LGBT Themes, Stories And Characters On TV

[maraleia]

Bumping this up with a liveblog link to Sonny and Will's wedding on Days of our Lives.

Enjoy!! http://www.thebacklot.com/liveblogging-days-of-our-lives-the-wedding-of-will-and-sonny/04/2014/

[possibilities]

How many of us have watched a show we otherwise would have had no interest in, just because it had a LGBorT character? In the current environment, where we have more (but still not an abundance) of such characters, is it still enough to get you to try a show, or stick with it, when otherwise it wouldn't be of interest?

[Kromm]

Is this more about real, actual LGBT characters and themes or also including so-called "HoYay"?  The two can be very different in both intent and implementation.

[possibilities]

I'm not a mod, but if you're asking for opinions, think HoYay is a completely different thing than actual LGBT characters.

[Taylorh2]

I haven't watched Days since Will was a baby. They made him Gay ?  Damn

[Kromm]

I'm not a mod, but if you're asking for opinions, think HoYay is a completely different thing than actual LGBT characters.

Of course, but I wondered if that was the intent of the OP.  The two are pretty often lumped together on these here Internets.  Endless slash fanfic, Rizolli & Isles tribute pages, essays on why Spock is Kirk's ultimate romance, etc.

[maraleia]

Taylorh2 yes Sami and Lucas' son Will and Adrienne and Justin Kiriakas' son Sonny fell in love and got married and I think that's really cool. I haven't watched the show in a decade but the way they handled this story from what I read was miles better than Otalia on GL and Luke and Noah on ATWT. Bianca's story one the other hand was handled very unevenly over the years.

possibilities I am finding it difficult to watch everything with LGBT characters especially with all of the webseries available and programming from other countries. Also, some of it isn't that good so I do my research before I dive in.

[Rinaldo]

If I hear of a new scripted series having an LGBT character, I'll generally try it once. But I don't hesitate to stop watching, even partway through the first episode, if I decide it's no good. That content alone won't earn my loyalty.

Also I stopped worrying about TV (or movies) "sending a good message to straight people" around 1995 (when the movie Jeffrey caused me to rethink my previous point of view). As long as I personally find it entertaining and inoffensive, screw what others might extrapolate from it. If bigots draw the wrong conclusions, that's on them, and nobody has to pander to them.

[joanne3482]

On USA Network's new show "Sirens" they have a character who has defined herself as asexual. She now has the rookie EMT interested in her, not due to to the asexuality in that he wants to "turn" her, but he seems genuinely interested in her. One of the other EMTs is gay and it is treated as though it is just a fact of this guy's life. The show is fairly new (only 7 episodes aired so far) so who knows what it could turn into, but so far it seems they are treating both characters like they treat any of the other characters and their sexuality is just one piece of the person and not their defining trait. 

[Rinaldo]

Thanks, joanne. If I'd heard of Sirens, it vanished from memory instantly, so this will make me seek it out. I'm interested to see how a character self-defined as asexual is dramatized in episodic format.

[maraleia]

The place to discuss all things LGBT on TV.

Pinning this because a question came up in the Parenthood thread and I wanted to make sure everyone here had some basics to fall back on.

No one lives a lifestyle as far as their sexual orientation or gender identity is concerned. The spectrum is varied and for all we know Haddie might not identify as a lesbian she might say she is bisexual or queer. Millennials are much more apt to not even label themselves.

The correct terminology for people who are born in the wrong bodies is gender identity aka Chaz Bono or Laverne Cox. Also, transgender is the correct overall term to use when describing the entire community or you can also use trans man or trans woman.

The correct terminology for people who identify as straight, bisexual, queer, lesbian, gay or any other term that the millennials are using is sexual orientation.

Also, the word homosexual is frowned on in the LGBT community.

Oh and as for HoYay discussions let's keep them here unless at a future date both topics get too unwieldy and then I will create a separate thread for HoYay posts.

