Why Chris Colfer's Win at the Golden Globes Is a Significant Step Forward for the LGBT Community

Sunday night’s Golden Globe awards were a great example of progress in the LGBT community. In addition to Chris Colfer’s win, as Kurt in “Glee,” Annette Benning won for portraying a lesbian mother in The Kids Are All Right, as well as fellow Glee actor Jane Lynch, an outspoken gay rights proponent who made sure to thank her wife.

But it’s Colfer, who won the award for Best Supporting Actor in a Television Series, Miniseries or Made for Television Movie, whose timely speech and important character stands as both a symbol of how far we’ve come and the direction we should be headed.

Minorities have historically used media as an outlet to gain mainstream acceptance, and the LGBT community has made great strides over the past few decades in major part due to exposure in television and film. Early films like Longtime Companion paved the way for Brokeback Mountain. Pedro Zamora’s presence on The Real World was essential to a mainstream understanding of HIV/AIDS. These and many other productions led the way for Will and Grace to attain popular mainstream status, with gay characters in the lead and driving the action.

But Colfer’s win stands out as inspiring for his symbolic place, representing the bullied children of our society.

First, Colfer should be congratulated on his win. His performance is deserving of all the recognition and praise he has received.  The character of Kurt has been indelibly written on our hearts by this talented and nuanced actor. The relationship between Kurt and his father relies on a vulnerability that Colfer brings to his performance, a balance that is delicately weighted with uniqueness, dignity, fragility and strength. But his win is significant for reasons beyond his talent. Colfer’s acceptance speech was an inspiring sign of the times. After graciously thanking the great talent involved in the show, both on camera and off, he used his speech to make a statement about being true to one’s self and addressed bullying and homophobia with that same delicate balance he brings to his character on the show.

He stated: “…to all the amazing kids that watch our show and the kids that our show celebrates who are constantly told no by the people in their environments, by bullies at school, that they can't be who they are or have what they want because of who they are ... Well, screw that, kids,"

The honesty of his words left many in the audience and at home speechless.

Colfer has become an icon for LGBT youth. Both he and his character embody an assurance in one’s self that is often stripped from them, by bullies, by family or by the larger society. Backstage Colfer explained the significance of the win. “…one of the best things is that for all the kids that are watching who don’t quite understand that Kurt is a character and that we’re actors, they just saw Kurt Hummel get an award for just being him, so I think that’s a great thing that they’re seeing right now.”

Colfer couldn’t be more right. And Colfer’s very presence on that stage is a testament to how far we’ve come.

A mainstream awards show recognizing a mainstream television show for addressing LGBT characters in a positive light does as much for LGBT rights as electing openly gay officials. We’ve grown from the 1980s where HIV/AIDS was taboo, through the 1990s where a same sex kiss was groundbreaking, and the early 2000s where LGBT characters were comedic side-kicks, to today where the actual issues that affect the community are addressed in an entire story arch with the same weight and importance of any issue facing any straight character. We are at a point in society where being gay isn’t the issue, but rather the issues are the problems gay people face. And Colfer represents that progress, handling his role as actor and advocate with equal grace.

Glee’s readiness to address the LGBT bullying epidemic is exactly what society needs. We need more celebrity allies like Max Adler (who plays Kurt’s bully) recording “It Gets Better” videos and speaking out for tolerance. And we need more actors like Colfer, actively encouraging LGBT youth, to stand up proudly on primetime television. We invite these characters and actors into our homes and our lives; when we grow to love them it becomes impossible to not support them, their humanity, and their equality. Colfer’s win was not just a win for himself and his show, but it was a win for our entire community. It’s a sign that society is catching up. Not only are Gays people too, they’re award winning people.

Photo credit: vagueonthehow