{"id":55398,"date":"2017-08-10T18:00:28","date_gmt":"2017-08-10T22:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/yuri-on-ice-and-the-importance-of-positive-lgbtq-representation\/"},"modified":"2017-08-10T18:00:28","modified_gmt":"2017-08-10T22:00:28","slug":"yuri-on-ice-and-the-importance-of-positive-lgbtq-representation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gayfriendschat.com\/socialblog\/yuri-on-ice-and-the-importance-of-positive-lgbtq-representation\/","title":{"rendered":"“Yuri!!! On Ice” and the importance of positive LGBTQ representation"},"content":{"rendered":"

“Yuri!!! On Ice” and the importance of positive LGBTQ representation<\/b><\/p>\n

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Image Credit: Yuri!!! On Ice<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The first clip I remember seeing of the sports anime series\u00a0Yuri!!! On Ice<\/em> was of one of the main characters standing up stark naked<\/a> in a hot spring, facing the other male<\/a> protagonist and declaring that he was going to be his skating coach. This, coupled with my previous frustrations from never-to-be-realized queer subtext in other sports anime like Free! Iwatobi Swim Club<\/em>, led me to believe that Yuri!!! <\/em>would never allow its two male<\/a> protagonists to be together romantically before I even started watching it. I have never been more thrilled to be proven wrong.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Despite my resigned certainty that I was about to be drawn in by the potential of a queer relationship only to be disappointed for the umpteenth time, Yuri!!! On Ice<\/em> managed to exceed all of my expectations. In the end, the show delivered a thoughtful portrayal of two men<\/a> developing a deep and trusting romantic relationship that provides LGBTQ viewers with representation of queer individuals being happy together above all else, which is something that we desperately need.<\/p>\n

\"\"The show follows twenty-three year old Japanese figure skater Yuuri Katsuki\u2019s athletic career after a personally devastating loss at the previous season\u2019s Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. However, his life and his career change forever when Yuuri\u2019s idol, Russian figure skating legend Victor Nikiforov, moves in at Yuuri\u2019s family\u2019s hot spring and declares that he\u2019s going to be Yuuri\u2019s coach for the upcoming season. As they work together, their relationship progresses from fan and idol to skater and coach and finally to equals who fall in love.<\/p>\n

\"\"After realizing that Yuuri and Victor were fully, romantically in love (and overcoming the euphoria that queer subtext had finally<\/em> become text in a sports anime), I prepared myself for the worst, expecting one of the characters to be outed or for them to be tragically separated. However, as the series progressed I realized that Yuuri and Victor didn\u2019t face the kind of discrimination that LGBTQ individuals are used to seeing both in real life and on the screen. Furthermore, this lack of discrimination was a deliberate choice: in a tweet, series creator Mitsurou Kubo stated, \u201cNo matter what real people think about this anime, within its world no one is ever going to be discriminated against because of what they like. And that is something I will always protect.\u201d<\/a> (Translation credit: toraonice)<\/p>\n

\u00a0For me, it was the first piece of entertainment media I had seen that didn\u2019t present queer individuals as \u201cother,\u201d but allowed them to simply freely love and exist. While watching, I didn\u2019t have to worry about whether Yuuri or Victor would be outed in an unsafe environment or if Yuuri was going to be unfairly judged on the ice because of his sexuality like so many real life figure skaters have feared in the past<\/a>. Rather, I fretted over when they were finally going to kiss (because really, it was a long time coming) and if I was ever going to get to see the wedding that was hinted at by their matching gold rings.<\/p>\n

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Watching Yuuri and Victor fall in love was so emotionally rewarding for me as a queer individual because it allowed me to experience a queer love story simply for what it was: a love story. Often, I have to turn to\u00a0fan-produced content for this kind of idyllic, worry-free representation when I don\u2019t want to deal with the emotional rollercoaster of fearing for the fates (and the lives<\/a>) of my favorite queer characters. This isn\u2019t to say that Yuuri and Victor\u2019s relationship is without conflict, but rather that any conflict in their relationship derives from their struggles to better understand each other rather than discrimination that they face on the basis of their sexuality.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Ultimately however, watching Yuri!!! On Ice<\/em> made me feel safer and more secure in my own identity because it presents its queer characters as normal people falling in love. At a time when I was still struggling with feeling comfortable calling myself bisexual<\/a>, watching queer characters simply exist in the world of Yuri!!!<\/em> helped to reassure me that I could experience love in the same way as my heterosexual peers.<\/p>\n

Although it is true that the discrimination-free world of Yuri!!! On Ice<\/em> isn\u2019t realistic (yet), it can help reassure queer individuals like me that they can experience love in the same way as anyone else. At the same time, it provides a glimpse of a future where being queer doesn\u2019t mean being \u201cother\u201d. And that notion is something that I will always work towards and protect.<\/p>\n

Yuri!!! On Ice <\/em>is available for streaming on Crunchyroll in Japanese<\/a> with English subtitles and Funimation in English and Japanese with English subtitles<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

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August 10, 2017<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Issues:\u00a0<\/div>\n