When one of us shines, all of us shine

When Dan Levy was announced a few weeks ago as host of Saturday Night Live, it was a huge moment for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Canada. On Feb. 6 Levy took the stage, in a fabulous black glittering suit, to show everyone that it truly does get better. But the inspiration began hours before when Levy’s mother, Deborah Divine, took to Twitter to speak to her son’s former bullies. “This goes out to the bully punks at Camp WTF who made life miserable for a certain cabin-mate back in the summer of ’96…” Divine said in her tweet. The parental support didn’t end there, as Levy’s father Eugene was in the studio, even making an appearance during Dan’s monologue, to show his excitement and support. On top of the positivity of the love and support his parents showed, Levy chose to focus on ‘the good’ in his opening monologue.

Throughout the episode Levy showed off his comedy chops in skits about working at Universal Studios Hollywood, watching Super Bowl safely during COVID-19, and the It Gets Better project. He showed, once again, how talented he is with every sketch, and he wasn’t always playing a “gay” character either. For every character Levy played, he opted to have their most authentic self shine. It’s inspiring to see a proud, openly gay Canadian take over one of the biggest shows on television. Levy hosting the show just adds to the star-studded line up of Canadians who have graced that iconic stage whether as a host or a cast member. But more importantly, Levy hosting Saturday Night Live shows our community how much better life can get! This weekend emphasized how members of the 2SLGBTQ+ community have so much to offer.

Levy was also given praise the next day on Twitter from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who thanked the actor for “making the whole country shine…” In a world where 2SLGBTQ+ representation in media still has a long way to go, it’s important to see support like this. Levy’s stint as host is an important moment for the 2SLGBTQ+ community in Canada. Building on the momentum of the success of Schitt’s Creek, hosting Saturday Night Live just further solidifies Levy’s place in television, and shows how important 2SLGBTQ+ voices are in media.

To end off an episode already worthy of celebration Levy and the cast did the wonderful sketch on the It Gets Better Project. The skit was a hilarious way to commemorate 10 years since the video first launched in 2010, and what better episode to do this than when Levy is the host. Levy and cast play on the message of “It Gets Better” to showcase how life got better and they, as Levy put it, now have problems “previously only available to straight people.” The sketch even received thanks from the It Gets Better Project (US) Twitter account, thanking all of the “proudly out people at @nbcsnl who made last night’s skit happen.” The Feb. 6 episode of Saturday Night Live was filled with love and pride from all over, and Dan Levy is a perfect example that It Gets Better.

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Jasper Myers (he/him)