As I am writing this, I am not sure yet if I am going to submit this for the website testimonials, but I feel it is important I try and write how I feel regardless, just to get it out.
Since 3.07, I have been unable to fully express how I have been feeling. I have now donated multiple times to the Trevor Project and although I have been inspired by everyone else’s testimonials, not a single time have I been able to make a comment, even brief, as to why.
Why has 3.07 and more importantly why has Lexa as a character affected me so much? The truth is, my reasons are no different from everyone else’s. I identify as a member of the LGBT+ community and I crave the positive representation that I do not have in real life. Lexa was exactly this representation, this role model I had been longing for. She was confident, she was strong, she was loving, she was special. She was flawed too. And these flaws are part of what made her so unique, so perfect, and most importantly, so real. I am sad and upset because this representation is now gone. To me, there is no other character like Lexa. And the truth is, episode 3.07 left me devastated. I could give in the negativity and the anger and go on and on about it. But I am trying to break the cycle and to move past it by instead making the conscious decision to embrace the positive things that this movement has given rise to.
What I want to remember out of all of this is:
– Alycia Debnam-Carey’s magnificent portrayal of Lexa
– The $127,000 raised for the Trevor Project
– The friends I have made along the way (shout out to my fellow Leskru!)
– The Lexa Pledge, which has been a great first step towards our mission
– And of course everything else that has been accomplished so far (the websites, the amazing video for the movement, the articles that have been written) and that will be accomplished moving forward towards improving and achieving better LGBTQ representation in the media. Our fight is not over. It is just the beginning. Together we can make a difference.