Harlem’s Jerrie Johnson discusses the importance of the show’s LGBTQ+ representation
Harlem star Jerrie Johnson has opened up about her queer character and the show’s unapologetic LGBTQ+ representation. Back in 2021, the romantic comedy series was released on Amazon Prime Video to critical acclaim.
Created by Girls Trip writer Tracy Oliver, the show follows four friends –Camille (Meagan Good), Quinn (Grace Byers), Angie (Shoniqua Shandai) and Tye (Jerrie Johnson) – as they balance their various careers and messy love lives in Harlem, New York.
In addition to critics and viewers lauding Harlem for its immersive storylines, LGBTQ fans also praised the series for featuring Black queer representation in the form of Tye, a powerful and confident gay tech boss.
In a recent interview with the Advocate, Johnson opened up about the impact her character has had on the queer community and in the TV sphere. “When I did film the first season, I didn’t think about all of the different demographics that Tye would be reaching,” she told the news outlet. “I knew Tye – being a queer black woman who is in control of her life and who is not shying away from who she was, and who was the head of a tech company – I knew how important that was. “But I think the other stuff was just like, ‘Oh, wow, there’s so many different conversations being had here.” Towards the end of her interview, Johnson said that seeing a character like Tye during her younger years would have been a “transformative experience.” “I feel like the Tye characters are either one-dimensional or in the margin, but most of the time, they’re both.
