This week, we bring you a guest piece by author of Not in the Plan and In Walked Trouble, Dana Hawkins. She dives into the subject of queer representation, how it's changed since the 90s, what effect on her life and coming out it had, and more!
The need for positive queer representation in media seems to be a hot-button issue in the queer community, and I read more and more that people don’t like answering this question. It seems so simple—we have queer people. Therefore, we need representation. Done and done. While I understand this mentality, I still think it’s important to continue having this conversation, especially with so many political changes happening worldwide.
This fall, I started watching Law & Order SVU (I know, I know. I'm about twenty-five years late to the party). The almighty TikTok algorithm sucked me in after I rewatched a clip and I deep-dove into the magic of Marika Hargitay. Speaking of, how have I never known about her? Wowza. I've been missing out all these years. But I digress…
When I start a new show, even if it's been on the air for twenty-five years, I start with episode one, season one. I’m currently on episode 23 out of 559. Uff da. I got my streaming work cut out for me.
The first Law & Order SVU episode, aired in 1999. I had to cringe-grin (is that a word?) at a few of the hallmarks of that time— a detective fumbling to figure out how to answer his cell phone, another detective saying he looked on the "internet web" for information, and so many terrible sexist jokes that absolutely did not hold up as we evolved as a society.
But then, I watched an episode about a gay man who was murdered. I'm confident the show was trying to be progressive at the time. The sentiments weaved throughout the episode ranged from the detectives saying, "Why would anyone choose to be gay," to "It's not his fault that he was born this way," to "It's no one's business what he does in the bedroom." There were zero indications of queerness being woven into society, much less celebrated or affirmed.
The first "positive" queer main character I ever saw on television was Ellen DeGeneres. The buzz around that episode was intense. Magazine covers and talk show hosts boasted the news. It was even rumored Oprah would be a guest star! To me, this was everything. I got to see someone like Ellen—cute, quirky, and funny—come out on TV. Swoon. I was one of the millions who anxiously watched how they'd write this episode. Could you actually make coming out…dare I say… heartwarming? Up until that point, the very, very limited exposure I had to queer characters in any kind of media surrounded hate, trauma, or "overcoming" their queerness. But Ellen's episode was different. It touched me in a way where I thought maybe this was the start of something different. One scene in particular still stands out to me. Ellen said to her therapist—as played by Oprah—"No one ever says, 'Congratulations, you're gay.'" Therapist Oprah said back, "Congratulations, you’re gay." It was the first time in my life I had seen gayness, queerness, being celebrated on film.
Oh, the 90s. So yes, depending on your age (like my daughter), that seems like a million years ago. The "old days" or "the late 1900s," she'll say, which is technically not wrong, but grrrr. But for someone like me, the 90s was not that long ago. I graduated high school in 1995. The messages from that time still resonate with me. And one of the biggest was, "You are invisible."
As time moved on, the heavenly gay flood gates did not open the way I predicted. In fact, I think the Ellen show was cancelled shortly thereafter. I saw exactly two movies featuring queer women as leads (Bound and Monster) before I was 30. And I didn't read my first lesbian romance until I was 40 because I didn’t know how to properly search for them (which can be a whole other blog on why these are separated from the mainstream.)
Growing up, I came out to only a very select group of trusted people starting at around sixteen, but it wasn't until I was in my 30s that I was officially out. There is no chance this lack of representation didn't massively contribute to keeping me closeted. The only messages I received from the media were 1. Queer people were non-existent, or 2. Queer people were sad, helpless people who should be pitied, not celebrated 3. Queer people do not deserve to take up the same amount of space as non-queer people.
I have a pretty damn good life, and I wouldn't change anything. I am very lucky. But, I genuinely wonder what my life would have looked like had I seen people who were like me on mainstream media. Or had I walked into a library and seen the books, watched TV and movies, and (besides my beloved Melissa Ethridge) heard music featuring people like me.
Several years ago, I stumbled upon Schitt's Creek, and it changed my life, at least in terms of how I viewed media's importance in our society. For those of you who don't know Schitt’s Creek (which I find hard to believe), do yourself a favor and submerge in the gooey goodness of all things David and Moira.
But, this was the first time I watched a show with positive rep and queer joy and it shook me. For once, I didn't hold my breath waiting for the bully to terrorize the queer man. I didn't have to wait for his family to accept him. I didn't have to watch the queer character overcome self-hate. He was just his beautiful David self, learning to fold in the damn cheese. It was at this time I decided that the work I release will show queer joy. I want my readers to escape the reality of hate for a few hours while reading about my messy sapphic characters.
These last ten to fifteen years, we've seen a broader portrayal of queer folks in media. Sure, so many are still playing that quirky side character who takes the feminine heroine on fabulous shopping excursions in our heteronormative rom-coms, but it has increased. But with the current state of affairs and political shift, I'm terrified representation will sink. The phrase “we can’t go back” has never wrung more true in my life.
So, have things changed since the 90s? Yes. Just watch a TV show filmed back then. Do we need to continue to push for representation? Of course.
I really hope that Law & Order SVU (and other similar long-running shows) have evolved. I’ll check in with you all in a few years when I finally catch up with the rest of the episodes.
About Dana Hawkins
Dana Hawkins is a caffeine-fueled writer of sparkly sapphic rom-coms, including NOT IN THE PLAN and IN WALKED TROUBLE. Her third book, SO NOT MY TYPE releases on Jan 6, 2025 and she is busy working on her next series with Storm Publishing. Her work is included in multiple anthologies including UNCENSORED INK: A BANNED BOOK ANTHOLOGY, CARNATION COLLECTION, and PROM PERFECT. She hopes to spread a bit of sparkle in a sometimes gray world while writing love stories with heart, heat, and enough humor to keep the reader smiling throughout the story. After living for twenty years in Seattle, she recently trekked back to her hometown in Minnesota. She is a huge romance-genre book nerd and borderline obsessed with happy-ever-afters.
Dana is repped by Jenna Satterthwaite, Storm Literary Agency
website: https://danahawkins.com/
BlueSky: @dhawkinsauthor.bsky.social
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