Jonathan Bailey: Role-Model
Dec. 2nd, 2025 09:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
stevenpiziks Jonathan Bailey (Wicked, Bridgerton) is officially the highest-grossing box office star of 2025. That means right now he's the biggest star in Hollywood. He was also selected as People's Sexiest Man Alive. And he's gay.
Let that sink in. After a hundred years of film-making in which even a whiff of gay from an actor meant career death, an out actor is now the biggest star. Words don't come.
When I was growing up, there were so few gay characters in movies or on TV that they were essentially invisible. Even the ones you did see were relegated to small, stereotyped roles on "edgy" shows. There were no out pro athletes. There were no out teachers, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, bus drivers, mail carriers, or soldiers. No openly gay couples. In other words, no role models. I grew up literally unable to comprehend a world in which the word "marriage" could apply to two men or two women. In the late 90s, I wrote a far-future science fiction series with a gay main character in a long-term relationship with a man. (See: The Silent Empire) I never referred to Kendi and Ben as being married; it didn't once come to mind that they could be. When I was growing up, I didn't see gay couples in real life or in media. The only gay relationships in my life turned up in sordid dirty jokes. So I didn't think to have Kendi and Ben be married. That's how bad it was.
I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different if I'd had those role-models, if I had known that it was possible to marry a man and have a successful career, if I'd had someone like Jonathan Bailey to look up to. Jesus, I would have been first in line to see everything he did.
This is the main reason I became "that gay teacher" at Walled Lake Northern High School. I wanted my gay students to see me, a successful, well-liked teacher who was very good at his job, and who is married to a man. I wanted my straight students to understand that having someone who is LGBTQ in your life didn't mean the sky would fall. (When I retired, a high-up member of the administration thanked me for being who I was in the classroom and being a role-model, even though I was the target of a lot of flak.)
There are millions of LGBTQ+ kids out there who have the role-models I didn't, and I'm glad that they do. Jonathan Bailey is just the beginning.
Let that sink in. After a hundred years of film-making in which even a whiff of gay from an actor meant career death, an out actor is now the biggest star. Words don't come.
When I was growing up, there were so few gay characters in movies or on TV that they were essentially invisible. Even the ones you did see were relegated to small, stereotyped roles on "edgy" shows. There were no out pro athletes. There were no out teachers, doctors, lawyers, plumbers, bus drivers, mail carriers, or soldiers. No openly gay couples. In other words, no role models. I grew up literally unable to comprehend a world in which the word "marriage" could apply to two men or two women. In the late 90s, I wrote a far-future science fiction series with a gay main character in a long-term relationship with a man. (See: The Silent Empire) I never referred to Kendi and Ben as being married; it didn't once come to mind that they could be. When I was growing up, I didn't see gay couples in real life or in media. The only gay relationships in my life turned up in sordid dirty jokes. So I didn't think to have Kendi and Ben be married. That's how bad it was.
I sometimes wonder how my life would have been different if I'd had those role-models, if I had known that it was possible to marry a man and have a successful career, if I'd had someone like Jonathan Bailey to look up to. Jesus, I would have been first in line to see everything he did.
This is the main reason I became "that gay teacher" at Walled Lake Northern High School. I wanted my gay students to see me, a successful, well-liked teacher who was very good at his job, and who is married to a man. I wanted my straight students to understand that having someone who is LGBTQ in your life didn't mean the sky would fall. (When I retired, a high-up member of the administration thanked me for being who I was in the classroom and being a role-model, even though I was the target of a lot of flak.)
There are millions of LGBTQ+ kids out there who have the role-models I didn't, and I'm glad that they do. Jonathan Bailey is just the beginning.
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