What Are the Stories That Need to Be Told?

What are the stories that need to be told? So many that we hosted a panel about it. The It Gets Better Project partnered with Outfest for a star-studded panel discussion about LGBTQ+ representation in film, television, and all sorts of other forms of media. With the Sundance Film Festival canceling in-person activations, we went digital… and the result is a conversation you won’t want to miss.

Check out our incredible participants and watch the panel in full. Plus, check out our cheat sheet of some films and shows our panelists think all of you should check out.

Outfest House @ Sundance: WHAT ARE THE QUEER STORIES THAT NEED TO BE TOLD?

Moderator: Brian Wenke, Executive Director & CEO, It Gets Better Project

Panelists:
Sundance Talent:
Érica Sarmet, A Wild Patience Has Taken Me Here, Sundance ’22 Shorts Competition
Jen Richards, Framing Agnes, Sundance ’22 NEXT Section
Joey Soloway, Transparent, Sundance ’22 NEXT Juror
Theda Hammel, My Trip to Spain, Sundance ’22 Indie Episodic Pilot Showcase
Additional Voices:
Eboni Munn, Director of Brand Marketing, Content & Creative, It Gets Better Project
Javicia Leslie, Batwoman
Sherry Cola, Good Trouble

CHEAT SHEET

“Guilty” Pleasures (Why is the guilty in quotes? You’ll have to watch the panel)

Javicia Leslie – “Grey’s Anatomy”

Sherry Cola – Mukbang videos

Theda Hammel – “Pleasures should not inspire guilt” said with a laugh.

Érica Sarmet – Reboot of “Gossip Girl”

Jen Richards – “Yellowjackets”

Joey Soloway – “The magic carpet of Julia Fox and Kayne and Kim and Pete. I want it all day long, I can’t stop.”

Eboni Munn – “Seeing the budding relationships of the glow up, of queer content creators creating proof of concept ideas meant for their target audiences on small budgets and seeing established brands and filmmakers engage with them authentically.”

Film, TV show or Web series you would recommend to a young LGBTQ+ person in the midst of their sexual orientation or gender identity journey.

Eboni Munn: “Twenties” on BET (also available on Hulu) – “It’s one of the first times that I’ve seen a masculine-presenting Black woman as the lead in a series.”

Javicia Leslie: Also recommended “Twenties.” Additionally, “Pose” (available on Netflix) – “I’m from Maryland, and a lot of the balls were happening in and around Baltimore and I didn’t even know about it. It’s a world that I never really got a chance to learn about.”

Jen Richards: “Disclosure” (available on Netflix) – “On an unconscious level, what it’s really about is media literacy and empathy.”

Sherry Cola: “Saving Face” (available on Amazon Prime) and “Good Trouble” – “I play an Asian lesbian who also dates non-binary characters and there’s. a lot of learning and growing and evolving that takes place.”

Theda Hammel: “I Am Cait – Season Two” (available on Hulu) – “There is something about the archival value… that will live on in history forever.”

Érica Sarmet: “Steven Universe” (available on HBO Max) and “She-Ra and the Princesses of Power” (available on Netflix) – “They are very sweet shows and they handle deep human stuff — watching them helped me a lot.”

Joey Soloway: “Man Made” (available on Amazon Prime) – “T. Cooper’s film… should have gotten so much more attention. He’s a genius, he’s brilliant, and just kind of… for me, as a trans-masculine person, images, stories, feelings from that film are ways that I’m constantly just trying to see myself or imagine myself.