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”
I was born and raised in one of the most conservative states in the US, and still go to school here. My coming out was drawn out over many years as I tried to understand who I was. When I got to University I found a larger and more vocal community in my school, but it’s still so small compared to other places. Media was my only escape, and Lexa stirred up something in me that I never knew I had. . . A pride in who I am, and a new sense of belonging. When she was taken from… (read more) “I was born and raised”
LGBT fans deserve better, Lexa deserved better. From Gibraltar.
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… (read more) “As I am writing this,”
I’ve been inspired to submit my own story by the incredible women of leskru; thank you all. My grandmother and I have been incredibly close my entire life: when my mother died, and my father retreated into himself and his work, my grandmama showed up one day at our doorstep, helped pack my bags, and took me back to her apartment. I lived with her until I turned 18 and left for university, but I’d return every 3rd weekend and read her stories. She’s a sci fi nut and a pure NASA fangirl, always has been; the first show we… (read more) “I’ve been inspired to submit”
LGBT Fans Deserve Better @Mont-Saint-Michel, France
I remember the exact moment I decided to watch The 100. Back in Season 1, when I came across that gif of Clarke’s reaction to Octavia in the water and I was so moved by Eliza’s acting, I thought “no way this girl isn’t bi” and I watched religiously ever since. I watched before there were any established LGBT characters at all, back when the plot was good, the actors so endearing, the character development off the charts, and everything was so promising. I never actually thought Clarke would be bisexual. She was a main character on prime time television.… (read more) “I remember the exact moment”
Hi, I’m a simple young woman, 20, with a complex life. The truth is my sexuality wouldn’t be so complex if society and stereotypes didn’t make it out to be. The truth is I’ve been given labels all my life. Lesbian, confused, disgusting, bisexual, crazy etc, etc. To the point that when i was younger i actually did believe that I was confused but now a little more grown, i realize that I’m not confused I know exactly what i want , exactly who I’m attracted to. I know who I am, what’s confusing is the labels, what makes it… (read more) “Hi, i’m a simple young”
I have been in a strange state of limbo for years now. It has taken me some time to realize I was there. My brother and me we are best friends and watch hours of TV/film each week, we get into heated discussions over story lines, lore and characters, most of them grand ethical debates that transcend the shows themselves. We’re thinkers. So when a character death impacted me so massively as Lexa’s did that’s what I did, think. I could write long blog posts about every aspect I discovered, it may even therapeutic, who knows I may put it… (read more) “I have been in a”
On my freshman year of high school I was beginning to understand the feeling that I had been hiding my whole life… That I like both males and females. I confided in my older sister one night before bed and she quickly shut me down. Due to this I hid who I was until my junior year when I started dating a female in secret. My family found out and coming from a Christian family it quickly went down the toilet. My parents were disgusted and refused to believe that I was a bisexual which led to a state of… (read more) “On my freshman year of”
I returned home from college after graduation in a state of deep depression. I’d left behind an incredible, vibrant, and open-minded city for a small, conservative suburb only three months after I’d finally gained the courage to admit what I’d known for years: that I was bisexual. My younger sister, whom I had not always gotten along well with, had gotten hooked on this show while I was away; she wanted me to watch it with her. How could I refuse? From the beginning, The 100 was an escape for me. It was fun—sort of campy, but reminiscent of shows… (read more) “I returned home from college”
For me, this is not about Lexa dying. It’s not even about the way she dies, victim to cheap tropes. Yes, Lexa was a badass character, a lesbian that was so much more than her sexuality. She was written with so much (probably coincidental?) nuance and was wonderfully acted out. She made me proud to be queer, it felt good to have her represent me out there in TV land. But it’s not why I’m fighting now. I’m fighting because Lexa the character introduced me to a community of amazing people, real people who are like me and like kissing… (read more) “For me, this is not”
London knows LGBT Fans Deserve Better
As an Asian, where LGBT movies and films are almost non-existent in the country, i can’t help but to seek validation and reference of queer characters from other sources. That’s when i slowly expose myself to queer TV series like oitnb, orphan black, and the 100. It never struck to me that i would indulged myself so badly into the 100 as i was being ignorant initially, thinking that the queer in this movie will not be written in a good way, but i decided to give it a shot. As i learned more about the lesbian character, Lexa, her… (read more) “As an Asian, where LGBT”
I think this is an incredibly important project because of two main reasons–firstly, the spark Lexa set off with her death, and secondly, the fundraiser that spawned from it. For me, it wasn’t the death that was tragic: it was witnessing all these young fans, these vulnerable LGBT fans–lose hope. I think we must consider that some fans do not live in harmony with their sexuality or are necessarily comfortable with it; that some fans might even be in a position where their families don’t accept their sexuality, their friends, peers, colleagues–just don’t. This is not to say it doesn’t… (read more) “I think this is an”
I knew my little sister was different ever since we were kids. She always wanted to hold hands with the other girls at school and never showed interest in boys. I probably knew she was gay before she did. The problem was that we grew up in a very conservative family and being gay was absolutely not acceptable. I honestly hoped most days that she would never come to terms with her sexuality. I didn’t want her to have a hard life just because of who she loved. I wanted to protect her. She came out her freshman year of… (read more) “I knew my little sister”
