Thank You, Stephanie Beatriz

As I'm starting to write this, it's already past midnight for a couple of minutes. Browsing on the Internet, I found two recentinterviews (that you all should read) with Stephanie Beatriz, from Brooklyn Nine-Nine, where she talks about her sexuality.

It made me think a lot. I remember seeing her tweet coming out as bisexual to her fans back in 2016, it was a simple, "yup," retweeting something about Aubrey Plaza speaking about her sexuality. Because sometimes coming out can be as simple as that. Or accidentally, followed by an, "oops!" (I would know about that). Then, on December of last year, her character Rosa Diaz came out as bi during the 99th and 100th episodes of the show, showing a new, more personal side of the character. I remember shedding a tear when she said it. I remember telling a friend to watch the episode quickly. I wanted the world to see this badass character coming out as bisexual and talking about the topic. Because it was at that exact moment when I decided that I too wanted to let that out. I never considered doing it. I thought I would move to a big city and maybe, just maybe, be the woman I wanted to be. But, alas, I find myself in my little hometown without much prosper. Like Beatriz, I remember not seeing many bisexual characters growing up.

Beatriz's experience coming out is, as in every case, unique. She mentions how her bisexuality needs to be reminded constantly. The fear of not being too gay for Pride, or being considered heterosexual because she's marrying a boy. I am pretty sure that this concern is shared among many people: am I enough? Am I too much? When it comes to bisexuality, there's a tendency to erase it. Freddie Mercury, who is now considered a gay icon, was actually bisexual, having relationships with both men and women. Anna Paquin or Channing Tatum are considered straight because they have/had relationships with the opposite sex (watch Paquin's interview with Larry King and see her educate him; it's a great interview). It's understandable that Stephanie Beatriz needs to come out and explain her sexuality as much as she can. After all, bi erasure is still a thing in both the media and society.

And here's where Rosa Diaz and Brooklyn Nine-Nine come in. Many fans thought Rosa (Beatriz's character) was bisexual. So, the same way they created a male protagonist who wasn't toxic, they gave us corgis and Peraltiago, they decided to confirm that Rosa was actually bisexual during the 99th episode of the show, and focus on her coming out during the 100th. And, yes, they said the word and didn't play around. Rosa's story coming out to her parents shows the possible outcome many fear: rejection. I would like point out three pivotal moments during her arc.

1. The first time she comes out to Boyle after she is caught talking to her then-girlfriend: her demeanor during the interaction is weary. She looks apprehensive and avoids talking about it until the end when she says that she never said anything because she didn't want anything to change. There's always that fear, really. Every time I came out to a friend I say something like, "This is not important actually, but I guess you should know, and also it changes nothing!". But I guess it kind of did, now I guess I'm able to say that I enjoyed Wonder Woman more than I originally let people know, if you know what I mean.

2. Coming out to her colleagues and parents: when she came to the precinct, she didn't hesitate. Everyone accepted her and moved on. But when she came to her parents, that didn't go well. They didn't accept her for what she is, and, ultimately, cut their relationship with her for the moment. That's the difference between coming out in a safe space vs in a toxic one. If you are not in a good place, don't feel like you should rush things. You are perfectly valid.

3. Chosen family: once her parents cut their relation, Jake decides to go once a week to Diaz's house for a game night, the same routine she used to have with her parents. The concept of chosen family is well known among the LGBTQ+ community. It's the sense of family outside any bloodline, that people that accept you and love you for who you are. In a sense, Brooklyn Nine-Nine created this chosen family since the beginning: Jake being Terry's daughter's godfather and, sometimes, with Amy, the girls' nanny or Holt marrying Amy and Jake. So, obviously, in the worst case scenario about Rosa's coming out, the squad would act accordingly.

The entertainment industry is opening to the concept of representation, if ever so slowly. Shows such as Jane the Virgin introduced a bisexual character, Adam, during seasons three and four, and Petra, who fans also thought was bi, came out during this past season. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend introduced a bi character, Darryl, during its first season (catchy song included), and gave him a boyfriend (White Josh), as well as giving the character of Valencia a girlfriend last season. Or any show by Shonda Rhimes, really. Step by step, television and film are normalizing gender, race and sexuality with new stories.

It's the moment you are able to see yourself when you start realizing that things are going to be ok. So, yes, Stephanie Beatriz maybe couldn't see many heroes that looked like her in her youth. But I'm lucky to say that I and a lot more others can now see people like us in a lot of places thanks to her and many others.