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Valentine’s is a holiday that can mean various things to different individuals. Some consider it a time to spoil loved ones or plan special nights, others find it to be more capitalistic. Regardless, the day’s original intent is to celebrate love in every facet.
Love exists in multitudes and deserves to be showcased at every instance, but especially so in time for the holiday dedicated to it. Some groups and relationships are represented more often than others, though. To help highlight love on a grander scale, we have compiled a list of various media pieces which celebrate love for the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
Heartstopper
“Heartstopper” was originally a webcomic series released on Webtoon in 2019. The author and illustrator, Alice Oseman, had their work adapted and released for Netflix in April 2022. While the story explores multiple characters, the main plot revolves around Charles “Charlie” Spring (Joe Locke) and Nicholas “Nick” Nelson (Kit Connor).
Oseman’s work follows the two boys as their relationship develops from unlikely friends into a match made in heaven. Viewers also get to watch Nick and Charlie’s friends develop their own relationships and work through the hardships of adolescence as well.
The story has touched a large audience as a result of Oseman’s heartfelt storytelling and inclusivity. She not only featured a relationship between two gay and bisexual protagonists respectively, but also highlighted the lives of lesbian, transgender and asexual characters. This specific portrayal of young, queer love is a refreshing addition to the romance genre.
Loveless
The Oseman universe covers a vast range of experiences, including those presented in their novel “Loveless” that came out in July 2019. The story follows protagonist Georgia War, her best friends Pip Quintana and Jason Farley-Shaw, as well as her roommate Rooney Bach and university friend Sunil Jha.
Georgia comes from a household and family of hopeless romantics, so she is utterly convinced her life will follow a similar path of trope-based whirlwind romances. However, she is sorely surprised when she comes to the startling realization, she is neither interested in romance or sex.
The story follows Georgia as she learns more about what it means to be asexual-aromantic and how that will impact the way in which she navigates the world. This story is equally as significant in Oseman’s representation of platonic love being just as fulfilling and important as romantic or sexual love.
The Owl House
“The Owl House” (TOH) is an animated Disney series created by Dana Terrace that came out in 2020. It centers on Luz Noceda (Sarah-Nicole Robles) and her accidental journey into a magical realm that she only hoped to exist beyond her imagination.
Luz meets a group of people there that completely shape her coming of age story, but none accomplish this quite like Amity Blight (Mae Whitman), the resident prodigy witch from a lineage of prodigy witches at Hexside School of Magic and Demonics.
While the two do not get along at first, their relationship devolves into something much softer and stronger as the plot progresses. Much like “Heartstopper,” TOH is a great look not only into the romantic relationship between its bisexual and lesbian protagonists, but also into the familys’ people make and the way they persevere through love.
Our Flag Means Death
A more eccentric pick of the bunch is the romantic comedy, American period piece “Our Flag Means Death.” The television series began streaming in March 2022 on HBO Max. The entire plot is a dramatization of the relationship between golden age pirate legacies Stede Bonnet “The Gentleman Pirate” (Rhys Darby) and Edward Teach “Blackbeard” (Taika Waititi).
Although the story does highlight the crews of both leading men through clever scripting and comedy choices, the more tender aspects of the show lie within the slow-paced romantic development between Bonnet and Teach. However, there is still plenty of room left for fun characters like Jim Jimenez (Vico Ortiz), a nonbinary pirate with a mysteriously entertaining backstory portrayed by their nonbinary performer as well.
The entire show is a fun rendition of these historically based stories that also pack an emotional punch.
There are dozens of ways to spend Valentine’s Day, but this small list is a way to celebrate all sorts of love and highlight plenty of meaningful relationships through well-written and fun pieces of media.
Meagan Garcia is the arts & culture editor and may be reached at [email protected].
