With the reboot of Queer As Folk right around the corner the shows creator has revealed how the Pulse Nightclub shooting inspired the show.
He even met with survivors of the tragedy to get their perspective when creating the show.
It is part of his reimagining of the program in a modern context to create a realistic representation of our community.
Queer As Folk in 2022
Stephen Dunn is the creator behind the Queer As Folk reboot, he spoke to the Hollywood reporter about what it was like recreating the show.
The reboot is all about being able to bring the show properly to the mainstream.
Twenty years on and the Queer As Folk reboot will debut in a time when the show and it’s audience no longer have to live in the shadows.
“So much has changed in the last 20 years and how wonderful would it be if the next generation didn’t have to watch Queer As Folk alone in their dank basements with the sound muted” he said.
The story will focus on a diverse group of queer friends who are forced to rebuild their lives in the aftermath of a tragedy.
The events will take place after “Pulse-like nightclub shooting in a New Orleans gay bar and the story of how the city’s LGBTQ community rebuilt itself.”
“I wanted to re-envision it through the lens of what happened post-Pulse. Pulse is a specific event that targeted the Latinx community in Orlando” Dunn said.
“The trajectory of our story is inspired by the realities of what that was like — not just that night, but the aftermath and the way that the community of Orlando rebuilt in the wake of that tragedy.”
The queer community coming together
“There’s a lot of segregation within the queer community” he said.
“After Pulse, it felt the first time that the community had really felt united. It happened in Orlando, but the ripple effect was felt across the world.”
Dunn wanted to capture this in his Queer As Folk reboot and harness that sense of community and rebuilding.
To do so he went to Orlando and met with survivors of the tragedy to get their perspective.
“I am so grateful that they trusted me to come into this world and try to understand and make any kind of sense of what happened.”
“We got to see a public image of these people who were regular people going to a bar, but then became political. They became media figures. But only one side of that story really gets told.”
His visit and their stories gave him perspective to tell their stories authentically and bring the experience beyond the media.
“What you’ll see in Queer as Folk is the honest truth of what it is like to go through something like that and how it’s not this saintly victim tragedy story.”
“These are real people and they’re not victims.”
“They survived a tragedy, and they are human beings whose lives were completely turned upside down after this. And this community all responded in completely different ways.”
Catch the teaser from Stan Australia below, Queer As Folk will debut on June 10, 2022.
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