The TV series Pose follows a group of individuals who are part of the African American and Latino LGBTQ and gender-nonconforming ballroom scene in New York in the late '80s and early '90s. Through highlighting the lives of these individuals, the show vividly portrays a subgroup of queer culture by depicting characters who hold multiple marginalized and intersecting social locations surrounding sexual orientation, gender (identity and expression), race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. Through portraying the culture, lived experiences, and narratives of individuals belonging to this subgroup, the show presents a number of themes that counselors and counselor educators can use professionally, including LGBTQ+ issues, identity development, privilege/marginalization, and developmental challenges related to adulthood. Instead of a heteronormative narrative, Pose offers a depiction of LGBTQ+ history that has been lacking in television. In addition to portraying its characters as queer and racial/ethnic minority individuals facing systemic challenges, it also presents them as normal people with normal problems, taking into account the many identities that each of them holds.

Also, in addition to highlighting the unique challenges faced by the individuals belonging to this community, Pose also highlights the unique strengths, resources, and resilience held by the characters it depicts. Pose grants counselors and counselor educators the opportunity to witness and contemplate the multiplicity of experience and identity held by African American and Latino LGBTQ+ individuals in the United States. As a result, the series can perhaps be utilized to foster counselor engagement in culturally-responsive action by promoting counselors to critically reflect on both the challenges and resiliencies that are unique to African American and Latino LGBTQ+ individuals in the ballroom community. In regard to counselor educators, this show can be utilized to facilitate discourse in master’s or doctoral level counseling courses, particularly surrounding the areas of identity formation, multiculturalism, social justice, family systems, and intersectionality. Overall, I would highly recommend Pose to both counselors and counselor-educators.