What ‘Love, Simon’ says to gay teens — and why that msage matters

Contents:

• SIMON COWELL SAYS IF HE WAS GAY HE WOULD E OUT LIKE PHILLIP SCHOFIELD
• NEWS & VIEWS: WHAT ‘LOVE, SIMON’ SAYS TO GAY TEENS — AND WHY THAT MSAGE MATTERS
• WHY DID TAKE SO LONG FOR HOLLYWOOD TO MAKE A GAY TEEN STORY LIKE 'LOVE, SIMON'?
• RAVEN-SYMONE: I’M NOT GAY, AND I’M NOT AIN-AMERIN
• LOVE, SIMON: AT LAST HOLLYWOOD IS SAYG ‘I’M GAY’
• 'LOVE, SIMON' IS A GOTDAMN LIGHTFUL ROM, AND 'S GAY AS HELL
• 'LOVE, SIMON' IS YOUR TYPIL GLOSSY, HOLLYWOOD, TEENAGE, GAY ROM-COM
• LOVE, SIMON IS A GROUNDBREAKG GAY MOVIE. BUT DO TODAY'S TEENS ACTUALLY NEED IT?
• ‘LOVE, VICTOR’ STAR SAYS GAY ROLE SPARKED HOMOPHOBIA OM HIS FAY, ATH THREATS
• RAVEN-SYMONE: I’M NOT GAY, AND I’M NOT AIN-AMERIN
• NEWS & VIEWS: WHAT ‘LOVE, SIMON’ SAYS TO GAY TEENS — AND WHY THAT MSAGE MATTERS

SIMON COWELL SAYS IF HE WAS GAY HE WOULD E OUT LIKE PHILLIP SCHOFIELD

The X Factor judge said Phillip Schofield's public announcement on his sexualy on This Morng was a 'very posive thg'Vio LoadgVio UnavailableHolly reads Phil's full g out statementSimon Cowell has praised Phillip Schofield for g out - and sisted he would do the same if he were gay.

"I've worked on films, TV, mic and probably 50 pr cent of the people I have worked wh are gay, or they have been gay, whatever.

NEWS & VIEWS: WHAT ‘LOVE, SIMON’ SAYS TO GAY TEENS — AND WHY THAT MSAGE MATTERS

Although he's known the This Morng prenter for years, the X Factor star quipped that his 'gaydar isn't great' so he never send-gused Schofe. Openg up about the stigma which still exists around beg gay, the father-of-one told The Sun that ed to be the 'first thg' he was asked terviews. "It mak me lgh bee twenty years ago I would be dog terviews and the first qutn would be 'are you gay?

WHY DID TAKE SO LONG FOR HOLLYWOOD TO MAKE A GAY TEEN STORY LIKE 'LOVE, SIMON'?

The Bra's Got Talent star then claimed that if he was gay, he would have had e out. The Bra's Got Talent star then claimed that if he was gay, he would have had e out and said as there was nothg to ever be ashamed of, and ed to 'crack him up' that was seen as somethg to hi.

I grew up gay Kansas Cy, Mo., and beme a teenager durg that weird perd of time between AIDS and the Inter.

RAVEN-SYMONE: I’M NOT GAY, AND I’M NOT AIN-AMERIN

The Homo Sapiens Agenda, took me right back to that place of longg and sire for the romance I wanted so badly at 17. Like Simon (Nick Robson), the lead character who of age Greg Berlanti’s new romantic edy (the first featurg a gay teen lead om any of the major studs), I, too, had a secret.

LOVE, SIMON: AT LAST HOLLYWOOD IS SAYG ‘I’M GAY’

Unlike Simon, I didn’t have a place where I uld log on and nnect wh another gay kid like me.

'LOVE, SIMON' IS A GOTDAMN LIGHTFUL ROM, AND 'S GAY AS HELL

But even though he n nnect onle wh another closeted gay guy at his high school, many ways, the ternal stggl of beg a closeted teenager our culture rema unchanged om when I was high school. Screenwrers Elizabeth Berger and Isaac Aptaker (This Is Us) have poted this up their funny, sightful adaptatn: We live a heteronormative may have achieved marriage equaly, but ’s still the rponsibily of the gay kid to e out — somethg straight people never have to do. As Simon’s supportive mom (Jennifer Garner) says to him after he fally breaks the news, “Beg gay is somethg you have to go through on your own.

