found family.
There has definitely been progress in terms of telling more intersectional stories in the LGBTQ community, ones that put onscreen experiences that real people face. A lot more work is still ahead, but thankfully a show like Pose is making strides.
Related: Janet Mock Opens Up About Her "Pose" Directorial Debut, From Fight Scenes to Trans Sisterhood
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