[Kromm]

Hmm.  Seems we sidelined into this topic with the recent Agents of SHIELD episode.

Victoria Hand, who in the comics is prominently lesbian, dies (or at least seems to die) in service of a larger plot to help elevate the character of Ward to villain status.

It was suggested on a show thread this is a form of "fridging".  Not sure I agree, since the dynamic isn't quite the same (basically using a female character's affections, and then demise, to help elevate a male character's motivation to be a hero--this situation with Ward is kind of the reverse of that, and also arguably Hand's gender likely has nothing to do with why she was used here). 

Nevertheless even if it's not fridging, it IS taking one of the few powerful LGBT characters out there and eliminating her.  The question is... should the fact that a character is LGBT shield them somewhat from nasty fates, to help keep those numbers up, or could it perhaps even be looked at as a GOOD thing that Hand was used this way--if we think it was not only a gender neutral decision for the character to die but also a sexual-orientation neutral one?

Then again, Hand is already dead in the comic book continuity (albeit in a very different way).  One could argue her fate was sealed in the Marvel movieverse, even if the specifics weren't.

Edited April 12, 2014 by maraleia
removed the spoiler tag, unnecessary since the episode already aired

[joanne3482]

Rinaldo, I just rewatched the episode. The two leads do mock Voodoo's (that's her nickname) asexuality. Brian, the rookie, still is into her, but it is hard to say where they will go with her situation.

Edited April 12, 2014 by maraleia
changed lifestyle to asexual- lifestyle should never be used when discussion one's sexuality

[maraleia]

I thought that they did a great job with Haddie's coming out scene with Kristina on Parenthood. Tavi Gevinson of Rookie Mag fame was quietly affecting as Lauren, Haddie's girlfriend, and I am hoping they renew the show just so we can see more of them. I wish they would've spent more time with Haddie's story and less on Amber and Ryan but I can't complain because they treated Haddie with respect throughout the episode.

[Amello]

The Haddie story was the best part(s) of the episode and, shockingly enough, she finally had decent hair! It's just too bad the show has latched on to Ryan and Hank for the past couple seasons. 

Anyway, I have to ask, what exactly does HoYay mean? I've never heard that term before.

[Kromm]

The Haddie story was the best part(s) of the episode and, shockingly enough, she finally had decent hair! It's just too bad the show has latched on to Ryan and Hank for the past couple seasons. 

Anyway, I have to ask, what exactly does HoYay mean? I've never heard that term before.

It stands for "Homoeroticism Yay!" and the relevance is that it's about Homoerotic subtext in film, books or movies (the "yay!" implying glee in the viewer).  It's one of those unofficial terms that's a bit malleable (like "Mary Sue") where the meaning is a bit loose, and the implication is often that it's falsely interpreted Homoerotic subtext--wishful thinking, basically.  

Edited April 22, 2014 by Kromm

[Ujio]

I loved how The Wire never pursued Rawls' sexuality (after he was seen in the background at a gay bar in one episode -- looking quite relaxed and happy).  NYPD Blue also took a similar approach to Lt. Bale's sexuality.  No big deal was made, and life went on. 

The Wire did a great job with Greggs' sexuality, too.  She wasn't "the lesbian cop" but a "competent cop" -- who happens to be gay.  And she talked about her domestic woes just like any person -- gay or straight -- in a relationship.  An ideal portrayal of an LGBT character, IMO.

[Wax Lion]

I heard that Hollyoaks did a good job with bisexual characters in the past but the recent episodes on Hulu has a characters that feels like a biphobic stereotype. Danny is married to a woman but he keeps having affairs with men. He strikes me as the stereotype of bisexual people as not being happy unless they're having sex with people of both genders and are unable to be monogamous.

[Amello]

Danny is a horrible, selfish, unsympathetic loser. One of the worst things about Hollyoaks, which I love.

