This Pride Month, Support LGBTQ+ Media

Photo courtesy of Bianka Bell

• Kristen Pizzo

Pride Month is about more than wearing rainbow T-shirts from Target and walking in parades. There are so many more impactful ways to support the community. Perhaps the most natural way actors and other theatre artists like us can show our support is by seeking out LGBTQIA media that contributes to much-needed representation.

To get started, check out the trailer for ‘Queerdo,’ a coming-of-age film about Dee, a non-binary teen who runs away to San Francisco to escape their abusive home and finds the love and support they always needed in an unexpected place.

With a cast and crew largely made up of queer individuals of color, ‘Queerdo’ is giving communities the representation they deserve.

In a statement on the film’s GoFundMe page, writer and director Bianka Alexandria Bell said,

“I am hoping that 'Queerdo' begins to generate a more complex, layered discussion about the realities that exist within the intersections of race, economics, sexuality and identity.”

Bell is a 24 year-old actor, filmmaker, and musician currently pursuing an MFA In film at California College of the Arts. She often draws from her own personal experience when creating films and web series like her most recent project, ‘Blatantly Bianka,’ a series about a struggling artist that she produced single-handedly. You can see more of her work by watching her director’s reel here.

While you’re waiting for indie projects like ‘Queerdo’ and ‘LoverGirl’ (which I covered here) to be released, start bingeing Tales of the City on Netflix. With an all-star cast including Ellen Page and Laura Linney, the touching narratives about love and life in San Francisco will have you instantly hooked.