“We don’t get to see an old version of us,” said the Grammy-winning singer-songwriter during an acceptance speech
BY NIC CROSARA, IMAGE BY JAY DUNBAR/DREAMSTIME.COM
Last Week’s Out100 gala saw Brandi Carlile honoured with the Icon of the Year award. The Grammy-winning singer-songwriter used her acceptance speech to draw attention to the importance of different kinds of LGBTQIA representation in the media.
The Right On Time singer acknowledged that “representation matters” can be overused to the point that it becomes a buzzword, but that doesn’t take away its importance.
She reflected on a conversation she’d had with soccer legend Abby Wambach and her wife, author Glennon Doyle (don’t you just love it when celesbians all hang out together?!). During the discussion, Brandi realised that she had developed a belief that she would die young. She realised it was because there is so little representation of queer elders.
“We don’t have a lesbian Golden Girls, you know what I mean? And I thought about the annals of LGBTQIA+ history and the fact that so few of us are represented in domesticity, in family, and the aged state, and I thought about the fact that the way we identify ourselves is so interwoven into Western pop culture that if we don’t see an old version of us, we don’t think we will love a long life and that’s why nights like tonight make so much of an impact on our family and our community,” she said.
It’s something that has been on my mind a lot, ever since I watched The Last Of Us’ deeply moving episode, Love You For A Long Time, which focused on an almost two-decade-long MLM relationship that bloomed amid an apocalypse. It was the first time I’d seen a story told onscreen that centred on a same-sex couple growing old together, and it was long overdue. We need more.
While it’s great that we now have shows like Sex Education, Heartstopper and Everything Now, we need stories about LGBTQIA people of all ages. And I think I can speak on behalf of everyone here at Team DIVA when I say, that just like Brandi, we would love a lesbian take on The Golden Girls.
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