[choclatechip45]

I think Degrassi did a good job with Marco's coming out storyline. The scene were Jimmy finds Marco after being Gay bashed still makes me tear up to this day. The big issue was in the later seasons all of his story lines revolved around his boyfriend dictating his happiness.

[Wax Lion]

At the time, I thought Marco was a pretty well-done character. His stories weren't about all gay issues and he wasn't limited to being a fun sidekick to the straight characters. Today he might feel more like a character defined by his sexuality but he was an amazingly forward-thinking character at the time... at least until the show couldn't figure out what to do when its popular characters graduated.

[Rick Kitchen]

Hollyoaks was horrible when it came to the bisexual character Craig Dean.  He kept both the gay John Paul and the girl Sarah on a string (although Sarah didn't know about John Paul, nor that Craig was gay).  It was only when John Paul outed their relationship that Craig ever even got off the pot, but then he left the show and he and John Paul were supposed to move to Dublin together, but Craig couldn't bring himself to kiss John Paul in public, so John Paul dumped him at the train station.

 

And then, later on, when the actor playing John Paul was interested in leaving the show, they brought Craig back for a short storyline where John Paul's boyfriend (an ex priest) was murdered, and he and Craig decided they were still in love and left together for Dublin, but John Paul came back recently having broken up with Craig.

[Helena Dax]

Times have changed a lot. I was a kid when Steven Carrington  and that Harry Hamlin's movie were shocking. Now I wouldn't watch a TV show just because it's got LGTB characters, but I want LGTB characters in the shows I watch. It's reality. And I also want more TV shows with LGTB characters in main roles, like Jack Harkness. When I started watching Person of Interest I was so sure Finch was gay, that Nathan had been more than his best friend. It was disappointing to find out that he was straight. 

 

My favourite LGTB characters are Brian Kinney and friends, Omar from The Wire, Xena and Gabrielle, I like Loras Tyrell and Oberyn Martell too. And Agron and Nasir from Spartacus. And Poussey from OitNB. So I guess it means I have a lot of favourite LGTB characters.

Edited June 10, 2014 by Helena Dax

[possibilities]

The horrible "Undateable" has a gay male character in the group of friends. Color me amazed. They had one of the other guys take a bath with him to prove he wasn't homophobic. When the guy was reluctant to do it, the other guys in the group all pretended to have done it, to make him feel bad and shame him into it. This is the kind of thing that really tells me times are changing, because it's not like the show is in any way in the vanguard of anything. When a show like The Fosters goes on air, you know they're an exception to the overall TV landscape. When Undateable does it, you feel like the bottom of the barrel is changing.

 

But I tried to watch Chozen, because it's supposed to have a lot of representational interest. And it boiled down to: I just really don't like animation.

 

Orphan Black introduced a trans clone this week. I liked him, and it seems like the trans community liked him, but a lot of people thought he was "the first clone that wasn't convincingly acted and costumed." In reflecting on this controversy, I realized that I can't be objective about whether this is true or not, because I'm so happy with the content of the character. It might be that Tatiana Maslany and the costuming department failed, but I don't see that. And I can't tell if that's because I was so excited to see the trans clone and how they handled everyone's reactions to him, or if it's because it was fine and people who think otherwise are the ones acting from ignorance or bias. I just don't know.

 

It did seem weird that the costumers claimed that they had to give Tony similar hair to Sarah because they couldn't find a way to get Tatiana's large volume of hair into a shorter wig. They already have Rachel (and Katya), with a short hair wig, and Jennifer who is bald from chemo. So it's weird that they are saying they had no options for Tony, rather than saying they chose what they chose because it's what they wanted.

 

I still want to see butch dykes who aren't portrayed as lonely, undesirable outcasts. It used to seem revolutionary to me when I saw representations of lesbians on TV who passed as straight instead of telegraphing their otherness. But now it just seems like some kind of bland erasure.

