Power Queer
The Power Queer is the newest need in television and film. This is a character that started becoming more common in the late 2010s when producers and writers started to realize it was no longer okay for gay male characters to either be "best friend" screaming queens with no real personality except for being gay with no love interest or they were stoic (humourless) with a whisper of a love interest who then dies or gets murdered. A Power Queer is a high-status queer character, usually gay, a fully developed character, self-possessed, and who functionally moves the story along - either a person in charge or a personality who has the power to move and/or change the plot. And "being gay" is not their only character trait. They can have campiness in their toolbox, but that is not what defines them. They are not the butt of jokes, and they don't need to die to be humanized
The Power Queer is the newest need in television and film. This is a character that started becoming more common in the late 2010s when producers and writers started to realize it was no longer okay for gay male characters to either be "best friend" screaming queens with no real personality except for being gay with no love interest or they were stoic (humourless) with a whisper of a love interest who then dies or gets murdered. A Power Queer is a high-status queer character, usually gay, a fully developed character, self-possessed, and who functionally moves the story along - either a person in charge or a personality who has the power to move and/or change the plot. And "being gay" is not their only character trait. They can have campiness in their toolbox, but that is not what defines them. They are not the butt of jokes, and they don't need to die to be humanized
Thom Allison, a veteran actor who plays Sheyonce, the bar owner, opposite Alexandra Billings, in the feature film QUEEN TUT, says, "Being sought out for the role of Sheyonce is a testament to being in the business for a long time and the kind of characters I have played. My partner, Micah Barnes, and I call this category the ‘Power Queer’ ."
by Roundstone February 8, 2023