Tag Archives: Bisexual Character

7 TV Shows That Treat LGBT Characters Fairly

As far as queer representation in television goes, it’s a really hit-and-miss game. Some characters are so gay that it hurts, while others play into that “bi-curious phase” stigma that affects so much of our bisexual family. No matter what the specific problem is, it’s really hard to find a show that actually treats their LGBT characters fairly. (And, by “fairly”, we mean like real people – not like plot devices.)

What is so hard about making a believable queer character? Especially since we must assume that they’re putting them in their shows for their queer audience. Like we’re not going to notice that they’re a terrible caricature of us. Give me a break.

Thankfully, there are some shows that treat their LGBT characters the way we want them treated. I’ve gathered a list of 7 shows that get it right, based entirely on my own perspective. I’m well aware that there are other shows with gay and bisexual characters in them, but I don’t watch every single one. Hopefully my list will help you find a new favorite – or drop the name of one I’ve missed down in the comments!

(Note: For the sake of simplicity, I’m leaving out shows which feature primarily queer characters. Sorry, OitNB – I’ll show you some love later on, I promise. Also, understandably, this post may contain spoilers, so read at your own risk.)


1. American Horror Story

While AHS might not be the pinnacle of queer entertainment, there are queer characters throughout the seasons.

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These characters aren’t “special snowflakes” (usually) or sacrificed for the sake of ratings – they are no more or less likely to die than their straight counterparts.

As a huge horror media junkie, seeing queer characters placed organically within the storyline makes me happy – even if I know they’re going to die in the end.

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2. Pretty Little Liars

While PLL loses some points for their “dramatic reveal” of the mentally-ill transgendered character being the big villain, they do win some of those points back for their portrayal of Emily Fields and her many love interests throughout the show.

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Emily’s character is relatable because her sexual identity isn’t her only identity – it’s just one of the facets of her life. She shows that lesbians fall in love, have straight friends, and stress about the crazy shit in their lives, just like everyone else, and that we can also look smoking hot while doing it.

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3. Scream

I’ll admit: I’m a major slasher nerd. So when I heard that Scream was being remade into a TV series, I was ecstatic. When I found out that one of the main characters was not exactly straight, I was even more ecstatic.

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Audrey Jensen’s character identifies as bi-curious, but she’s explored her sexuality a bit off the camera. What I love even more about her is that her BFFs, Emma Duval and Noah Foster, don’t push her to identify a certain way – making them awesome allies, too.

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4. Orphan Black

Okay, so I was way, way late coming to the OB fandom (so late, in fact, that I binge-watched the first three seasons within about a week so I could catch up for the season four premiere… ahem), but the reputation held by CoPhine (Cosima and Delphine, for non-fans) had already drawn me in before I watched that first episode.

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I could berate the writers for using Delphine to queerbait Cosima and the viewers, but instead I’ll point out how both Cosima and Tony exist as real people who just happen to be lesbian and transgender, respectively.

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5. Adventure Time

Let’s talk about Princess Bubblegum and Marceline for a minute. These aren’t exactly your run-of-the-mill bisexual characters – and, like pretty much all bisexual characters on TV, ever, they don’t actually say the word.

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Even with this subtle bi erasure, it’s great that there are cartoons that show that being bisexual is really NBD.

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6. Real O’Neals

Unlike the other shows on this list, Real O’Neals is actually about being gay and discriminated against, but the way they handle it is so beautiful that it deserves its own recognition.

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While Kenny O’Neal’s character does play on quite a few stereotypes about gay young men, it also deals with the all-too-important message of accepting and loving yourself, and the idea that your family will come around to it, eventually. (And, if not, it’s their loss.)


7. Steven Universe

For the longest time, I tried to pretend I didn’t like Steven Universe. It’s really hard for me to find animated series’ that I’ll actively watch, as opposed to leaving them on for background noise. Still, I was shocked (in the best way possible) to see their treatment of queer characters.

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The fact that two of the main characters are in a committed and loving same-sex relationship with one another, so committed that they become one entity… I suppose it could be argued that they’re playing on the stereotypical lesbian “urge to merge”, but I don’t care. I love them anyway.

15 Times Tumblr Nailed Televisions Rampant Killing Of Lesbians

Three prominent lesbian characters have been killed on three beloved TV shows over the past month, and we’re upset.

So are these Tumblr fans, but they have some some seriously creative ways to respond.

