Award-winning director and filmmaker Megan Stowe knows the value of representation: “It starts when we’re young. When you don’t see your stories told, you feel more alone in the world. That’s why it’s so important for young people to see themselves on screen.” That model of possibility can be so powerful, especially for LGBTQ+ people who have struggled to have their stories told respectfully and authentically.
Megan is motivated to champion LGBTQ+ stories through film by a combination of fierce loyalty to her community and memories from her past. Coming out as lesbian wasn’t easy for Megan who initially faced judgement and anger from her family. “I struggled not having that support system,” she explained, “but when I was in college, I surrounded myself with other gay people so I always felt loved.” Her family didn’t come to terms and fully accept her identity until she got married: “They confessed to me that they were wrong, and that “love is love.”
But even as she waged for greater LGBTQ+ representation, she still faced hurdles in the early days of her career. A commercial she wrote which featured a clearly gay couple was reworked to the point where their identity was barely noticeable. “I was told my idea discriminated against straight people.”
She also encountered a host of uninformed perspectives and censorship from her straight colleagues: “I had a lot of educating to do with executives to help them understand the importance of pronouns. I’ve also witnessed a lot of negative comments – not about me, but about LGBTQ+ people in general.” This deeply troubled Megan: “To me, that’s my family.”
The passion she feels defending her LGBTQ+ family comes through in her work. Megan emphasizes love, acceptance and growth. Her stories usually highlight the possibility of transformation, where people learn to support each other because of, not despite, their differences. Her vision for the world is one that fosters connection, that doesn’t shut people out for not understanding right away, but ushers them in to learn.
But even when LGBTQ+ stories have grown far more mainstream in recent years, Megan thinks we still have a long way to go, especially for narratives that don’t fit the stereotypical mold. “I’m really passionate about humanizing trans and nonbinary people’s stories. But it’s harder to get funding for stories about trans and nonbinary folks, and even for stories not specifically about those identities, but just human stories in general.”
Megan was inspired to bridge that gap in representation, and create more recognition for LGBTQ+ storytellers, by launching the LUMINA Initiative, a production company and nonprofit organization dedicated to funding short narrative pieces by and about LGBTQ+ people. These pieces will serve as proof of concept for feature film development, allowing for diverse stories to reach awards bodies in the future.
“This is something that is so needed, there are so many stories that need to be told. I'm passionate about telling stories that make a difference. That's what got me into filmmaking in the first place.” Megan hopes the impact of LUMINA is far-reaching and changes the landscape of LGBTQ+ representation. “Amplifying diverse voices, lifting people up and allowing them to tell their stories, is so important.”