Stranger Things and LGBTQ+ representation

Noah Schnapp has confirmed that his “Stranger Things” character is gay. But let’s remember what the ‘80s were like for the LGBTQ+ community ...

Transcript

00:00We just got confirmation on a long-speculated Stranger Things theory, Will Byers is gay.

00:04In a recent interview, actor Noah Schnapp said, quote,

00:07It was always there, but you never really knew.

00:09Now it's 100% clear he is gay and does love Mike.

00:11The hit Netflix series takes place during the 1980s in a fictional midwestern town.

00:15It has introduced queer storylines in the past,

00:17but the topic carries a deep history for the time period.

00:20The 1980s was a decade of great struggle for the LGBT community.

00:23The New Right was a political movement that emerged with an open hostility

00:26towards gay and lesbian people.

00:28Combining evangelical Christian takes on morality with a political agenda,

00:32the New Right called for a return to what they deemed American family values.

00:35This was compounded with an absence of discussing homosexuality in school

00:39and a lack of representation in media.

00:40On top of all of this was the unfolding of the AIDS crisis,

00:43which was tied to the gay community and turned them into figures to fear.

00:46Being gay in the 80s meant being isolated from an identity,

00:49which is something Will appears to grapple with throughout season four.

00:52Schnapp said he hopes to see the show further

00:53explore his character's identity in the fifth and final season.