I’m lucky enough that I live in a part of the world that is more accepting of homosexuality than others, where marriage equality has recently been implemented, and general perceptions are beginning to change. But I still live in a heteronormative society. I grew up with parents who (while not overtly homophobic) would scoff at any mention of ‘gay marriage’ on the news channel, and an aunt who we “just [didn’t] speak about”. I was ashamed of who I was and how I felt. Spent all of high school hoping that things would ‘click’ and I’d like a boy and… (read more) “I’m lucky enough that I”
For all of our lives we dreamed of Lexa. She was always in our mind. And then, she got a name, a face, a personality and no longer was only in our heads. It was liberating, exciting, almost too overwhelming to finally meet her. She was unique and everything I ever wanted and dreamed of. It was almost too good and then, in a blink of an eye she was gone. Just like that and it hurt. It truly hurt. In my personal sphere I’m not brave, I’m not confident, I struggle between social pressure and one I imposed on… (read more) “For all of our lives”
The truth is that I have never been a brave person. I’m not. So when I realized, that I am gay and that wasn’t something that I could change I got very scared. And I still don’t know how to get rid of this deeply rooted fear, that people will react badly, once I tell them about my sexuality. I’m surrounded by very liberal people so I was shocked, when I had my first face-to-face encounter with a blatant homophobe. I was at this party and he had two beers and started quoting the bible and reasoning why gay marriage… (read more) “The truth is that I”
The story of Lexa and Clarke gave me hope, it’s as simple as that. Until this show I had never allowed myself to become invested in a fandom as much as I did with Clexa/t100. I, like many others, fell into Jason’s trap. I had seen it happen time and time again, wlw characters being killed off in traumatic ways as a plot device. I thought I was hardened to it. But Lexa was different. She was a well written lesbian character, and wonderfully portrayed by ADC. Seeing a lesbian in such a powerful and significant role, and not just… (read more) “The story of Lexa and”
I was around the age of 16 when I first started questioning my sexuality. I grew up in a very conservative, religious (Catholic, actually) environment. I went to a private Catholic high school. My only option was to be straight. But still I questioned. I wondered if maybe, just maybe I liked girls. But I wasn’t supposed to. It was “wrong,” right? There was this girl in my class. I used to admire her from afar. I thought she was beautiful and had a lovely personality and obviously I just really wanted to be friends with her. It couldn’t be… (read more) “I was around the age”
I’m tired. So tired of seeing history repeat itself when it comes to lgbt+ representation on TV. Lexa was such a needed character, thus this devastation and uproar over her death. She was a role model, she gave people hope, she gave people the courage to fight for the right to love who they love. I’m 28, from Europe and I’ve never been met with any negativity regarding my sexuality. But my heart bleeds for people who are not as fortunate, who have to turn to TV to find a source of hope – just to have that taken away… (read more) “I’m tired. So tired of”
For years my mom has told me to do something with my criticisms about TV and movies, I picked storylines, acting and cinematography apart. Yet in all those years I had never seen a character like Lexa, I never identified with a character like Lexa. She was so well acted and a well rounded character I was drawn to her immediately. My fondness comes from two things. I recognized myself in her harshness in her fear to love somebody else. Lexa hid her emotions behind a mask and was incredibly afraid to love, it is something that I relate to… (read more) “For years my mom has”
Ever since I was a child, even though I wasn’t aware of it, I’ve been searching for a character like Lexa. A strong-willed, fierce, passionate and powerful woman, who just so happened to love a woman. Growing up, it was impossible to find that on the screen and whenever something came even remotely close, it would be snatched away, often in the most traumatic or shocking way possible. As I got older, it became much easier to distance myself from my expectations, to believe that there would never be someone on the screen that I could truly relate to, who… (read more) “Ever since I was a”
The 100 was praised for portraying a world where sexuality has no influence on how you are perceived. The Lesbian community has been searching for stories involving lesbians, not stories about them, where their sexualities become their defining feature, and the narrative chooses to constantly discuss it. Lexa showed many young queer girls that their sexualities would not define them. I myself have long been afraid that the most interesting thing about me was my sexuality, and even where I did find representation I found that representation only reinforcing that belief as lesbian characters are rarely written with respect and… (read more) “The 100 was praised for”
Living in a country that gets little, if any, LGBT-inclusive TV on our network channels, I came to question my sexuality later on when I was 20. Lexa broke my lesbian seal of sorts, and that winter break I consumed as much queer media as I could. Lexa, Cosima, Nomi and Santana allowed me to hope that I lived in a world where it was normal to like other girls. They let me hope that one day I would be confident enough to come out to my family. This is the power of good representation on television. To invite these… (read more) “Living in a country that”
English isn’t my first language so I apologize in advance for any errors in spelling and grammar. This is my story: I’m one of the „older“ Lexa/Clexa fans. I had my coming out in the 90’s when I was 21. Somehow I always knew that I’m not like other girls and when I fell in love with another girl I knew I was gay. I accepted it and went on a search for good lesbian representation in media. Unfortunately there wasn’t any. The movies I watched had a sad ending, the lesbian got killed or one of the women went… (read more) “English isn’t my first language”