The sound of a pencil scraping against the screen of an iPad is the only thing that breaks the silence filling the room. Sketchy lines appear in coordinated black strokes that, together, form a person. It’s a character created from a teenager’s imagination, an expression of their interests and themself, no matter what name or identity they have.
The connections between art and those of the LGBTQ+ community have been around for quite a while, Adelynne Lu said, a talented teenage artist.
“There’s a long history of the LGBTQ+ community making themselves known through theater,” Lu said.
She recalled that “drag,” a slang term used to describe a male wearing female clothing, was “incredibly popular” in the military since there were only men there to act as females during their acts to entertain themselves.
And it’s not only theater that is used to express oneself freely. Other visual arts, such as drawing and painting, are also popular ways to show creative expression.
Art is a good way for teenagers of any identity to express themselves, especially if they enjoy doing art as a job or for their own enjoyment, Nakita Goodness (11) said, a small fanartist who identifies as bisexual.
Other teenage artists agree on this as well.
“I can imagine some of them make art to show inner thoughts and struggles with their identity and how they try to navigate life,” Rose Pak (11) stated, another teenage artist still questioning her sexuality.
Lu also added more about why teenage lgbtq+ artists create.
“It’s the only way for them to feel seen and understood; it also provides them with a community that supports them,” Lu said.
There are many things artists create to express themselves, like skits.
I see skits talking about past trauma and how they would handle it now–either funny, sadly helpful, or both–purely comedy skits that entail funny scenarios that only those familiar with the community understand,” Lu added.
Artists also draw their OCs (Original Characters).
“Depending on the genre of art—for drawing specifically, I see a lot of people draw out their OCs(original characters) and their storylines,” Rose said.
Some artists also draw fanart, a piece of art for their favorite show, book, game, and/or movie.
Nakita provided evidence of this, saying that she draws fanart for games like Genshin Impact and characters from Vocaloid.
In general, LGBTQ+ teenage artists use art to express themselves.
