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Imogen’s Story Arc in Heartstopper Was All Too Familiar
I convinced myself I fancied boys, too
I gave my husband some coffee tokens (he doesn’t drink beer) to disappear for a few hours while I binge-watched Season 3 of Heartstopper over a brunch delivery. It had even more queer joy than the first two seasons, even with the story delving into much darker places.
Imogen was the brilliantly annoying ally in the previous seasons, always going for it in every sense — even dressing as a mildly offensive parody of a French person during the Paris trip in Season 2. I never thought for a second I’d find myself relating to her in Season 3, and yet I realised part of her journey was very similar to mine at that age.
After my first queer awakening at six years old — making a Valentine’s card for a girl and promptly being told this wasn’t acceptable— I mistakenly convinced myself I was straight. This task wasn’t always difficult, given my autistic traits, which meant I mixed up the feelings of wanting to be friends with a person with romantic attraction. It was confusing, and I wanted to be with any boy who was nice to me.
The cracks started to show when I started to make sense of my feelings at 16. I had a huge crush on a girl who was always in the art rooms at sixth form college. She was beautiful, interesting and…
