How Naya Rivera Became an Icon for the LGBTQ Community (Guest Column)
Naya Rivera has been recalled in headlines as a “former Glee star, ” but to countless queer females she has been and will always be so much more like me across the globe. Her unexpected tragic death, verified Monday, has sent a revolution of profound sadness across the thing that was as soon as an exciting and fandom that is vital. And it is a reminder simply how much it indicates once the those who portray LGBTQ figures become tough advocates for the extremely exact same community.
Rivera’s Glee character, Santana Lopez, had been constantly written become damaging — the smoking hot cheerleader with the razor-sharp wit and bitch-with-pom-poms mindset. But over the course of the show’s six periods, she became a beacon to lesbian, bisexual and questioning fans, particularly young Latinx and Ebony fans, several of whom had been seeing themselves onscreen for the very first time. Now her death devastates us yet again.