All dead lesbian and bisexual women on TV: 2016-2017

The 2016-2017 season follows after the deadliest year for lesbian and bisexual female characters on TV. In 2015-2016, from June 1, 2015, through May 31, 2016, 33 lesbian and bisexual women were killed off on shows available to US audiences (not counting international shows that don’t air in the US). In total, queer women accounted for 10% of all deaths on TV, a number highly disproportionate with the rate of representation.

Below you’ll find a list of the 19 lesbian and bisexual women killed off between June 1st, 2016 and May 31st 2017.

Erin Richards as Barbara Kean, Gotham. Credit: FOX

Barbara Kean (Erin Richards)
Gotham, FOX
Appears in 66 episodes, regular cast

Cause of death: electrocuted by her ex-girlfriend
Date: June 5th 2017 (3×22). Rest of the season aired in 2016-2017.

Mr. Kaplan (Susan Blommaert)
The Blacklist, NBC
Appears in 26 episodes, recurring cast

Cause of death: jumped off a bridge
Date: May 18th 2017 (4×21)

Mia Rochland (Ashley Greene)
Rogue, Audience
Appears in 16 episodes, regular cast

Cause of death: Shot after being betrayed by her girlfriend, a few episodes after she was revealed bisexual.
Date: May 3rd 2017 (4×07)

Martha 6715-301 (Laura Wilson)
The Handmaid’s Tale, Hulu
Appears in 1 episode, guest

Cause of death: Hanged after she was accused of gender treachery for being gay.
Date: April 26th 2017 (1×03)

Annie Kaplan The Blacklist / NBC. Bury Your Gays

Annie Kaplan (Amy Rutberg)
The Blacklist, NBC
Appears in 1 episode, guest

Cause of death: Shot and killed by a man in a flashback of her and her girlfriend together.
Date: April 20th 2017 (4×17)

Heather (Stephanie Hyam)
Doctor Who, BBC America
Appears in 1 episode, guest

Cause of death: Absorbed by alien puddle
Date: April 15th 2017 (10×01)

Citlali López (Mitzi Mabel Cadena)
Ingobernable, Netflix
Appears in 3 episodes, guest

Cause of death: Shoots herself after years of torture in a prison
Date: March 24th 2017 (1×10)

Eleanor Guthrie (Hannah New)
Black Sails, Starz
Appears in 32 episodes, main cast

Cause of death: Stabbed with a sword
Date: March 5th 2017 (4×06)

Monica Gallagher (Chloe Webb)
Shameless, Showtime
Appears in 13 episodes, guest

Cause of death: Brought back to the show only to die of massive cerebral hemorrhage
Date: December 18th 2016 (7×12)

Gina (Emmanuelle Chriqui)
Shut Eye, Hulu
Appears in 9 episodes, main cast

Cause of death: Murdered
Date: December 7th 2016 (1×08)

Susan (Hilary Jardine)
Van Helsing, Syfy
Appears in 8 episodes, recurring cast

Cause of death: Strangled to death
Date: November 25th 2016 (1×11)

Helen (Sarah Silverman)
Masters of Sex, Showtime
Appears in 7 episodes, recurring cast

Cause of death: Betty’s long time girlfriend, dies after giving birth to their child. Helen’s parents deny Betty’s rights to the child.
Date: October 16th 2016 (4×06)

Julia (Charlotte Thomas)
The Exorcist, Fox
Appears in flashbacks only, in shadows, 2 episodes

Cause of death: Katherine Rance and her friend Julia are driving home from a party, confess they like each other, and then drive into a street light. Julia dies.
Date: October 7th 2016 (1×03)

Rhonda Lyon (Kaitlin Doubleday)
Empire, Fox
Appears in 36 episodes, main cast

Cause of death: Falls off a balcony after a fight.
Date: December 14th 2016 (3×01)

Simona Brown as Roz Walters, Guild. Credit: Freeform

Roz Walters (Simona Brown)
Guilt, Freeform
Appears in 10 episodes, main cast

Cause of death: killed after it’s revealed she’s responsible for her girlfriend’s death. The relationship is revealed in the same episode.
Date: August 22nd 2016 (1×10)

Dre Davis as Sara Harvey, Pretty Little Liars. Credit: Freeform

Sara Harvey (Dre Davis)
Pretty Little Liars, Freeform
Appears in 16 episodes, recurring.

