LGBTQ

LGBT in ​Glee

Glee​ is a teenager musical comedy television show by FOX. It is released on

May 19, 2009 and was ended on March 20, 2015. The show is directed by Ryan

Murphy and Brad Farchaq, starring Matthew Morrison, Leah Michelle, Corey

Monteith, and Gemma Mais. The show is a very cheerful music festival comedy that

is very enjoyable to watch. It tells the story of optimist high school teacher Will

Schuester (Matthew Morrison) taking over the school choir team, dreaming to lead

the team to win the national choir competition. However, the reality that lies ahead

of Will is that the choir team is consisted of a variety of students including gays,

lesbians, disables, and other students who are labeled as “weirdos” in the eyes of

other people. ​Glee ​regards many social problems including race, sex,

homosexuality, and disability.

Glee​ received fairly positive reviews from professional critics. The show won

the 2010 Golden Globe Award for Best Drama in Musical or Comedy category and

won Best Actress (Leah Michelle), Best Actor (Matthew Morrison) and Best

Supporting Actress (Jane Lynch nominated). The show also won the 2010 National

Award for the most popular new drama and Peabody Award. With the success of

the show, many musicians have expressed the hope of having their songs covered

in the series. Unfortunately, due to the death of the main actor Corey Monteith, it

was announced that the sixth season will be the final season. The show ended on

March 20, 2015, with a total of six seasons.

The character I would like to discuss is Kurt Hummel(Chris Colval), and the

episode I choose to support my analysis is Season five Episode one. Kurt, a

homosexual fashionista who is often bullied and mocked by other students for his

sissy actions and gestures. As mentioned by Michael Bronski in his article “​You can

tell who’s gay just by looking​”, “In American slang, the word ‘gayder’ is so commonly

used to describe a special skill gay people possess, the ability to know at a glance

whether someone else is gay or lesbian. In theory, gaydar decodes factors such as

clothing, body language, facial expression, pitch of voice, and overall attitude.” Kurt

is always very well-dressed and his body languages and facial expressions are often

quite feminine. As one of the lead singers in the choir team, Kurt has a beautiful

voice that can reach very high pitches. All features of him portrayed in the show

represents a very stereotyped gay image.

As a young boy, Kurt is very concerned about his father's opinion towards

him. He is constantly worried about losing his father's love because of his sexual

orientation. As the only gay who is brave enough to come out in his school, he is

bullied everyday and lives under great pressure because of society’s bias and

discrimination against homesexual people. Living under such pressure, supports

and approval from loved one become extremely important. He has even joined the

football team once just to prove to his father that singing and dancing are not the

only things he is capable of as a homosexual young man. Deep inside, he desires to

make his father to be proud of him.

Besides family, lover is also an essential part that supports Kurt to stay strong

and pursue his dreams. In Season two, Kurt meet his true love: Blaine

Anderson(Darren Criss) from the Woodrow Chorus of Dalton School. Compare to

Kurt, Blaine is more masculine. He has a much stronger body figure and a deeper

voice. Kurt and Blaine fall in love quickly and deeply.

In the episode I choose to discuss(Season five Episode one), Blaine finally

proposes to Kurt after all the things they have been through and all the difficulties

they have conquer in the past seasons. Such decision sublimes their love into

something greater and deeper. As written in Coontz’ book “​The Radical Idea of

Marrying for Love​”, “George Bernard Shaw described marriage as an institution that

brings together two people ‘under the influence of the most transient of passions.

They are required to swear that they will remain in that excited, abnormal, and

exhausting condition continuously until death do them apart.” The decision of

marriage is much harder for Kurt and Blaine as a homosexual couple, but it is also

what strengthens and intensifies their love. In the end of the episode, when Blaine

sings ​All You Need Is Love ​to propose to Kurt, we can see great passion that the

idea of “love has no gender” is fully and touchingly expressed.

Work Cited

Ryan Murphy, Brad Falchuk, Ian Brennan. ​Glee​. Season five, episode one.

FOX. 2009.

“'Glee' earns season 3 pickup from Fox (EW Exclusive).” EW.com,

ew.com/article/2010/05/23/glee-season-3-pickup/.

Bronski, Michael "​You Can Tell Just By Looking​". Book.

Coontz, “​The Radical Idea of Marrying for Love”. ​Page 15, Penguin Books.