Look beyond fiction. That’s the message Netflix had for Brazilians, in celebration of the country’s LGBT Pride month.
A day before São Paulo’s LGBT Pride Parade, the streaming service giant posted a video online about diversity and LGBT representation on its programming and series. The video starts with a scene from Sense8 where Nomi Marks, a proud lesbian and transwoman activist played by Jamie Clayton, says that the real violence is the one “we do to ourselves when we are too afraid to be who we really are.” Then a series of individuals and couples part of of the Brazilian LGBT community talk about the importance of seeing themselves being represented on TV.
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Gabi, a 23-year-old transwoman said it took a while for her to give Netflix her vote of confidence, but once she saw Sense8 ‘s Nomi, everything changed. “A complete character that just happens to be trans, or happens to be gay, it reminds everyone that these people are human beings,” she says.
Scenes from Orange Is The New Black and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, Netflix’s other LGBT-inclusive shows, also appear, and different people share their experiences: “when you find other ways to be gay in these series, it does you a great good; you no longer think you are doomed to be unhappy,” says a gay man talking about Titus, from Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
The video ends with why these shows are important for the community: “fictional characters represent real people.”
The cast of Sense8 rode in the São Paulo Pride parade and caused quite a sensation on Avenida Paulista.
Netflix started operating in Brazil in 2011 and it has an estimated 4 million subscribers.
