"Santana Lopez" from Glee

Unless you are living under a rock, you have heard of Glee. It is a musical comedy that has become very popular over the last few years. Santana Lopez, a lesbian character, is a "mean girl" at school. She was a cheerleader (she quit, it's a long story) and she had her fair share of boyfriends. Her best friend, Brittany, and her are inseparable. Occasionally, they would make out but Santana insisted that she was only bored and she was not attracted to Brittany in anyway. Brittany was somewhat upset by this because she thought it could have been something more. Santana and Brittany both have boyfriends until Santana's relationship kind of fizzled out. Santana realizes that she had been hiding her feelings towards Brittany. After she finally admits to Brittany that she wants to be together, Brittany says that she likes Santana, but she doesn't want to break it off with her boyfriend. She thinks that her boyfriend is a great guy and she doesn't want to hurt him. This upsets Santana because she poured out her heart to Brittany, only to be rejected. Later, Brittany and her boyfriend break up. Santana sings a song to Brittany (because that's what people in Glee do) about how much she loves her and how she wishes she could take away her pain after breaking up with her boyfriend. Santana says that she is not ready to announce to everyone that she is a lesbian. Because of this, the relationship between Santana and Brittany are at a crossroads.

This character follows along with the other typical stereotypes of hiding your true sexuality and having relationships with guys to cover up your homosexuality. According to a study performed by reporter Mike Swift, "lesbians are also nearly three times more likely to have been in a previous heterosexual marriage (in this case, dating relationship) than gay men." Lesbians, however, can learn one thing from Santana: how to express yourself. Santana couldn't come out to everybody around her (only Brittany and a few other people) but she admitted it to her closest friend and crush. She laid it all out on the line, knowing that she could get hurt in the process. I respect that Santana accepted herself and tried to achieve happiness by forming a romantic relationship with Brittany. Although their exact relationship has not been determined yet, I think that lesbians can learn to express themselves in some way, whether it be singing, dancing, painting or writing. It might be hard to verbally tell everybody how you are feeling inside, but once you express yourself in some way, you will feel better.