#gay television characters

[st-just]

Despite this being the Steven universe discourse website for most of a decade I'm still kind of surprised whenever a cartoon just has gay people in it for anything that's not a Very Special Episode.

[upsideoutinsidedown]

“Will doesn’t need a relationship to be happy”.

This is something I’ve seen people throw out there as to why Byler shouldn’t have to end up together for Will to have a happy ending and that anyone who says otherwise is reducing Will’s character to his sexuality. I think it needs to be addressed why that view is simply ignorant.

First off, I don't care that Will is gay. Will Byers became my favourite character back in the first season when he had a total of like fourteen minutes of screen time. I enjoyed watching the cast's reactions to his absence, and the goodness of his character shown in the flashbacks we see. I remember thinking "how impactful he must've been on these characters' lives for his absence to drive the story for an entire season," and the more I got to know him in subsequent seasons, the more I liked him. So, when it was teased, implied and ultimately confirmed that Will was gay, I couldn't care less. His sexuality didn't change how I felt about him in any way, but it did change how his narrative could be perceived.

Will being gay is a core part of his identity. If Mike and Will were not the intended endgame couple, the duffers wrote themselves into a corner by how they handled Will's sexuality, because of the message they are giving by committing to that representation. Will being gay is not the problem. Will being gay, canonically in love with Mike, and willing to sacrifice his own feelings for a heterosexual relationship is the problem.

I, personally, am a big fan of "don't need to be in a relationship to be happy" endings. In fact, it's what I'm hoping for with El, and if season four had been handled differently, I would like it for Will too, but the fact of the matter is, that's not what happened. They built up Will's feelings for Mike over several seasons, even despite the distance (both figuratively and literally) between them in between seasons, and now they have to commit because the truth of the matter is, gay people do not have the same representation straight people have in media.

A heterosexual character could go through the exact same romantic arc as Will and still not end up in a relationship without it feeling like a cop-out simply because there is a lot more positive heterosexual representation than there is gay representation. It is essential to understand that there is a difference in the message being sent simply because of the character's sexuality. Whereas the heterosexual character's journey's message would end up being "sometimes it doesn't work out, but that doesn't make the love felt any less profound," the gay character's journey's message would instead come across as "a same-sex romance is not as profound as an opposite-sex romance." Will, especially, in the van scene, where he used his own feelings to promote El, would be telling the story of how the best a gay character could offer would be to sacrifice their own feelings.

Now, I'm not gay. Despite being ace (♠/♢), I don't even consider myself to be a member of the LGBT+ community (not that there's anything wrong with identifying as LGBT+ if you do share my sexual identity). But I understand the importance of good, and positive, representation of LGBT+ characters in media, as well as the damage bad representation, whether intentional or otherwise, could cause.

And ignorance is not a sin. I wouldn't disparage someone for not understanding the implications, but willful ignorance on the other hand is different. You don't have to ship Byler, but you should understand why the ship is important and why it not being endgame would be so devastating even after it's been explained to you.

[alexisntedgy]

rewatching the muppets (2015) is so funny because I’ll be like “oh I remember there are some rlly funny bits actually!! it had so much potential!” and then I watch it and just go

“gonzo has. gonzo has parents? what is this universe because that would solve a lot of questions and character points that I actually don’t want to be solved”

“aw yeah no walter :( he’d be so sad he wasn’t in this”

“pls don’t be a misogynist like that *character I love*”

“I HAD ALMOST MANAGED TO BLOCK OUT THE FACT THEY TRIED TO STRAIGHTIFY SCOOTER”

“sAM AND J A N I C E ?!”

[evankinkley]

it is now scientifically proven that getting an lgbtqia+ canon couple and then having them being ripped away hurts more than not having them at all.

source: me.

[losersimonriley]

Back with more agonising ghoap songs

[matt0044]

Becker: “One day, I’m gonna kiss Hailey Banks.”

My legit reaction:

[queenmelancholy]

Good news! Greece has become the first Christian Orthodox-majority country to legalise same-sex marriage on 15 February 2024.

With only 35 countries worldwide permitting same-sex marriage, many people around the world are still fighting for equal rights, including my own country. But times change and people are becoming more understanding towards those who are born different. There is always hope.

Never forget how far we’ve come.

[francisforever2014]

it’s crazy how dean winchester is gay . like he was really out there being gay. shooting monsters while gay. committing credit card fraud while gay. being a serial killer while gay. living with a woman and parenting her son while gay. committing suicide 100000 times while gay. living in a bunker with several torture chambers while gay. using those torture chamber while gay. being tortured by an obsessed god WHILE GAY!!!

[novelconcepts]

It’s always so funny to me when someone can’t tell the difference between an actor who’s over the top and an actor who is doing an intentionally over the top performance. The former can be super aggravating, I get it—but the latter can be so goddamn effective. Especially when you know the actor already, know they’re fully capable of giving normal human facial expressions and chill line deliveries. And they’re out here doing The Absolute Most all of a sudden? It’s for a reason, dude. It’s almost always for a reason. And once you can see past the camp on the surface, it’s so much fun digging in to what emotions the character is actually hiding.

[your-blorbos-are-queer]

angie martinelli from marvel's agent carter is lesbian (headcanon)

submitted by anonymous

[barry2018-2023]

its not rly fair of me to have this opinion and I might be wrong for having it but sometimes I don't want the fujoshis to win lol. I dont know how to elaborate I am just turned off by people who seemingly don't give a shit about gay rep unless it's something they want to jack off to.

[mandy4ever69420]

ian or mickey

ian on my basketball team mickey in my ceramics class

[bellamygate]

why didn't anyone tell me jimmy is a literal doctor imagine ur surgeon doing bl on the side what even

[celestedoesarttm]

I just finished watching all four hours of Gone With the Wind (1939) with my parents. I finished like six fully-painted animatic frames. It is now two AM. I am going to go to sleep

[chotachica]

MY BF IS LOOKING FOR VOXVAL MATCHING ICONS FOR US I WINN

[litrallytyrus]

the amount of love i have for sam obisanya is unmeasurable it is overflowing and pouring out of me!!!!!!! god he’s the fucking best!!!!!!