Welcome! My name is Carlee, and like many in the LGBTQ+ community, I have used social media as a way to find shows and movies that I could relate to. Unfortunately, the number of quality, inclusive media is small. Inclusive media contains diversity and provides a voice to groups that are often silenced. It is also important for inclusive media to be relatable to those being represented. Further, not every show or movie with a representation of the LGBTQ+ community is actually inclusive. Sometimes, representation is still full of heteronormativity (Waggoner, 2018). For example, The L Word was the first television show in the United States to revolve around queer women (Ng, 2008). However, it has been accused of representing heterosexual desires and narrative conventions rather than the experience of lesbian and queer women. Additionally, underlying tropes can result in characters that are not relatable or that rely on stereotypes. These include the “bury your gays” and “promiscuous queer” tropes. The “bury your gays” trope explains how television shows with lesbian and queer women are often canceled or the character is killed off (Waggoner, 2018). While lesbian and queer women audiences are often accustomed to this erasure, we have learned that the power of fandom can make a difference. 

 

Warrior Nun, a show on Netflix, featured a developing relationship between a lesbian and bisexual character. Netflix canceled the series after two seasons, and fans purchased billboards, signed petitions, and created a new trending hashtag on Twitter each day such as #SaveWarriorNun and #NetflixFixYourMistake. They won the attention of the show’s creators and actors, and even held Q&A sessions with them to motivate the community to continue to advocate for the show’s renewal. Finally, it was announced that the fans won! The show will not only be renewed, but it will now be a movie.*

 

Watching lesbian and queer women stand up to the lack of representation and the constant attempts of erasure inspired me. It motivated me to create a webpage that could serve as a resource not only for viewers, but hopefully for writers and creators as well to learn what the fans wish to see in representations of lesbians and queer women in television and film. This is designed to be a space that will educate users specifically about the representation of lesbians and queer women in television and film, while also providing reviews and recommendations. I hope this page helps the lesbian and queer-woman identified community to find their next show or movie, while at the same time, empowering them to advocate for more relatable, and less stereotypical, representation in television and film.

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As a feminine-presenting lesbian, many of the shows and films that I include on this site will include feminine-presenting characters. However, it is important to note that lesbian and queer women have many forms and appearances, and they are all valid.

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* Unfortunately, it was later discovered that none of the original writers, producers, or actors are expected to be involved in the movie adaptation of Warrior Nun, so many fans no longer consider this to be a win.