27-06-2025
'We need authentic lesbian voices or the film industry won't improve'
Victoria Broom is an actor known for roles in shows like I, Jack Wright and Different For Girls.
The actor is also an advocate for the queer community and has been listed as one of the most influential LGBTQ+ people in the UK in The Guardian's Pride Power list.
She joins Yahoo UK's Queer Voices to share the importance of activism and why lesbian representation needs to improve.
I'm super passionate about lesbian representation on screen in front and behind the camera, and that authentic lesbian representation. I think we've obviously come a long way from where we were. I remember the first time that I ever saw lesbians kiss on screen was in 1993 in Brookside. It was such a massive deal, it was in the newspapers the next day, so that aspect of things has changed.
Where I feel we need to improve is having more authentic lesbian voices telling the stories. You really see it with some incredible shows like, for example, It's a Sin, it's written by a queer man, produced by a queer man, and you can feel it in the script and in the series that it's somebody that's lived these experiences. I feel like, for the lesbian community, we're kind of missing that.
So that's where I'm hoping we're going to go, is we're going to get a lesbian show written by lesbians for the lesbian community. I did do a show that was quite special in that way, I did Different for Girls which was written by a lesbian, about lesbian experiences, for the lesbian community, and with lesbian actors. So yeah, more of that, more lesbians.
The industry has, I feel, always embraced my queerness because I've never been not queer, so I've always lived as my authentic self. I've had that privilege to live as my authentic queer self, so I feel like I've always been embraced with that.
I mean, I feel that there are now more queer roles being written, so therefore I'm getting the opportunity to play more queer roles.
When I was going to film festivals years ago I got so annoyed that there was no lesbian content. I was like, 'right, this is doing my head in and I just wasn't seeing lesbian stories being told'. So I wrote my own film and I produced my own film and I starred in my own film, and it was a short film and it went on to win awards.
That was actually the first time I've played a lesbian character. I had to write it because there wasn't any representation, but actually the first time I played a lesbian character in a way that changed the landscape of my career was Different for Girls.
I was so connected to that role, and I feel that does come across in the series, so it meant a lot to me that I was being recognised in my community.
It's super important for me to be so vocal for the lesbian community. It's because my little gay heart, when I was growing up in the country with no exposure to lesbianism, queerness, there was nothing, there was nothing out there at all where I could sit back and go 'Oh, that's me'.
So that's why I've always been my authentic self. That's why I've always lived my queerness out there, I talk about it, I push for it, and it's because it does change people's lives. And I've had a lot of young queer women contact me, especially when I did Different for Girls, saying that I've absolutely changed their live.
That's not why I do it, I do it just because that's just me, that's just who I am, but it makes a difference and it's important.
Receiving recognition isn't something I've ever kind of sought, that's not something that you seek. That's just kind of part and parcel of being an actor, but it isn't something that actors seek. But when I have been listed as one of the top most influential gays, it obviously means a lot to me.
It means a lot to me just living as who I am and not shying away from that, and being very vocal about lesbian visibility within the media, to be recognised for that.
So the major show I felt so connected to, and I didn't know why at the time, was Ellen, Ellen Degeneres' show. It was on Sky at like 9:00pm or 11:00pm at night so I had to stay up really late and watch it. I felt so connected to her, and I wasn't sure why until the puppy episode aired.
And then the puppy episode aired and every lesbian on the planet knows that is when Ellen the character, and Ellen herself, came out on the TV show. It was like this like 'oh, now I understand why I felt so connected to her.' It was such a massive moment for my young, queer, lesbian heart. It really was really nice to feel seen.
The show I wish I had growing up is Heartstopper. I feel like that series is such queer joy. It's because it just celebrates queerness and the exploration of figuring out your path and who you are. And I wish I had that, it's beautifully done. It's beautifully told.
When it comes to my queer role models, Fiona Shaw was also always someone that everybody kind of knew was part of the group. So I used to go and see her a lot at at the National Theatre when she worked with Deborah Warner and saw her perform this gorgeous queer female writing on the stage like.
There's still room to improve when it comes to queer representation, absolutely. But how it could improve is that queer characters are coming that are just in the story. For example in Hacks it's just part of the story, it's not made a thing of which I really love because they integrate queer characters into mainstream television.
I feel that there is definitely more space and improvement needed for lesbian visibility within the media. And I'm talking about the writing of it in shows like that, I just feel like gay male content is pushed quite hard and, most of the time, cast authentically, and I'm not sure that's the same for lesbians at the moment. It's changing but it needs to improve.
With all that's going on in the world at the moment, and how the LGBTQ+ community is being targeted, it affects you, it affects you all. But it's about standing together, I think, uniting. Allies should be more vocal as well, especially actors that have played gay characters, they should speak up more and use their platform a bit more.
I think that's why I always shout from the rooftops, really. I think it's important we all feel united.
My advice that I would give to queer youth out there would be just love who you are, love the experiences that you have in life. Be you if you can be you. Especially given in the world at the moment it feels like a privilege to be able to live as your authentic self.
Just know that your community is there, we're here, we're waiting for you with open arms to accept you into the community and just know you're not alone because you're not.
