4 gay

But is it necessary for Will to useher exact language when he speaks his truth later? In that time, we have also done deep explorations of the experiences of LGBT and transgender and nonbinary Americans.

As the United States celebrates LGBTQ+ Pride month, here are five key findings about LGBTQ+ Americans from our recent surveys:

Some 7% of Americans are lesbian, gay or bisexual, according to a Pew Research Center survey of 12,147 U.S.

adults conducted in summer 2022.

Instead, Stranger Things struggled to find a place for the character, focusing too much on Will’s jealousy of Eleven and his bitterness about his friends growing up.

That continued in season four, even as the show addressed his sexuality more directly. Integrating a character’s queerness into the narrative should add a layer of understanding, but in this case it further flattens Will, turning his lifelong issues with socializing into an empowering but simplistic A-to-B growth arc.

But the truth is the issue was never screen time. And season two wouldn’t work without Will! He also nailed the more grounded, human beats, like when Will listens to a story from his mom’s boyfriend about fighting off a recurring nightmare. The show has been building to this moment for a long time. We cared about him because they cared so much about him — as a result, we also cared about them.

With Vecna’s remote attacks on Will’s psyche ramping up, the 16-year-old is experiencing visions of his deepest moments of pain — and the loneliness and isolation yet to come in a theoretical future where his coming-out isn’t well received by the people he loves. Seeing how desperately they wanted to save Will gave us something to root for.

This is the payoff we’ve been waiting for, and it mostly works. Similar shares of men and women identify with any of these terms, as do similar shares of adults across racial and ethnic groups.