Leskru WW
Heda, may we meet again. Your fight is over, ours is just beginning.
Leskru (The united clan of LGBTQ/supporters/allies named in true Grounder honor) is raising money for The Trevor Project, the only national organization providing suicide prevention services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth in crisis. The Trevor Project serves more than 100,000 LGBTQ youth every year with their life-saving programs that include the Trevor Lifeline, TrevorChat, Ask Trevor and TrevorSpace.
The need for Trevor is very real – lesbian, gay and bisexual youth are more than 4X more likely than their straight peers to attempt suicide, and youth who are questioning their sexual orientation are 3X more likely. For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the 2nd leading cause of death nationwide.
Since the airing of episode 3×07 of the CW’s The100, many LGBTQ forums and SM outlets have been permeated with outcry over the mishandling of a beloved fictional character (Lexa) who served as a beacon in the lives of many young LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ persons. 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. Anyone with any creative control and a literary background has a responsibility to the audience they are so carefully trying to reach. This simple fact alone cannot only distinguish a well written show, but, it also serves to reinforce the positive aspects of the minority it has CHOSEN to depict with a chance to break barriers the LGBTQ community would not otherwise be given.
This show failed in all those aspects. 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.
It’s disheartening to think many of us were here, with The Trevor Project all those years ago. We continue to attempt now what we did then. To forge the creation of a safe haven opposing the baffling misrepresentation we had so hoped to eradicate for the younger generations. We will take this yet again to serve as a lesson, but, let it be us this time who teach it.
“The empathetic reactions of viewers need to be taken into consideration, especially when you have so many young, LGBT or questioning individuals watching and getting involved in this relationship. Not to mention, by many accounts, these were viewers that [the show] bent over backwards to get invested.”