By Madelaine, former SelfDesign learner

I joined the SelfDesign community as a child and graduated in 2020. Throughout my time there, I had the opportunity to form relationships with several learning consultants, all of whom influenced me and became an important part of my life.

In SelfDesign, I always felt supported, both by my learning consultants and by the wider community. There was always a way to create the kind of learning experience I wanted while still meeting the requirements to go on to university after graduation, as per my plan. I also enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the first class to participate in and graduate from SelfDesign’s new high school program.

Last year, I entered A&E’s Canadian Classroom essay writing contest, “Lives That Make A Difference.”  The challenge was to write an essay about someone who had made an important impact on Canadian society in 2019. I wrote my essay on Dan Levy, the co-creator and leading producer of the television show Schitt’s Creek. I think that what Dan Levy has done through his show is understated, yet nothing short of groundbreaking.

There is a definite lack of LGBTQ+ representation in general in the media, and there is an even greater lack of LGBTQ+ characters shown in healthy, stable relationships. Most often, queer characters in television and the media are portrayed as one dimensional, their most important characteristic being their sexual orientation. Plots involving these characters often revolve around ‘coming out’ and the trauma and pain commonly associated with this. Rarely do we see a queer character who simply exists like any other person does and who gets to have a life and a story that doesn’t revolve around a damaging revelation about their sexuality or a traumatic coming-out experience.

In Schitt’s Creek, however, we see queer characters who aren’t defined by their sexual orientation. We see a world in which people are accepted for who they are and are not judged by who they love.

That is the gift that is Dan Levy and Schitt’s Creek.

The show might not be for everyone, but for many queer youth such as myself, it is a source of valuable representation – and a hope for the way the world could look.

Here is Madelaine’s winning essay:

In the iconic words of David Rose, creator and co-star of the sitcom Schitt’s Creek, “I like the wine, not the label.” This sentence cements David Rose as one of the first pansexual characters on television, and actor/creator Dan Levy as one of the principle promoters of LGBTQ visibility on screen.

Dan Levy is a Canadian actor, writer and producer, who I think has made the biggest impact on Canadian society in 2019. Along with his father, Eugene Levy (of the eyebrows), he created and co-starred in Schitt’s Creek, which aired its first episode in 2015. The sitcom has a range of memorable characters, among them one of television’s first pansexual characters, David Rose (played by Levy). Levy is openly gay, and makes a point with Schitt’s Creek to show a world that is free of homophobia and intolerence, saying that Schitt’s Creek “is a celebration of love between the family and between the relationships we build”.

Levy has shown us a world that we can hope to see in the future, one where people of all genders and orientations can live and be accepted. He has moved LGBTQ visibility for people from all walks of life on television by using the show as a space where queer characters can be queer, instead of focusing on coming out experiences. Levy was recently awarded the Davidson/Valenti award from GLAAD, an LGBTQ advocacy group. The award is given to “someone who has made a difference in promoting acceptance for the LGBTQ community,” says the GLAAD website.

As a young person, and a member of the LGBTQ community, watching this show and seeing these characters has made a huge difference for me personally, and for the LGBTQ community on a nationwide scale.