I had several close friends text me to ask if I had seen The Prom on Netflix this weekend. Netflix is certainly doing quite well during this pandemic. I think it is pretty incredible that they’ve been able to keep things coming and their streaming content has not disappointed. Right now during the already very emotional (yes, my eyes have leaked several times today but I swear they were happy tears) time of year, there has also been all of this really serendipitous queer content on mainstream media. I am seeing my story finally being told on the big screen. I had just completed the chapter of my own prom in my manuscript when social media started showing the trailer for this new movie about a young lesbian, wanting to go to the prom with a girl, who is very in the closet.

I keep reminding myself that everything is unfolding exactly as it should be and try not to question the coincidences. I am not eloquent or clever enough to analyze whether or not these LGBTQ storylines showing up in mainstream television and media are completely woke or address every iota of cultural intersectionality. What I can say is that I never expected the world to have opened up so quickly for me to be able to see the teenage me depicted on a screen, accepted and loved. It took a lot of therapy and work to become as confident as I am in myself to even reach a place where I can sit on the couch with my wife, our dog between us, shedding tears as we identify, finally with characters that have a similar story to ours. I don’t have to change the pronouns to make it fit or ignore the plot points to know that I can be valued and seen in a movie too. How very modern.

I’m sure all the young children in your lives can relate to how my grandfather felt with time passing slowly (Christmas is slowly or quickly arriving depending on your perspective), and I will end it with this sweet letter.

Rainbow Prom

USPS

Perkins Christmas