Photo: SearchlightPictures
For much of the world, June traditionally means Pride Month, which traditionally means parades and parties. But as this year's parades and parties have been cancelled, we're taking Pride online. Over the next week, VICE is releasing a series of articles to celebrate the LGBTQ community, and champion the individuals and collectives who push for greater visibility and equality.There’s no denying that pop culture plays a huge role in discovering one’s sexuality. From encountering a celeb crush for the first time to watching an iconic movie kiss, most people experience a eureka moment in their sexual awakening while watching TV at home alone or a film in a cinema with friends.As we celebrate Pride month at home, and continue to binge-watch TV shows and favourite movies, we asked a bunch of LGBTQ people to look back on the pop culture moments and characters that helped them realise their sexuality."When Zac Efron bleached his hair, I realised I didn't just like the hairstyle, I thought he was hot AF." — male, pansexual"Lilly Singh coming out. I thought of [myself] and I did [like] both men and women. I haven't come out yet." — male, bisexual"Sam from Danny Phantom and Kristen Stewart too." — female, lesbian"Brendon Urie!""I remember really liking Ellen Page in Juno and couldn't tell if I liked her or wanted to be her.""Sokka from The Last Airbender.""Leighton Meester in Gossip Girl." — cis female, gay/queer"Heath Ledger in A Knight's Tale when he rides up on the horse and his hair is shining in the sun.""Meg from Hercules." — cis female, queer/bi/pan/whatever"Charli from Hi-5, for sure.""The girl in the Mr. Brightside film clip." — cis female, bisexual"If I were to be honest…Britney Spears at school in ‘…Baby One More Time’."“I first encountered the concept of loving someone of the same sex while watching Glee. I had never struggled with my sexuality prior to that, or even considered that I could be anything but straight, simply because I hadn't realised that option was a possibility.” — cis female, bisexual"I saw Angelina Jolie and thought she was pretty…then I saw Brad Pitt.”Responses have been edited for length and clarity.
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