Flashback Friday: LGBTQ San Diego Comic Con panel featuring Tatiana Maslany, Harry Shum Jr, Wilson Cruz and more!

What's the past, present and future for LGBTQ characters in television?

What a difference four years makes.

It was 2020 and San Diego Comic Con was going to happen but virtually for the first time ever given the global pandemic that was happening and keeping everyone in their homes and not in big convention hall arenas.

In my journalism career, I always loved giving attention to LGBTQ stories and the people bringing those stories to life. When I was a freelancer early in my career, I wrote for outlets like The Advocate, Out, AfterElton/AfterEllen (RIP) and Edge Media and, thankfully, it seemed as time went on, more and more stories were being told and LGBTQ actors were coming out. There were also actors who weren’t a part of the LGBTQ community but played the roles or wrote the stories and talking to them was always a part of my work, too.

But I was wondering in 2020, what was the state of the LGBTQ character. Where were we in what stories needed to be told and how did playing these characters impact the actors who were in their shoes? What was the past, present and future for this group of actors playing LGBTQ characters? I pitched the panel idea to the San Diego Comic Con folks and got a quick YES to move forward so I started emailing reps and a few of the actors I could email directly since we’d become friends over the years.

Since this panel is one of the work events I am most proud of in my career, I thought starting a “Flashback Friday” post would be fun to revisit the conversation from 2020 and not only watch for nostalgia purposes but to also see if there’s more to talk about in 2024. I think the answer is yes given we have even more shows and characters who fall under the LGBTQ umbrella now (I mean, Agatha All Along has just dropped on Disney+ and supposedly has a strong gay element to it, Zachary Quinto is playing a gay character on the new NBC series Brilliant Minds and Netflix’s Heartstopper is back next month!) but tell me what you think in the comments below and, who knows, maybe I’ll put a sequel panel together?!

So, to introduce the video of the panel, you’ll see me as moderator and then I’m joined by Tatiana Maslany (Orphan Black), Harry Shum Jr. (Shadowhunters), Anthony Rapp (Star Trek: Discovery) and his on-screen hubby Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery), Jamie Clayton (Sense8), Jamie Chung (Once Upon A Time), J August Richards (Council of Dads) and Brian Michael Smith (911: Lone Star).

My only regret here is that this great conversation couldn’t be in person but I’m glad the chat happened and every one of these folks took the time to share their story. Thanks again to all of them and to you for watching.