Heartstopper Is A Queer Story That Netflix Needs To Get Right

thegamer.com:

Heartstopper is a beautiful series of graphic novels by Alice Oseman that has taken the queer world by storm since it began being published as a webcomic back in 2016. It’s an honest, heartfelt, and refreshing depiction of homosexual love between two teenagers in a British school setting that has been in need of such a story for so long.

Charlie Spring is a gay teenager who is out to his family and peers, having experienced the bullying and ridicule that is all too common for queer kids in the school system even today. Being different means you go through a lot of unwarranted bullshit, coming to terms with who your real friends are while unafraid to express your identity despite the troubles it might bring.

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Before I came to terms with my gender in university I was the only publicly queer person in my entire sixth form. I dated boys and as a consequence became a weird talking point in my small Welsh hometown because I wasn’t afraid to hold hands with the same gender - at least at the time - and be seen showing affection to them in public. Back in 2012 it was still viewed as an oddity, something to be gawked at or viewed from behind a corner because we weren’t permitted the same agency as straight couples who were eating each other’s faces every other lunch break. LGBTQ+ teenagers are seen as obtuse social experiments.

I was bullied at the bus stop, had teachers gossip about me, and was witness to a load of nonsense that sought to convince me I just wasn’t quite right. Fortunately I had a group of close friends who stood by me, alongside a couple of siblings who weren’t afraid to break the noses of those who dared mess with me. My family is weird. It's