As much as we dismiss entertainment as frivolous, sometimes, a TV show can change your life.
That was apparently the case for Oklahoma State Representative Mauree Turner who in 2020 made history as the first-ever nonbinary state lawmaker in the U.S., the first black person to represent District 88, and the first Muslim elected official in Oklahoma. It's kind of a big deal, and according to them, it happened in part because of feeling seen and represented by a television show, in this case, The Bold Type.
The series which ran for five seasons, coming to an end in 2021, followed three friends Jane Sloan (Katie Stevens), Kat Edison (Aisha Dee), and Sutton Brady (Meghann Fahy), who worked together at a magazine throughout the show. The series followed them through various challenges in their careers, their love lives, and finding their identities. Its stories were relatable, moving, and frankly far too rarely on our screens.
It was especially notable for depicting Adena El-Amin, the lesbian Muslim photographer who would become Kat’s love interest. One that resonated profoundly with Turner, it turns out.
Yesterday Freeform, the network that aired The Bold Type, posted about the show on Instagram sharing a photo of the leads holding hands, facing away from the camera with “If you recognize this photo, your favorite show just turned seven” at the top.
In the comments fans of the show who were heartbroken to see it end waxed nostalgic about what it meant to them. Among the commenters was Turner.
“I love this show,” they wrote in the comments, going on to explain just what a profound impact it had on them when they first watched it. “Adena gave me the strength to stand in my Queer Muslim identity out loud. I was just ranting last week about the show itself and when Jacqueline took the weights😭. Kat deciding to run for office helped me stand firm in my decision to run for office lol, and I won (but so did Lena from the fosters lol). The girls were just girls and so powerful. Ugh, love them down.”
Sometimes it's easy to forget or handwave away the impact that entertainment and representation can have on our lives, but Turner’s message is a powerful reminder of that saying, you have to see it, to be it. And in their case that led to them making history and taking their place in a seat of power, actively making a change and fighting for a more equitable world.
A bold type indeed.
The transphobia Imane Khelif is experiencing isn't new—it's part of a disturbing, hateful pattern