Discover Top Posts Tagged with #issues: outing

Character: Sora Wakanae

From: F•Compo (Family Compo)

Representation: Transgender

Their Importance: While the manga is outdated in a lot of regards (it ran from 1996 to 2000), it shows Sora as how he is: a man and father. There are very few trans male characters, especially trans male characters of color.

While Sora may occasionally get misgendered, he's quick to reinforce the fact that he's a man.

Issues: The issues spread over the entire series. There's casual misgendering and dead-naming, etc. People refer to Sora as "she" and "a woman" and "a mother" as opposed to his proper pronouns and "a father". He's also purposefully outed as trans to the protagonist upon first meeting by having his shirt pulled off to reveal his chest which is very unpleasant to see as a trans reader.

Thanks to @selfconfusion for the write up!

#representation: LGBTQIA+#representation: transgender #Issues: transphobia #issues: Outing #f compo #family compo #sora wakanae #submitted

Character: Oscar Martinez

From: The Office

Representation: Mexican, Gay

Their Importance: For a long time, Oscar Martinez was the only LGBTQ+ representation on television. Looking at reports from GLAAD, Oscar was:

2006-2007: The only LGBT+ character of color on a regular series

2007-2008: The only remaining gay character on a half-hour comedy program & the only LGBT+ lead/supporting character of color

2009-2010: Oscar was one of 4 LGBT+ characters of color who were series regular (and 1/5 in 2010-2011, and 1/6 in 2011-2012)

To have an LGBT+ character, particularly one of color, is incredibly validating to see, especially when there weren’t many gay characters onscreen at the time. Even today, where there are arguably more LGBT+ characters on screen, they’re still overwhelmingly white, and it’s nice to see that The Office had a well-written gay man of color on their show.

There’s definitely jokes about Oscar’s labels, but it’s not exclusive to him - there are jokes about on everybody (and oftentimes, they showcase how ignorant the person making the jokes is being) - and the show doesn’t rely much on stereotypical or surface-level depictions of Oscar. With the exception of Gay Witch Hunt, his storylines are not about his sexuality. Oscar is a fully-fledged character and his sexuality is a part of him, but not the only interesting or only thing we care about. Oscar is rational, level-headed, admittedly a bit of a know-it-all, and one of the few sensible people in The Office, along with one of the smartest. He’s a great grounding presence to the absurdity of the other characters and awesome to watch.

Issues: While the audience knows that Oscar is gay back in season 2, Oscar is outed in the episode “Gay Witch Hunt”. Oscar complains after Michael (his boss) calls him “f*ggy” - after that, Michael ends up finding out Oscar is gay, and then inadvertently reveals the information to the rest of the office. Oscar faces homophobic comments, particularly from his coworker Angela, and also an unwanted kiss from Michael in the end of the episode. While The Office plays on awkward and cringey humor and these actions aren’t meant to be seen as good, they still happen and can definitely be a lot for people to watch.

Also, as mentioned, other characters will often make stereotypical comments about him based on the fact that he is Mexican and/or gay.

#the office #oscar martinez #representation: lgbtqia+#representation: gay #representation: racial #representation: mexican #representation: latinx #submitted #issues: outing #issues: harassment #issues: homophobia #issues: slurs

Character: Masquerade

From: Blood Syndicate by Milestone Media

Representation: Trans man, Black (Haitian)

Their Importance: Mask, the shape-shifting member of Blood Syndicate, was the first trans man in a main stream comic and (until relatively recently) the only trans man in a main stream comic. Mask was a key member of the team and one of the most powerful characters in the group. He was also one of the more level-headed members of the team, cool and confident and uninterested in petty games over who should lead.

Issues: One of Mask’s major plot arcs involves being outed to another member of Blood Syndicate, Fade. Despite Fade’s assurances, Mask seemed to think that Fade would either blackmail him or out him to the rest of the group and the resulting stress and distrust fractured the team, eventually leaving Mask as one of their enemies.

Another issue is homophobia. When Mask thinks he’s going to be outed, he says incredibly homophobic things to Fade.

Thanks to @thedancingwalrus-blog for the write up!