Why Are So Many Lesbians Getting Killed On Television?

If you’re a lesbian on a television show, you might want to invest in some protection: An alarming number of gay and bi women are being killed off of popular TV shows, in rather gruesome ways.

The latest victim was (SPOILERS) Denise, a lesbian on AMC’s The Walking Dead. Denise, played by Merritt Wever, began as a minor character, one of the residents of Alexandria who quickly proved useful as the town’s only doctor.

Along the way, she began a relationship with Tara, one of the core group, and, to producers’ credit, there was no drama about their sexuality on the show. (When you’re fighting every moment just to stay alive, homophobia kind of goes by the wayside.)

In fact, the crux of Denise and Tara’s storyline was whether they really loved each other or were just looking for someone to grab onto. Before Tara headed off to battle, she told Denise “I love you.”

Denise didn’t respond, leaving us to wonder if she truly doubted her feelings, or didn’t want to face the prospect of the woman she loved being killed.

Cut to Sunday’s episode, when Denise finds a new reserve of strength and insists on going on a mission with bad-asses Daryl and Rosita.

She accomplishes her goal, but in a jaw-dropping scene, is cut down mid-sentence when an arrow shoots right through the back of her head and out her eyeball.

Right after she gained clarity about her feelings for Tara.

AMC

Now, major characters are killed all the time on Walking Dead, so it’d be foolish to chalk Denise’s death up to a homophobic conspiracy by producers. But in the original TWD comic, it was another character, Abraham, who got an arrow to the head, not Denise.

Saving a white male character by sacrificing a lesbian understandably has some viewers rankled.

And the timing of the episode is especially unfortunate: Just weeks ago, Lexa (Alycia Debnam-Carey) was shot and killed on CW’s The 100, right after she consummated her relationship with Clarke (Eliza Taylor).

The 100/CW

In the past 30 days alone, four lesbian or bi women have been killed off on TV shows—beyond Lexa and Denise, Rose (Bridget Regan) was murdered on Jane the Virgin and Kira was killed on Syfy’s The Magicians.

In 2015, Jessica Jones, Supernatural, Scream Queens, House of Cards, Ascension, Blindspot The Shannara Chronciles, Under the Dome and Lost Girl all had queer women meet untimely ends, to name just a few.

Under the Dome/CBS

Take a look at AutoStraddle’s list of all 147 dead lesbians and bi women on TV, and it can seem like lesbians are getting picked off faster than redshirts on Star Trek.

Fans fed up with the body count have start using hashtags like #BuryYourDead, #DeadLesbianSyndrome and #LGBTDeserveBetter.

Whew. There was almost a loving lesbian relationship on basic cable. Good job killing that quickly, Walking Dead writers. #BuryYourGays — Danielle (@Dani7388) March 21, 2016

So, are these deaths just part of the storytelling process or do we have a problem?

I don’t think we’re back to the point where queer characters are routinely portrayed as sadistic villains. (In fact, most of the characters above could be characterized as heroes.)

Wever said as much, telling The Daily Beast:

I understand if viewers watching the show really identify with the character or like seeing themselves or some part of the world that they know is real and true and valid and prevalent represented. And then to have that taken away, I definitely see how that would be disappointing in the broader scheme of things. I’m not sure that that’s what was going on here but I understand the sentiment very well and I am familiar with the [trope of] black characters or gay characters getting killed off because [they’re considered] less human or less real or less important and people aren’t gonna care as much. From my end, it didn’t feel like that’s what was happening though. But I certainly understand the concern in the wider culture.

I’d venture to say it’s more a lack of creativity—or perhaps empathy—than malice. For many in Hollywood, the only reason to have a gay character on a show is to have a “gay” storyline—the character comes out or gets married, tries to have a baby, contracts HIV, etc.

Once those stories are exhausted, the writers are out of ideas. Killing the character off seems like the obvious solution—and gives them one final push of relevancy.

But why does it have to be that way? Why can’t you have a police detective whose homosexuality is not the center of her character? The Walking Dead has two other gay characters, Aaron and Jesus, who have plenty going on besides their sexuality. (Jesus hasn’t even been outted yet.)

The Walking Dead/AMC

But it’s worth noting those are both gay male characters. Lesbians don’t fare so well.

Fans do their part, and so does GLAAD. But the message has to be absorbed by genre shows, procedurals, soap operas, and the like—the meat-and-potatoes of the television landscape.

You can do better.