The Bury Your Gays trope applies when an LGBT character is killed off, and is especially harmful when it happens shortly after or alongside a positive development with regards to their orientation, further linking the character’s orientation to the death of the character.
Bury Your Gays trope: List of all dead lesbian or bisexual female characters on TV shows available to US audiences in the 2016-2017 season, between June 1st 2016 and May 31st 2017.
In 2016-2017 there were 15 lesbian and bisexual characters on FOX. With TV struggling after a very deadly year in 2015-2016, the number of characters is still down from 17 last season. The number of new characters introduced is the lowest since 2013-2014, while the number of character exits (cancellations, characters written off and deaths) more than triples it, leaving only 5 alive and expected to return next season.
In 2016-2017 on CBS, there were only 5 lesbian and bisexual female characters, the lowest number since 2010-2011. Overall, CBS has a low rate of representation in general, with only 29 characters in total since 1976, when Julie Solkin became the first lesbian character on TV, and the first victim of the Bury Your Gays trope.
In 2016-2017 on NBC, there were only 3 lesbian and bisexual female characters. The network’s rate of representation has been declining for 4 seasons, with less characters introduced each season, and a large percentage of characters killed off. This year marked the lowest number of characters on NBC since 2010-2011, and the lowest number of new characters since 2011-2012.
The total number of bisexual female characters on TV since 1983, over the course of 33 years, represents 0.5% of heterosexual characters in one year. With a desire to paint a clearer picture of exactly how female bisexuality is treated on television, we have embarked on a project to create a database that will provide insight into both the quality and quantity of female bisexual representation, as well as identifying the common tropes that go along with it.
Members and allies of the LGBT community are demanding that TV and media stop introducing queer characters only to consistently kill them in senseless and shocking ways.
Lesbians are not unfamiliar with dying—and dying violently—in the media. In a study by Autostraddle from March 2015, an alarming 31% of lesbian or bisexual characters on American scripted TV shows between 1976-2016 ended up dead. A further 38% were simply guest characters or written off with no resolution, whilst only 10% got a “happy ending”. With our own list of dead lesbian/bisexual characters at 146 (and counting), LGBT fans demand better from media creators. These deaths almost always serve to further the plot or to provide character development for more central characters left to process the shock of the loss.
I’m 20. I grew up in France with my mom and my sisters. My family and my friends always accepted me as a bisexual woman even if few of them don’t really understand what it means. But when I was younger (around 12 years old) and that I realised I might like girls too, I was completely lost. And I surely didn’t want to talk about it with anybody. I looked up for movies with queer relationships in it. But there wasn’t a lot of LGBT representation. And I couldn’t find answers to my questions. So I tried to forget… Read more “I’m 20. I grew up”
I grew up in Saudi Arabia and then Pakistan. The first time I knew there was a name for people like me was when I accidentally stumbled upon a youtube video of Pepa and Silvia from Los Hombres De Paco. That is when I first realized I was not alone, I was not unnatural, not evil, not a perversion. My world changed. I came out to those around me. In times of prosecution, I would look up to popular representations of strong, independent females and queer characters and find the strength to fight on. Years later, I am a filmmaker,… Read more “I grew up in Saudi”
I’m a sixteen year old girl who just found myself. It was around January when I decided that I was gay. It took so long for me to figure it out, but when the episodes of the 100 came out, I was scared to tell my parents, seeing as my grandma who lives with us is a homophobe and my dad is super religious and would tell me that I’m sinning. My mom would be chill, but would be brought down just as much as me because my family wouldn’t accept my decision. I was so tired of hiding myself… Read more “I’m a sixteen year old”
LGBT fans everywhere deserve better than the state of LGBT representation in the media today. We encourage anyone who supports the better representation and handling of LGBT characters and stories in the media to join us in our movement.
We want content creators everywhere to understand that LGBT characters are not expendable, they are not only tertiary characters, and LGBT relationships are not stepping stones for "real" heterosexual relationships. Storytellers can do better, and we want creators and viewers alike to commit to demanding better.
Why so many queer female characters die on TV? By Vox
(warning: death scene)
We encourage anyone who supports the better representation and handling of LGBT characters and stories in the media to join us in our movement. Anyone, no matter the position they find themselves in; critic, viewer, writer, production staff are welcome to join us in spreading our message.
We also ask any media outlets or journalism sites to consider bringing attention to our cause and spread our message to as many people as possible.
Leskru is raising money for The Trevor Project, the only national organization providing suicide prevention services to LGBTQ youth in crisis.
As a member of the television/media industry, please indicate your commitment to improving LGBTQ representation in the media by signing the pledge.
Learn the context for fans outrage over The 100’s perpetuation of damaging tropes.
The greatest database of fictitious queer female characters on TV ... EVER
