Photo: Anne Marie Fox/Disney
JoJo Siwais speaking on the importance of representation.TheSo You Think You Can Dancejudge has stepped into a new role on season 3 ofHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series— and it aligns with who she is today.Siwa, 19, spoke of her character, Madison, who is gay. “I’ve never played a gay character — besides myself, and I’m not a character, I’m just myself, but that’s that’s how it looks to the world,” Siwa toldEntertainment Weekly.“But this is so straightforward: Madison is a queer human. I think it’s really special getting to know that kids are going to watch this and not be like, ‘She’s queer? What’s that?’ They’re going to be like, ‘She’s queer. Cool.’ I love that the next generation just kind of [moves past] it vs. it being a weird thing.“Anne Marie Fox/DisneySiwa grew up a fan of the originalHigh School Musicalfilms and committed to the project before she knew much detail about her character, including her sexuality. Now Siwa compares the role to what she saw in the media during her childhood.“I think it would have made me realize that it’s okay a lot younger. It’s normal,” she said of having more diversity in characters. “It took me a while to really be comfortable with that. I didn’t really realize that it’s okay until I was like 17. I didn’t really realize that it was okay — I always thought with other people it was okay.“Anne Marie Fox/DisneyThis isn’t the first time Siwa has used her platform to expand the boundaries of LGBTQ+ representation. TheDance Momsalum came out on social media in January 2021. In acover interview with PEOPLE, she spoke about her decision not to fully define her sexuality.“But like, I don’t know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I think the keyword is cool,” she said.“I like queer,” she adds. “Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that’s how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human.“Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.In fall 2021, Siwa made history onDancing with the Starsas the first female contestant to dance with another female partner:Jenna Johnson.
JoJo Siwais speaking on the importance of representation.
TheSo You Think You Can Dancejudge has stepped into a new role on season 3 ofHigh School Musical: The Musical: The Series— and it aligns with who she is today.
Siwa, 19, spoke of her character, Madison, who is gay. “I’ve never played a gay character — besides myself, and I’m not a character, I’m just myself, but that’s that’s how it looks to the world,” Siwa toldEntertainment Weekly.
“But this is so straightforward: Madison is a queer human. I think it’s really special getting to know that kids are going to watch this and not be like, ‘She’s queer? What’s that?’ They’re going to be like, ‘She’s queer. Cool.’ I love that the next generation just kind of [moves past] it vs. it being a weird thing.”
Anne Marie Fox/Disney
Siwa grew up a fan of the originalHigh School Musicalfilms and committed to the project before she knew much detail about her character, including her sexuality. Now Siwa compares the role to what she saw in the media during her childhood.
“I think it would have made me realize that it’s okay a lot younger. It’s normal,” she said of having more diversity in characters. “It took me a while to really be comfortable with that. I didn’t really realize that it’s okay until I was like 17. I didn’t really realize that it was okay — I always thought with other people it was okay.”
This isn’t the first time Siwa has used her platform to expand the boundaries of LGBTQ+ representation. TheDance Momsalum came out on social media in January 2021. In acover interview with PEOPLE, she spoke about her decision not to fully define her sexuality.
“But like, I don’t know, bisexual, pansexual, queer, lesbian, gay, straight. I always just say gay because it just kind of covers it or queer because I think the keyword is cool,” she said.
“I like queer,” she adds. “Technically I would say that I am pansexual because that’s how I have always been my whole life is just like, my human is my human.”
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free weekly newsletterto get the biggest news of the week delivered to your inbox every Friday.
In fall 2021, Siwa made history onDancing with the Starsas the first female contestant to dance with another female partner:Jenna Johnson.
source: people.com
