The NBC police procedural Law & Order: SVU, a series about punishing sex crimes, featured an LGBTQ-laden plot in which Capt. Olivia Benson (Marisa Hargitay) celebrates her eight-year-old son coming out as bisexual.
In the Jan. 13 episode, entitled “Burning with Rage Forever,” Benson’s 8-year-old son, Noah (Ryan Buggle) came out as a bisexual child.
The episode opened with the boy being bullied at school. It isn’t until the end of the episode that Benson speaks to her son about the incident and he opens up about his sexuality.
Watch below via MRC:
The two characters talk about the fight the boy was in, and Noah says that his antagonist, a boy named Hudson, is a rampant school bully.
“Hudson’s just an idiot. No one likes him anyway. He bullies everyone. It was just my turn to be his target,” Noah tells Benson.
After Benson asks why, the boy goes on, saying, “I don’t know. First, he went after Corey ’cause Corey told everyone their pronouns are they/them, and Hudson started calling Corey a fairy. So, then I said that I was bi and that there’s no shame in being true to yourself.”
Benson then praises the boy for his sexual proclamation:
Olivia: That’s right, Noah. So, you stood up for Corey… And stood up for yourself. And that is incredibly brave.
Noah: Well, it’s my truth. I just hadn’t told anybody before.
Olivia: Well, thank you for telling me.
Noah: No big deal. It’s not like I have a boyfriend or girlfriend. It’s just not fair for anybody to be left out.
Olivia: I’m really proud of you.
Ryan Buggle, the child actor who portrays Noah Benson, purportedly posted how important the episode is in an Instagram post. The post claims that the episode was an “exciting experience” for him.
“Filming this episode was such an important, incredible and exciting experience for me,” the post supposedly written by the child reads. “@therealmariskahargitay personally called me to talk about the script before it was finished, and I felt so involved and respected. It is incredible to see Noah beginning to discover who he is. My feelings are the same, there is no shame in being true to yourself and no one deserves to be left out or bullied because of it. I wanted to take the time to connect you with an incredible organization that I’ve learned about that is creating safe and inclusive K-12 environments for all students. @GLSEN thank you for all you do.”
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston.
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