Edited June 10, 2014 by possibilities

[potatoradio]

 

I still want to see butch dykes who aren't portrayed as lonely, undesirable outcasts.

 

Thank you! Also, who aren't in desperate, full on stalker mode of a straight, femme chick.

 

The only show I've ever watched out of a sense of duty because it had Gay People was the L-Word. Oh, that was a painful rite of passage. I have mental scars. So much time wasted on such an awful show.

 

I can appreciate a show's introduction/inclusion of a gay character, but I won't watch a show just because of that. My interest in a show, though, can pick up quite a bit if the writers manage to find an organic storyline and the actor actually has chemistry with any love interest. Also, is hawt. LA Law still has my undying devotion because of Amanda Donohoe's bisexual character. THAT made the show can't miss for me, even though they canned the storyline and quickly reverted to garden variety straight love (it was the 80s - I can still give them props for trying).

 

On the other hand, a couple with zero chemistry is painful to watch (looking at you, Arizona/Callie of GA) and I don't give a crap that they're THE GAY/BI. I feel more vested in straight couples with real chemistry than gay couples who are just flat.

 

And I realize there's more to storylines than romance, but just once, could there be a hawt butch (or butchier) dyke have a straight (ha) up love story?

 

 

[DXD526]

LA Law still has my undying devotion because of Amanda Donohoe's bisexual character.

 

Wow, it's hard to overestimate the impact of that. The episode "He's A Crowd", which contained the kiss between C.J. and Abby, has become legendary. But besides being groundbreaking, it was also a really solid episode. The other plots - Kuzak defending a killer with multiple personalities (hence the title) and a 'sting' operation involving MacKenzie, Kelsey and Rosalind Shays - are both well done. An enjoyable ep, all around. One of the series' all-time best.

 

Still remember watching this the night it was on; wasn't home when it aired, but VCR'd it! The kiss was truly shocking for its time, and totally unexpected. These days, everything seems to be spoiled in advance, but no one knew this was coming, being pre-Internet and all. My jaw literally hit the floor. 

 

Weird that this show is largely forgotten when it was so big for a few years. 

[callie lee 29]

 

Orphan Black introduced a trans clone this week. I liked him, and it seems like the trans community liked him, but a lot of people thought he was "the first clone that wasn't convincingly acted and costumed." In reflecting on this controversy, I realized that I can't be objective about whether this is true or not, because I'm so happy with the content of the character. It might be that Tatiana Maslany and the costuming department failed, but I don't see that. And I can't tell if that's because I was so excited to see the trans clone and how they handled everyone's reactions to him, or if it's because it was fine and people who think otherwise are the ones acting from ignorance or bias. I just don't know.

It's interesting you bring this up; yesterday (I think) I was reading Buzzfeed (or maybe HUffington Post) and they had an article on Orphan Black and the new clone. Now I have seen appx 20 min of the show, just kinda bored me, I couldn't get into it, but since I'll read practically anything when I'm bored I read the article. While I have no clue on the acting/writing for the new clone I can say unequivocally that my first thought when I saw the picture was "Why is that woman wearing Sharpie marker on her chin?" and then "Oh wow! That's a horrible stick-on goatee.". I was kinda curious what the viewers thought.

[maraleia]

Jude and Connor's story on The Fosters has me intrigued. Instead of dancing around the subject for years like they did with Justin on Ugly Betty The Fosters is handling it in a nuanced and organic way and not shying away from it. I am looking forward to seeing where this goes and I love that they are 13 because I don't believe TV has ever shown characters that young struggling with their sexuality.

[selkie]

How many of us have watched a show we otherwise would have had no interest in, just because it had a LGBorT character?

 

A big reason why I stuck with United States of Tara was because of Marshall's storyline, and his trying not to fit in the neat little box that people would want to put him in because they'd see and hear him and stereotype. And yeah, that included him having sex with a female classmate a few times before deciding that was a bad idea for him. I know some people didn't like that plot but it seemed consistent with his character.

