In a world with hoverboards and sexist Artificial Intelligence, you’d think television writers would be able to come up with more interesting story lines than killing off another gay character. However, as hit TV shows like “The 100” and “The Walking Dead,” have shown, no amount of critical acclaim keeps writers from killing off lesbians, in particular, for shock value.
There’s a long history of writing off queer characters on television, but “The 100” fans were understandably upset when Lexa (the other half of the popular relationship with main character, Clarke), died after she was accidentally shot in the March 3 episode. Her death came minutes after she and Clarke Griffin, who is openly bisexual in the show, finally consummated their relationship. Lexa’s sudden and violent death incited a riot among fans, who took social media by storm, eventually garnering a letter of apology from Jason Rothenberg, the show’s executive producer. Rothenberg wrote on his Medium blog that Lexa’s death was meant to “heighten the drama and underscore the universal fragility of life.” He also went on to apologize for hurting his fans after promoting the episode so heavily.
However, while Rothenberg’s apology may have satisfied some fans, it seems pretty moot after Denise
Cloyd from “The Walking Dead” was also shot seconds after declaring her love for her partner, Tara. Cloyd, though, was shot through the eye with an arrow, a gruesome and untimely death that wasn’t even supposed to happen. In the comics, it was Abraham who was shot by Dwight, though, to be fair, Cloyd does die later on.
Cloyd isn’t the first openly gay character to get dropped from the storyline, either. Aaron and his partner Eric caused a stir in season 5 when they shared a kiss on-screen. However, since then, their relationship has been back burner, even though both men are still very much alive (for now). Even Jesus, who is canonically gay in both the comics and the television series, has not been seen with a partner yet.
During a Reddit Q&A session, Robert Kirkman, creator of “The Walking Dead” comic series, said he wanted to make Jesus’ sexuality “as unimportant as Rick or other heterosexual characters,” but the fact remains that sexuality is a very important aspect to many LGBT viewers looking for representation in their favorite shows. While it’s true that no one’s safe in these post-apocalyptic kind of shows, it is overwhelmingly queer characters that are written off for drama, leading to a dangerous trope fans call “Bury Your Gays” or “Dead Lesbian Syndrome.”
When there are so few openly gay characters to begin with – and even fewer openly bisexual characters – it’s hard for fans to cope when their favorites are killed off. In an age where television stations try to boast diversity and inclusion, they are still trying to make a quick buck off of queer characters’ misery.
