Over on reddit, user tar_r shared, “Santana was the first time I saw a gay/queer woman quite literally anywhere. The character’s storylines made me feel like I was okay, in some aspects. Very truthfully, the show made me feel that no matter who hated me for who I am, no matter who bullied me, no matter who was against my sexuality, I was okay because it wasn’t actually a bad thing. That show, through Santana, was the ONLY THING THAT TOLD ME THAT. NO ONE ELSE DID. My teachers didn’t like me because of my sexuality, my peers, only my two friends were the ones who never once cared that I liked girls. No one in my life told me that gay was okay other than Santana Lopez.”
There were also celebrities who mentioned the positive impact Rivera’s character made on them as they watched her groundbreaking performance of a queer woman of color.
As Pose star Ryan Jamaal Swain wrote on Twitter, “One of the first queer characters I saw myself in, Miss Santana Lopez. A QPOC on Primetime television. Naya, thank you for handling her with care, what a force you are. It’s not easy but you ran your race. You were and forever will be one of my heros [sic].”
YouTuber Hannah Hart noted, “#NayaRivera & the Santana storyline on Glee freed many closed-minded, self-hating gays like me. Only a multi-talented performer & force like Naya could bring a background character forward into the spotlight.”
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