 

I also dug his sibling relationship with the ditzy but occasionally brilliant Kate- they could get snarky as heck with each other, but when a crisis was afoot, they were always there for each other. I just wish they'd written the adults as well as the kids on the show because it seemed like they could have done so much more with Toni Collette, who was game for anything. 

[Portia]

Love love LOVE Marshall on United States of Tara! One of my favorite moments in that series is when his grandmother asks him if he's "a gay" and he tells her yes. She asks, "What is that like?" and he replies, "It's like Christmas every day." 

[possibilities]

I watched a Jay Mohr stand up show on Showtime, and he spent a significant amount of his act talking about how much he hopes his son is gay. It was unlike anything I have seen before. At first I was wary, but he seemed to be doing it in a truly loving spirit. At the end of the show they had him stand in front of the camera and deliver in PSA style, a message that if your kid comes out to you, you should just love them.

[Taylorh2]

Jay Mohr said he "hopes his son is Gay" ? Why does he hope that ?

[possibilities]

"I hope my son is gay! How awesome would that be...."

 

That's his act, or about 30 minutes of the hour. I can't recap it in a forum post. He tells a lot of stories from there.

 

You can either take it literally (we are awesome, after all) or as a "turn things on their heads" style of humor.

 

I think the show was called "Jay Mohr: Funny for a Girl" which in itself is a bit of a joke, since he's a man.

 

Something else about his act that surprised me was that he tells a lot of jokes about his wife-- but it's about them getting along and having fun together, not about conflict between them. As soon as he started talking about her and setting up a stressful situation, I felt myself getting tense and putting up my guard for the inevitable man-woman conflict, wife is nagging, guy is hapless, marriage is war resolution. And when it didn't go that way at all, but turned into them being in it together and laughing about life as allies I was stunned. Even when he shows them being a little competitive with each other, it came off as joy rather than pain.

 

I almost didn't even watch this show because I had the idea the guy was a dope because of roles I'd seen him in before, but I was surprised by how he kept surprising me. You might like his act or not, but I give points to anyone who surprises me because I find even most funny stuff fairly predictable.

Edited July 12, 2014 by possibilities

[CoderLady]

Has anyone been watching Major Crimes on TNT? For the past three seasons a teen character has been struggling past some really shitty circumstances and is just starting to come out to the important people in his life. It's well done and posters who know more about these things than I do say it's realistic. The show is focusing on him more than it should be for a crime drama IMO, but it's well acted and emotionally satisfying.

[selkie]

Speaking of Marshall on USoT, Pivot is going to start airing season 2 of 'Please Like Me' in August. Some critics wanted to call it an Australian version of Girls, but to me it seemed a bit more like Marshall redone as a 19 year old Australian guy named Josh.

[possibilities]

Sooooo... sperm donation explored in sitcom form, from the perspective of the donor? Brought to us by The CW? Introducing.... "Seed."

 

A slacker schlub donated sperm to a sperm bank, and now kids who were conceived using his "seed" are tracking him down (some kid hacked the sperm bank database). He is a gross arrested development player type, but of course the moment the moppet and the sad teenager show up, his protective, daddy-fu is awakened! It's like "About a Boy" with more spokes on the wheel.

 

And, since we are some of the original sperm bank users, of course the parents of the first moppet are two lesbians. One is actually butch, so for those of us looking for that, i guess I have to say thank you? But like everyone else on the show, she's a bit of a laughingstock. And I don't mean she's funny.

 

It's a real cultural improvement that we are getting casual, integrated, prominent representation in "traditional sitcoms" on mainstream TV-- and something on a network aimed at tweens, right? The brass no longer fears that advertisers will bolt and that they have to protect the kiddies from exposure to our existence. But what will it take to get some well-written and not cringeworthy scripts?

