The Dead and Gone

Derek Shepherd from Grey's Anatomy

Visibility

Today one of the biggest struggles that we as a whole community face is that of Visibility. In Modern Western Culture what is considered the default is Cisgendered straight white dude, there are many reasons for this all of which being problematic. In this case, the struggle is as much a gendered one as it is a sexuality one. The most common protagonists on television fit the troupe of Cisgendered straight white dude and when it doesn't, the likelihood that the show will be canceled goes up.

#Buryyourgays

Clarke & Lexa from The 100

Whether it is a main character or a side character the most alarming TV trope right now is that of what has been labeled the #Buryyourgays trope. This is much like the idea of fridging, the term which comes from an original Batman comic where the love interest was killed and shoved in a fridge and the agony of her death is used to advance his plot. The death of the queer characters sometimes serves to advance the plot, but a lot of the times it does not.

In the 100 a popular TV show which has been totted around the internet for being inclusive and entertaining killed one of their queer leading characters to advance the plot right around the time that the idea of #buryyourgays started to gain traction. Lexa was killed to advance the plot of her love interest Clarke, an action wholly unfair to either character and to the Queers watching it.

Background characters on numerous shows come out and within an episode or two die. The representation is often used to try and draw in new viewership but they have no commitment to keep the queer characters around.

#Canceled

Another alarming trend right now is the cancellation of very popular shows that are queer. Some of the most notable in recent years are One day at a time which was canceled only a few weeks ago just after a very successful third season had been released. The Real O'Neils a very hilarious comedy show about coming out as gay and the navigation of modern family situations was canceled in the last year after having promised another season. Also, notably the series Brooklyn-99 a cop comedy had one of the main characters come out as queer and was also canceled, though luckily was saved by some strong literary and entertainment influencers. While this is not always the case as some do make it big and keep going, most notably Modern Family, the statistics are overwhelmingly negative. 

Someday maybe we will have a show where the main character is queer and their love interest doesn't die and the show doesn't get canceled.

Until then,

Keep dreaming of freedom,

Rei

References

Bury Your Gays. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/BuryYourGays

Pride_site. (2019, March 22). 8 Queer TV Shows That Got Canceled Way Too Soon. Retrieved from https://www.pride.com/tv/2019/3/22/8-queer-tv-shows-got-canceled-way-too-soon#media-gallery-media-8