Take notes, class is in session:

1. Be prepared

http://mindyquinzel.tumblr.com/post/141414422012

2. Save them now

https://maggiegrheene.tumblr.com/post/141419665267

3. Reality sucks

https://knockfivetimes.tumblr.com/post/141003996956/straight-person-i-like-to-watch-tv-shows-to-get

4. Shhhh, she’s not really gay

https://aerials-creampuff.tumblr.com/post/140914872743

5. Straight vs. gay

http://debnamdaddy.tumblr.com/post/141405946173

6. Top tips

http://pasteljongins.tumblr.com/post/141404780192/how-to-survive-as-a-television-character

7. Plot twist

https://aerials-creampuff.tumblr.com/post/140890051518

8. We’d be rich too

http://fearthelesbians.tumblr.com/post/141405689610

9. Predictable

http://pasteljongins.tumblr.com/post/141404970807

10. New anthem

https://alyciaswink.tumblr.com/post/141407945558/another-one-bites-the-dust

11. Will they ever listen

http://netflixdesign.tumblr.com/post/141404742676

12. Men’s man pain

http://ankleboner.tumblr.com/post/141414276411

13. Writers block

http://daddygriffin.tumblr.com/post/141452185993

14. Queerbiat

https://ithelpstodream.tumblr.com/post/141446673452

15. Walk away from the shows

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The good news is that there are still several lesbian, bi, or fluid female characters on TV: Annalise on How to Get Away with Murder, Tara on The Walking Dead, and Nora and Mary Louise on The Vampire Diaries, to name a few.

TV Shows Are Still Killing Lesbians Off

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Merely weeks ago on the CW sci-fi drama The 100, Lexa (played by Fear the Walking Dead star Alycia Debnam-Carey) died shortly after consummating her relationship with series lead Clarke (Eliza Taylor).

This event sparked massive outcry from the The 100 fandom who accused the show’s writers of falling back in a well-established trope known as “Dead Lesbian Syndrome.”

Now TV land is at it again, and sadly in the latest episode of  The Walking Dead has killed off one of their two lesbian characters, Alexandria’s doctor Denise (played by Merritt Wever), who died from a nasty arrow through the eye (mid-sentence, no less) fired by returning villain Dwight (Austin Amelio).

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Sadly, this is third lesbian character to die across three different TV shows – The 100 and Jane the Virgin being the other shows – in as many months.

Fans expressed their frustration via social.

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Wever herself addressed potential backlash telling The Daily Beast:

I understand if viewers watching the show really identify with the character or like seeing themselves or some part of the world that they know is real and true and valid and prevalent represented.

And then to have that taken away, I definitely see how that would be disappointing in the broader scheme of things. I’m not sure that that’s what was going on here but I understand the sentiment very well and I am familiar with the [trope of] black characters or gay characters getting killed off because [they’re considered] less human or less real or less important and people aren’t gonna care as much. From my end, it didn’t feel like that’s what was happening though. But I certainly understand the concern in the wider culture.

But adding fuel to the fire is how the death scene plays out exactly as it does in the show’s graphic novel counterpart – the difference being the comic kills off male character Abraham (played in the series by Michael Cudlitz), not Denise.

It’s also being argued that this trope – also known as “Dead Lesbian Syndrome” – is heightened by the way in which Carl Grimes (Chandler Riggs) managed to survive a bullet to the eye in episode nine while the arrow to Denise’s eye kills her instantly.

Denise’s death now leaves her partner, Tara as the show’s sole surviving lesbian.

The show features a gay couple, Aaron (Ross Marquand) and Eric (Jordan Woods-Robinson) and while they still remain alive in the series, their relationship has never really factored into the overarching plot.

So there we have it another show, another dead Lesbian.

 

 

Fans Of ‘The 100’ Launch Successful Fundraiser After Core Character Killed Off

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Season 3 of The 100.

A death on The 100 prompted a huge backlash against the show, but this anger has sparked a social media campaign and a fundraiser for The Trevor Project.

Lexa, played by Australian actress Alycia Debnam-Carey, was a fan favourite on the show set in a post-apocalyptic world. Her relationship with Clarke, played by Eliza Taylor, starts as a rivalry between two clans but eventually becomes romantic causing the fandom to create the ship name Clexa.

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In last week’s episode, Lexa was killed off after being hit by a stray bullet in front of her on-screen partner, Clarke. This happens mere minutes after Clarke and Lexa had sex for the first time, a culmination in several episodes of teasing their relationship.

The death caused the birth of a social media campaign with the hashtag #LGBTFansDeserveBetter trending on Twitter with more than 250,000 posts.

A more tangible effort was also made in a fundraiser for The Trevor Project, which has raised more than $43,000 of its $45,000 goal with over 1600+ donating.

The fundraiser reads;

The passion behind this collective disbelief and the sheer callousness of those involved in selectively elevating the Queer representation of its character(s) only to backtrack in the most disingenuous of manners, has left many with a feeling of emptiness and betrayal. This is not something ‘sorry’ can fix,”

There is not much we can do in the way of changing what’s already been written. What we can do however, is unite to help those who are hurting and despondent through this. We now have the means to reach a large audience, individuals who need to be heard, who need to be understood and who ask for our help,”

The 100 creator Jason Rothenberg responded to the outrage by saying he loved Lexa’s character, but she had to be written off the show.