Edited July 15, 2014 by possibilities

[paulvdb]

For your information, Seed is a Canadian sitcom that has already aired two seasons in Canada. The CW only bought the American broadcast rights.

[possibilities]

Thanks, paulvdb, I had no idea.

[Irlandesa]

Speaking of Marshall on USoT, Pivot is going to start airing season 2 of 'Please Like Me' in August. Some critics wanted to call it an Australian version of Girls, but to me it seemed a bit more like Marshall redone as a 19 year old Australian guy named Josh.

Well no thank you for that.  I read this post Sunday night before I was supposed to go to bed and innocently started watching the show 'just to get a taste.' I ended up finally dragging myself to bed at 2 a.m.

 

I really enjoyed the show. I don't know if I get the "Girls" comparison, though. 

[smrou]

I really enjoyed the show. I don't know if I get the "Girls" comparison, though.

Yeah, that seems odd to me.  I watched the first season of Please Like Me when it aired on Pivot and I can't say it reminded me at all of Girls.

[Rick Kitchen]

Ugh, I hate everybody on Please Like Me except Tom.

[fastiller]

Has anyone been watching Major Crimes on TNT? For the past three seasons a teen character has been struggling past some really shitty circumstances and is just starting to come out to the important people in his life. It's well done and posters who know more about these things than I do say it's realistic. The show is focusing on him more than it should be for a crime drama IMO, but it's well acted and emotionally satisfying.

I've been watching Rusty's story on Major Crimes and I"m also impressed with how it has been presented.

I've also recently finished a full series re-watch of Queer As Folk (US version).

 

Having watched them both during the same time period, I've wondered what - if any - advice Justin would've given Rusty about coming out.  I've also wondered about how Rusty & Hunter would've interacted; whether there would've been a 'been there, done that' sort of conversation.

[galax-arena]

This season’s finale of Degrassi featured two male characters getting together. What made it interesting for me was that one of the male characters had been introduced on the series as being into girls first. While it’s not unusual to see a female character liking the opposite sex before developing a same-sex attraction, if I’m not mistaken it’s a lot rarer when it comes to male characters.

[Rick Kitchen]

This season’s finale of Degrassi featured two male characters getting together. What made it interesting for me was that one of the male characters had been introduced on the series as being into girls first. While it’s not unusual to see a female character liking the opposite sex before developing a same-sex attraction, if I’m not mistaken it’s a lot rarer when it comes to male characters.

 

That happens on soaps all the time.  Luke on ATWT, Oliver on OLTL, Will on Days.

[Wax Lion]

I don't recall Luke ever appearing to be interested in girls. Are you thinking of Noah, who slept with Maddie before admitting his feelings for Luke?

 

In general, I'm starting to think the new cliche is going to be the "gold star" gay and the guy who was with a woman for a night resulting in pregnancy, giving the gay couple a biological child to raise together. We had that with Kish on OLTL and WilSon on Days and probably a couple more I'm forgetting.

 

Degrassi feels a little different because the "straight" character barely hinted at any attraction to guys (the one hint was seen as him being cruel to Tristan, IIRC) while Noah, Fish and Will relationships with women always felt like part of a coming out arc.

[galax-arena]

Degrassi feels a little different because the "straight" character barely hinted at any attraction to guys (the one hint was seen as him being cruel to Tristan, IIRC) while Noah, Fish and Will relationships with women always felt like part of a coming out arc.

Yeah, I think that's a large part of it. I mean, I can't speak for the soaps because I don't really watch those, but on Degrassi, they previously had a guy who dated a girl - Riley and Fiona - but then it was pretty clear that it was part of a coming out arc. But Miles on Degrassi was obviously genuinely hung up on Maya.... right up until he developed feelings for Tristan. 

[Snowprince]

I loved how The Wire never pursued Rawls' sexuality (after he was seen in the background at a gay bar in one episode -- looking quite relaxed and happy).  NYPD Blue also took a similar approach to Lt. Bale's sexuality.  No big deal was made, and life went on. 

