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i was also kinda annoyed that sterling was so insistent on coming out but then i though that maybe that’s the point? that a lot people think that things have gotten so much better for the lgbt community (and they have) but the reality is that its still really sucks and can even be dangerous even in 2020. i feel like sterling’s insistence is a stark contrast to april’s fear which really highlights the struggles our community still deals with. just my 2 cents ?

Yeah, possibly, it’ll depend on where they go with it. In fairness, just taking this season on its own, especially April’s points during the little convince me debate, it’s pretty thoughtful and so far NOT insisting on a full public coming out from a narrative point of view. I didn’t mind Sterling’s personal insistence, she hadn’t made it an ultimatum, in so many words–as some other shows’ characters literally have–but generally, she was coming from a place of naivete and optimism and wanting to be open and happy. That’s understandable, she’s a young girl in actual love for literally the first time and whose parents and sister probably DO love her unconditionally, that’s her experience of the world. She has no roadmap on how to do this and her next move is to want to do things like holding hands and be with April in public the way she was with Luke and well, that requires them to come out. 

Honestly, I wouldn’t even have been thinking about this so much if I hadn’t also been thinking about GLOW and all those other shows. For the time being, it’s sympathetic and understandable on both sides, made more complicated by the role Sterling played in April’s dad’s getting caught. That final convo on the bench wasn’t just about April and Sterling but the surprise reveal that the dad was out and setting that up for next season. Presumably April will find out and that’s just gonna make things even more complicated.

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coming out could go really bad for April. Not only because she would end up being an outcast, but worst case scenario it could even get violent or she could get kicked out of her house for good. It annoyed me a little bit how Sterling didn’t seem to get it. It was sweet that she wanted to date April for real, to be open about their relationship, but… the consequences.

Right! Even though the writers are addressing these possibilities, I’m not sure they’re really thinking them through? Like, they’ll write it so there are all these obstacles and it’s the triumphant end goal of the character’s arc to come out and that’ll be their happy ending and then when the camera stops rolling…what? What would have happened to that person? 

This is a particular issue that bothers me a lot and it seems to come from not just straight writers but queer people privileged enough to not have to deal with it, OR, the unlucky people who HAVE dealt with it and projected that as the desirable outcome for everyone. I still remember this scene from The Bisexual where for once, they wrote the opposite. 

In April’s case, yeah, to an outsider losing her family might not be a big loss, but it should be on her terms. Maybe she’s counting on a scholarship for which she needs to stay in school and do well, or wants to wait till she’s financially independent, or maybe she super does love her parents anyway. But that’s always narratively secondary to Coming Out, which is treated too much like this rite of passage that has to be done as soon as possible no matter the consequences and like, this is something real queer people (and the allies around them) see and internalize and feel pressured to do! Where else are they supposed to be learning how to deal with all this? Media’s still our best source.

I get why the writers do that, why people in real life encourage it, I get that side of it, it isn’t healthy, it DOES do a number on you, I’m sure it IS super freeing to come out, but it just really needs to be more nuanced than the way it’s being done right now. Like, as if it’s shameful to be closeted, as if you can’t be in a relationship at all if you’re closeted. It’s just one or the other, closet or happy out relationship.

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*spoilers for teenage bounty hunters* what did you think about sterling and luke kissing in the end?i liked their scene but i feel like them kissing could make people read her and april as a “just a phase thing” or something. i wish they didnt add the kiss. other than that i really liked sterling and april too, it was honest and soft and a bit sad

Oh, I don’t think people thinking it’s a phase is something to worry about, the show spent too much time to emphasize how much Sterling was pursuing April despite all the obstacles. It was clear she was upset about her and as she said, it was “so easy” with Luke, she wanted to go back to those easier less complicated times.

That doesn’t mean we might not have some more Luke next season, possibly even a weird messy triangle where both April and Sterling seemingly go after him while wanting each other, these writers aren’t gonna go for the simple route. The only good thing about that is at least it’s a binge so you won’t have to go week by week to see it all unfold until they fold and go back to each other. 😛