Even as astal blue-state attus about genr and sexualy are marchg steadily forward across middle Ameri; even when social-workg se TrevorSpace, stunt-led Gay-Straight Allianc, young adult novels, TV shows and now (thankfully! ) movi offer LGBTQ kids shelter and reprentatn, we still live a untry where admtg you’re gay mak you an “other.

'LOVE, SIMON' IS YOUR TYPIL GLOSSY, HOLLYWOOD, TEENAGE, GAY ROM-COM

” That’s somethg that straight parents and iends — no matter how perfect their polics — have rarely, Love, Simon is aspiratnal: ’s probably a fantasy that an entire high school would turn out to the rnival to cheer on the recently outed gay kid as he was for “Blue, ” the anonymo pen pal he fell love wh to jo him on the Ferris wheel. Gay Bars OhGay Bars Ccnati Simon Says. $$ · Gay Bar.

The Homo Sapiens Agenda, the film ( theaters natnwi Friday) follows a closeted teen (Nick Robson) who falls love wh an anonymo onle pen pal om his high school who is also gay, and navigat the tricky waters of g out to his iends and fay. It's the first major stud movie to foc on a gay teen romance. "Simon is the latt a strg of projects to center on young LGBTQ characters, although has the wist release (2, 400 theaters) and biggt budget ($17 ln) dramas Moonlight and Call Me By Your Name each tell g-of-age stori about young gay men g to terms wh their sexualy.

LOVE, SIMON IS A GROUNDBREAKG GAY MOVIE. BUT DO TODAY'S TEENS ACTUALLY NEED IT?

Comedic drama The Mistn of Cameron Post, which won the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance Film Ftival January, follows a girl (Chloë Grace Moretz) who's sent to gay nversn therapy — a subject that will also be explored Boy Erased starrg Lus Hedg (Lady Bird) later this year. Then there are TV ss such as NBC's new Champns, and Netflix's One Day at a Time and Dear Whe People, all of which promently feature teenage characters who happen to be ‘Love, Simon’ says to gay teens — and why that msage mattersAlso:10 mt-see films of 2018, om the new 'Fantastic Beasts' to 'Mary Popps'Review:'Love, Simon' charms by givg gay teen romance the John Hugh treatmentWhat separat many of the stori om past LGBTQ reprentatn  Brokeback Mounta, Philalphia and The Cryg Game is their ntent: The latt characters aren't "punished" for beg gay, and if they are, their journeys are punctuated by hopeful msag about acceptance.

‘LOVE, VICTOR’ STAR SAYS GAY ROLE SPARKED HOMOPHOBIA OM HIS FAY, ATH THREATS

"Simon is siarly heartwarmg, drawg parisons to a "gay-themed John Hugh movie, " says Greg Hernanz, founr of gay entertament blog Greg Hollywood. "As a producer, Berlanti, who is gay, has champned LGBTQ characters on shows cludg Dawson's Creek, Riverdale and Arrow.

For him, was ccial to avoid some trop while leang to others: Simon, a soft-spoken mic geek who hangs wh both athlet and theater kids, and his more flamboyant classmate, Ethan (Clark Moore), show very different but equally layered portrayals of gay men.

"Wh each character, whether they're straight or gay, you try to add thenticy to them, " Berlanti says.

RAVEN-SYMONE: I’M NOT GAY, AND I’M NOT AIN-AMERIN

Comg at a time when only 23 movi released by major studs last year featured LGBTQ characters, acrdg to GLAAD's Stud Rponsibily Inx, uld also help ph the needle forward for more gay stori on the big screen. Raven-Symone: Don't label me gay.

Actrs Raven-Symone chews labels like gay and Ain-Amerin. That’s what the former “Cosby Show” star told Oprah Wey on OWN on Sunday night, as she explaed why she don’t like to be labeled as gay or Ain-Amerin.

NEWS & VIEWS: WHAT ‘LOVE, SIMON’ SAYS TO GAY TEENS — AND WHY THAT MSAGE MATTERS

“I don’t want to be labeled gay, ” Raven-Symone said. Raven-Symone says she’s a lbian, grateful for legalized gay marriage.

The former Disney star’s sexualy has been headl sce she tweeted Augt 2013 that she was happy for the legalizatn of gay marriage, as meant that she uld “fally get married!

Wh the rporate clout of 20th Century Fox behd , Love, Simon is the first gay teen movie om a major stud. Tolerance has s mercial benefs; a gay film need no longer appeal exclively to small or specialised when Betiful Thg opened 1996, the UK age of nsent for gay men had only recently been lowered om 21 to 18 (still two years higher than the heterosexual one).