The Wire did a great job with Greggs' sexuality, too.  She wasn't "the lesbian cop" but a "competent cop" -- who happens to be gay.  And she talked about her domestic woes just like any person -- gay or straight -- in a relationship.  An ideal portrayal of an LGBT character, IMO.

Same with Southland's Officer John Cooper. Openly gay, as was the real cop he was based on. A good cop who happened to be gay, not a "gay cop"

Edited August 29, 2014 by Snowprince

[galax-arena]

Teen Wolf talks LGBT inclusion.

I’m not buying what these people are peddling. They’re always patting themselves on the back for how inclusive they are, but to give y’all a rundown of how LGBT people are represented on Teen Wolf:

 

L - A one-episode lesbian character who was killed off within the first five minutes of the episode.

 

G - Three gay characters, all minor/recurring, no one in the main cast. Two of them are gone. The third one has been on since the beginning of this season, but is mostly just a prop for the one major newbie character this season. They didn’t even interview him for this article.

 

B - A two-episode bisexual character who made her first appearance making out with the lesbian character and was brought back and probably only written as bisexual so that she could make out with one of the main male characters. Bonus points for the character’s bisexuality providing a convenient opportunity to bait the viewers about the main male character’s sexuality as well.

 

T - LOL.

 

I don’t know what sort of rock Jeff Davis is living under to think that Teen Wolf is groundbreaking in any way. Are there shows that offer worse depictions of LGBT people? Unquestionably yes. But Davis has presented the show as some sort of gay utopia and it just doesn’t add up. I don’t think he’d receive nearly as much criticism if he didn’t backpat himself so hard.

 

Shows like Glee and Degrassi are fucking messes, but they’ve done so much more than Teen Wolf ever has.

[joelene]

Same with Southland's Officer John Cooper. Openly gay, as was the real cop he was based on. A good cop who happened to be gay, not a "gay cop"

Not quite the same, but I appreciated the same with Kale Ingram on Rubicon, the head intelligence FBI/CIA whatever guy. It's been a while since I saw it, and the show was short lived, but no issue was made of it what-so-ever. And he had a visible boyfriend/husband.

Edited September 9, 2014 by joelene

[Niuxita]

I would like people's thoughts on this trend I keep seeing on television wherein there is a same-sex relationship (though mostly between two women) yet the writers/showrunners/actors involved are very adamant about it being a story about "falling in love with the person" and being "beyond labels," which to me has always come across as code for "We don't want to commit to labelling our characters so that in later seasons they can go back to dating men and we can look totally progressive" and/or "We don't want the icky word 'lesbian' associated with our creations". Off the top of my head, I can think of the Karma/Amy storyline on MTV's Faking It (particularly the comments regarding Amy's sexuality as being "Karmasexual" (WTF)), the Holly/Gail storyline on Rookie Blue, the Brenna/Greer storyline on Chasing Life, and even the Cosima/Delphine relationship on Orphan Black. I get that there are other orientations beyond "gay" and "lesbian" (bisexuality is a thing, world!), but I have never EVER heard the word "bisexual," for example, used by anyone responsible for any of these or other similar storylines, even though it's what would most apply to the story they are telling.

 

I guess my beef with this is, first of all, that it feels like truly "lesbian" characters are becoming rarer as this approach gains popularity, and secondly, that this trend tends to diminish labels. They're not for everyone, obviously, but the discourse surrounding these situations is always so dismissive of them, like those of us to whom they apply are somehow so "square-minded" and everyone else is just so "progressive" for rejecting them. Personally, given that the issue of "representation" (whatever that even means anymore) is such a hot topic right now, I feel a lot more "represented" by a character who states "I am attracted to women 100%" rather than by one who says "I love who I love and gender is so unimportant to me". I get that that might represent some people, but there's a way to do it without putting down other people's approaches to sexuality in the process.