Cause of death: Died in the shower.
Date: August 2nd, 2016 (7×06)

Danielle Cormack as Bea Smith, Wentworth. Credit: Foxtel

Danielle Cormack (Bea Smith)
Wentworth, Foxtel(AU), Netflix
Appears in 46 episodes, main cast.

Cause of death: stabed several times with a screwdriver.
Date (AU): July 26th, 2016

Samira Wiley as Poussey Washington, Orange is the New Black. Credit: Netflix

Poussey Washington (Samira Wiley)
Orange is the New Black, Netflix
Appears in 50 episodes, main cast.

Cause of death: accidentally suffocated by a CO
Date (streaming): June 17th, 2016

Rebekah Wainwright as Molly Ryan, Guilt. Credit: Freeform

Molly Ryan (Rebekah Wainwright)
Guilt, Freeform
Appears in 6 episodes, main cast

Cause of death: Molly was dead before the show and only appeared in flashbacks. In the finale, it was revealed she was in a relationship with Roz, who blackmailed someone into killing her out of jealousy.
Date: June 13th 2016 (1×01)

i’m not sure where to post this but y’all should really get on the show dark matter. there’s a bisexual woc lead who has a crush on another woman, nyx, who’s sexuality isn’t confirmed, but they do flirt and they share a hallucinated kiss in june which is close to sweeps period. nyx is dead. also irena shaw was the lead’s past love interest who is revealed to have shady intents later on. also i’m not sure if this is discussed often or what the trope’s called, but the whole “sapphic interactions on shows are featured less than heterosexual ones”… Read more »

Guest

Ellen

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Looks like Bill Potts from Doctor Who is gonna join the list, unless it’s retconned in next week’s Doctor Who episode (they *might* undo her death, but as it stands now, it appears she’s been killed and her body converted into a walking cyborg zombie with a few vestiges of her old memories.) Stay tuned for next weekend to confirm.

I wish I could be surprised; it was my main fear when the character was announced as the first gay Doctor Who companion (there’s been a pan guest character and a few recurring lesbian guest characters, but not a lead).

Member

timsbrannan

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Ok. It looks like Bill Potts (Doctor Who) is alive and together with Heather. While they could be considered dead (a slip-slidy concept in Doctor Who) Heather referred to them as a “Different sort of life”. I want to give Who the benefit of the doubt. They have been good in the past and I think (hope) they will continue to do so. In the end, I am with Bill and Heather (named for real-life William Hartnell, the first Doctor, and his wife Heather) are together, exploring the universe in their own kind of life. In a show with a… Read more »

Guest

J. M.

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Please add Annie Kaplan, Guest Character on the Blacklist, shot in S04E17

Author

Alex

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Yikes. I added her, thanks for the heads up. The 2 part finale is titled Mr Kaplan which is not very reassuring either.

Guest

tigressa

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I found the killing off of Helen in Masters of Sex disturbing enough that I just cancelled my Showtime subscription. It really didn’t add a damn thing to the plot and just felt mean and superfluous. I do wonder what kind of deep and unconscious homophobia is making this trope of gay death keep happening. Very disturbing!!

Guest

HMFW

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I found something to say about nearly all of the list and the justified means or reasoning from a different POV, for a lot of them. Some actors want out, some shows want to send a message, some of them just are what they are and it is a segue to good drama. Some of them, pissed off a writer. Secondly, I don’t get criticizing the “tropes” of a pay cable channel, when the main networks (ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX, CW) are the ones that have been using our credo from the day “Sweeps” became a thing. They have capitalized… Read more »

Member

vandawriter

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I felt the loss of Poussey as if she were a member of my own family. I rarely get that involved in TV. Losing her from the show made me angry. I have to admit though I didn’t connect it with the old theme of killing off queers. This does seem to be a deeply unconscious thing in our world psyche.Thanks for bringing it out. That’s the only to understand the unconscious is to bring it into awareness.

All dead lesbian and bisexual women on TV: 2016-2017

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