Queer Representation in Media

If you were in a movie...

Who would play you?

Personally, I'm not actually aware of any femme-presenting, non-binary, plus size actors who are willing to be put into a movie about my life, so I might have to settle for Scarlet Johansson (No shade but I will absolutely never forgive her for accepting the role of a trans man).

Seeing yourself on screen is one of the best feelings in the world. For anyone, not just queer people. Being able to look at a character and go 'hey! it me!' is exciting, and validating. It's just kinda cool. 

But for queer people, this didn't truly start happening until the 70's and 80's. It took Stonewall in 1969, and continuous uprisings throughout this time period for queer people to be fairly treated, and allow for members of the LGBTQ+ Community to define their own culture, especially in media. Before this, queer rep in TV and film was low, and if represented at all, it presented gay people as immoral, criminal, or villainous, and shone an entirely negative light on a repressed community.

In response to LGBT efforts for media outlets to put a stop to homophobic portrayals of homosexuality in media, the National Association of Broadcasters Code Authority agreed to implement the NAB code, which guaranteed that the LGBT+ Community would be fairly treated in media.

And that's what we got...openly gay, happy characters on TV?

Right...

Well, not exactly.

Sure, we got more queer representation in media. We got the first regularly-occurring lesbian character in a TV show in 'Heartbeat' - a short lived medical drama in 1988. Our first aired lesbian kiss in an episode of L.A Law, which is also often accredited with having the first openly bisexual female character on TV. We even had iconic lesbian duo Willow and Tara from Buffy.

But we were also introduced to the concept of "burying your gays". (see also "dead lesbian syndrome)

Commonly, throughout media, queer characters were known for a while to meet some very unfortunate circumstances. Heartbreak, loss, illness, and yeah, quite a lot of the time, death.

A study carried out by Autostraddle, where 1,779 scripted US television shows from 1976 to 2016 were analysed - they found that only 193 actually featured lesbian or bisexual characters, and among those 193, these characters ended up dead 35% of the time. Only 16% of the time were those queer characters provided a happy ending.

And so...the "bury your gays" trope was born.

We lost some good ones along the way. 

See below for an extended list of now dead lesbian and bisexual characters in TV. (Beware, spoilers).

https://www.autostraddle.com/all-65-dead-lesbian-and-bisexual-characters-on-tv-and-how-they-died-312315/

However, we have been blessed in recent years with some pretty good queer rep. GLAAD report that LGBTQ+ Rep is up 2.8% from last year on US TV, bringing the percent of regularly occuring queer characters to 12. We have had the first openly nonbinary/gender non-conforming character on TV with Bishop from Deputy (which did, unfortunately, only last a season). We've been blessed with amazing performances from trans actors and actresses, and are seeing more and more queer POC rep as the years go on. 

Things are looking up!

Yeah, I focussed a lot on TV and Film throughout this post, but there are also some great queer characters in all media, video games, anime, literature, even in Campbell's Soup ad's. (see here: https://youtu.be/VVnOsonF1Fw)

And so, with that, I give you, a list of my favourite queer characters in media!

Brittany S. Pierce - Glee (Seasons 1-6)

I am a tad biased when it comes to Glee. The writing is strange, there are some problematic cast members, and allowing Matthew Morrison to rap is genuinely a crime, but Brit absolutely makes the show great. She is never ashamed of being queer, and is displayed in many different relationships throughout the show, with men and women. Eventually, she marries Santana, because they kinda sucked at staying broken up (as do most of the queer relationships in Glee (see also: Klaine)), and her wedding dress is adorable. Truly my favourite queer accidental-genius.

Birdo - first appearance in Super Mario Bros 2 (1988-present)

Trans icon! Birdo! Canonically trans, might I add, and not just head-cannoned as such. In the English version of Super Mario Bro's 2, the manuscript refer's to Birdo as a male "who thinks he's a girl", which sparked a lot of players to interpret such description as confirmation of Birdo being trans, making her the first trans character in a video game. Later released games featuring Birdo, beginning with Mario Tennis, refer to Birdo as a girl, with she/her pronouns, and have not mentioned her initial descriptor since. Shes also romantically involved with Yoshi, which is quite adorable.

Bert & Ernie - Sesame Street (1969-present)

You cannot tell me that this isn't a queer relationship. I refuse to believe otherwise. Bert and Ernie say gay rights.

Honorable Mention (for the sake of my partner) - The Dean from Community

He's not openly anything, and gay doesn't even begin to cover it.

Anyways, that is all from me! I'm going to spend the rest of today honoring my buried gays by pretending half of them didn't die, and instead lived happily ever after with their lovers.

Stay true!
- Bee