The Real World?

Last Wednesday I was watching The Real World on MTV with some of my friends, and was pretty surprised by the content in the episode. I don’t know if everyone is familiar with the show, or even this season, but when I think of the show as a whole I usually associate it with lots of alcohol, fighting and sex. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy most of those things quite a bit—not so much fighting—but I don’t usually take the show very seriously. That is...until I saw last week’s episode. For those who missed it, the majority of the episode was focused on the new relationship between Frank and Michael, one of the cast mates and a guy he met at some of the local pride events. Also in the episode, Frank comes out to his mom as homosexual, which confuses her because he had come out to her as bisexual in the past. To many of the homos out there, this may seem like just another 'day in the life,' but I was thinking while this may seem so normal to us, I have to wonder about the rest of the population.

When Frank was discussing with his mom about his newfound sexuality, my friends and I started to talk about how amazing it was that this issue was on national television. I started to think about all the kids out there who might be struggling themselves with their identity/sexuality and how having this on MTV was such a wonderful thing. This could be the thing that makes them realize that they aren’t alone out there, finally make them see that other people struggle with these same issues. I thought about how when I was younger—there wasn’t much on TV, or anything for that matter, dealing with LGBT issues. Yeah, we had Will & Grace and Buffy The Vampire Slayer, but those were choice selections that didn’t really appeal to youth. I thought about how if I had something like The Real World when I was 13 or even younger, I may have had an easier time coming to terms with the inner turmoil I was feeling.

While I think we have a long way to go in the way Gay and Lesbian issues are dealt with on television, it was refreshing to see such a wonderful example of a functioning and normal gay man dealing with his sexuality. So often I feel as though the gay community is stereotyped to an extreme on TV, and this doesn’t show the full spectrum or the variety of personality types out there. More things like this on television really could make teens and youth see that things really do get better, and they aren’t necessarily going to turn out to be plastic, flamboyant or bitchy. It was definitely a step in the right direction, but we have a long way to go.

Also for you readers who may be in high school or college and are looking for a place to connect with other LGBT youth, there is a great youth community called the Gay Nebraska Youth Network. The group is “a virtual space for the young gay community… for people to connect with friends, meet new ones, discuss relevant topics, and basically just know you're not alone in the desolate Midwest.”

For more info visit http://sites.google.com/site/thegnyn/. The primary demographic is for 15-24 year olds, and if you fall into that age group, it’s a great resource.

Luke Wells
Student
University of Nebraska, Lincoln