Talking to IGN, Rothenberg explained

I adore [Lexa], I think she’s amazing, I miss her more than anybody else. I only had the use of her as an actor for seven episodes, six really. There was a date for certain at which we were going to lose her and after that it would be very difficult to arrange to see her again and that definitely played a big role in my decision to have the story go in that direction.”

Rothenberg continued that Carey’s starring role on AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead possibly affected his decision.

Were she not on another show, would I have not had this story play out? It’s hard for me to say yes or no … this is a world where, we’ve done it before, no one is safe … there are no happy endings in the sense of easy way outs.”


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Another TV Show, Another Lesbian Character Death

Warning: This article contains major spoilers for Season 3 of The 100.

Last Thursday, a major character death sent shock waves throughout the fandom for the popular CW sci-fi series The 100.

Loyal legion of fans of The 100 erupted with outrage when Lexa, Commander of the twelve clans, was killed off in a thoroughly rushed, ruthless fashion.

But while The 100 has long been known for its brutal, no-one-is-safe approach to killing off main cast members, this character’s death hit especially hard – not just for members of the fandom, but for all of us queer women too.

The 100 is a unique show, in many ways. It’s not just another teen drama, its political themes, gripping plot, complex female characters, and deep study of a post-apocalyptic survivalist future have earned it major critical acclaim and an intense fan following.

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And last season, fans were thrilled when the main character, Clarke, began to develop feelings for another young woman named Lexa.

The show was heavily praised for its representation of bisexual characters on television.

It presented this same sex relationship between two women – who are powerhouses in their own right – wonderfully, and the coupling added a complexity, depth, and importance to the plot of story.

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And this is why so many of us are shocked and dismayed when – in this milestone episode -the writers decide to tear down the foundation they’ve built and discard this romance altogether with one pull of a trigger.

The backlash over Lexa’s death is not just about the fact that The 100 killed off Lexa, but the manner of her dying. The stray bullet that killed her is eerily similar to the stray bullet that killed Buffy, the Vampire Slayer‘s Tara, famously ending one of the few recurring lesbian relationships on TV in a maelstrom of tragedy and fandom backlash.

In the annals of cinema and queer history “the dead lesbian” trope can be found it in notable film, theatre, and literature dealing with queer characters, from tragic lesbian ground breaker The Children’s Hour to many of the most famous and influential lesbian novels.

There’s an entire Tumblr devoted to chronicling the dead lesbian trope on television, which stretches back decades.

In an episode of The 100 podcast The Dropship, the episode’s writer, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, explained that the creative team had to write the character of Lexa out of the show because her actor, Alycia Debnam-Carey, had become a lead on Fear the Walking Dead:

We considered a lot of different options, including the possibility that killing her would make a political statement that we were not comfortable with.

But ultimately when you’re talking about this world and the stakes we’re dealing with, we genuinely came to the perspective in the writers’ room that this death would be the best way for us to, not only write the character out of the show, but protect ourselves against the possibility that we might never see the actor again ….

And honestly I think that in terms of the epic quality of the show … we honestly look at the story as an epic tale of shocking fate and destiny. And, you know, kings tend to not retire from being kings.”

Grillo-Marxuach acknowledged that fans would be “very unhappy” with Lexa’s death, but argued that the show’s narrative is “the struggle for love and humanity in an atavistic world that only understands conflict” and thus dictated the mode of the actor’s departure.

I can’t control or dictate how people are going to react to a character death on the show, and obviously there’s a huge spectrum of, outside the narrative bubble of the show in terms of the LGBT representation and all that, that has to be addressed.

The hope that these characters are going to find happiness and joy halfway through the series is a very poignant one, but is in no way borne out by any of the events of the show.”

So, the argument in favour of killing off Lexa is that there should be room on television for a multiplicity of portrayals of queer characters, including characters who endure tragedy.

This season, perhaps in anticipation of killing the Clarke/Lexa shipThe 100 did introduce another queer relationship in the form of the character Miller and an off-screen boyfriend, as well as another potential love interest for Clarke in the form of Niylah, a female character she’s already hooked up with once.

But as always, the pattern of Hollywood killing off lesbians and ending happy lesbian relationships is still here. Perhaps the most heartbreaking responses to Lexa’s death also underscore just how rarely happy queer female relationships appear on our screens.

Lady Gaga Brings Bisexual Character to ‘American Horror Story’

After much hype, the creators of American Horror Story have revealed that Lady Gaga’s new character will be bisexual.

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The series co-creator Ryan Murphy said that the pop star’s character will be a ‘wealthy, fashionable hotelier with a “nefarious plan” – and that her character will have steamy relationships with both male and female characters.

Lady Gaga plays a character who has relationships with Matt [Bomer] and Angela [Bassett] and Cheyenne [Jackson].

It’s sexier than any season we’ve done, particularly because of the Gaga of it, so I would say scarier and sexier.”

The series will see the return of Kathy Bates, Sarah Paulson, Angela Bassett and Chloe Sevigny.

Watch she official trailer for Lady Gaga in American Horror Story here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxiHFGdeccA

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