People die. Characters die. This is perhaps life’s most unfortunate fact: that people will die and leave the rest of us behind. It’s incredibly rare that any dramatic television series lasting over three seasons will never kill a main or recurring character, and all those deaths have driven a stake through the heart of fandom: Joyce on Buffy, Lady Sybil on Downton Abby, Charlie on Lost, Ned Stark on Game of Thrones, Jen on Dawson’s Creek, Nate on Six Feet Under — but when the person who dies is a lesbian or bisexual character, queer fandom takes it pretty hard.
The history of lesbian representation on television is rocky — in the beginning, we seemed exclusively relegated to roles that saw us getting killed/attacked or doing the killing/attacking. And until the last five or so years, lesbian and bisexual characters seemed entirely unable to date an actual woman or stay alive for more than three episodes, let alone an entire run, of a show. Gay and lesbian characters are so often murdered on television that we have our very own trope: Bury Your Gays. We comprise such a teeny-tiny fraction of characters on television to begin with that killing us off so haphazardly feels especially cruel.
Not every death listed below was wholly uncalled for. In many genres, like soap operas and shows about vampires, zombies, criminals, or games of thrones, characters are killed on the reg. That’s a different trope — Anyone Can Die. Furthermore, shows composed entirely of queer characters will inevitably kill one. But regardless, they still add to the body count weighing down our history of misrepresentation.
And, due to the recent untimely death of Lexa on The 100, this week seemed like a good one to count down everybody we have lost over the years.
This list contains every television death of an OPENLY lesbian or bisexual or queer female character on a television show. With a handful of exceptions, these are all characters who appeared for more than one episode. The exceptions were deemed exceptional because something about the characterization still fits in with the Bury Your Gays trope. Victims-of-the-week from crime procedurals (Law & Order, Cold Case, CSI, Criminal Minds or older shows) or patients-of-the-week from hospital dramas (Chicago Hope, E.R.), aren’t on this list, as that is an entirely different kind of list, but recurring characters from those shows are on this list. Nor is subtext on this list, because we’re not gonna give Xena showrunners Queer Character Credit for a character they refused to make openly queer when she was really so obviously queer. You know? [ETA: Okay, I’ve added Xena after doing further research and because if one more commenter takes up space on this thread — a thread I’m using to find more characters to add, and also to engage with thoughtful/funny readers who have opinions and feelings — to tell me that I “forgot” Xena without reading this introduction, I will become the 200th dead lesbian and the cause of death will be “Walked off a cliff with a commenter in her arms. Murder-suicide.” But Xena will be the one and only inclusion based on subtext.] Also, although I’ve done tons of research, I haven’t personally seen all of these shows, so mistakes may very well exist, and feel free to politely inform me of them in the comments, or tell me about characters I may have missed — it’s especially helpful if you can tell me the cause of death and the year.
Unsure if this needs to be said but… SPOILER ALERT.
Special thanks to the LezWatchTV Database for providing info on shows I haven’t seen or heard about directly!
Every Regular or Recurring Lesbian or Bisexual Female Character Killed On Television
Julie, Executive Suite (1976)
Cause of death: Hit by a car. Her love interest had just walked into traffic after realizing her lesbianism and Julie was chasing her.
Franky Doyle, Prisoner: Cell Block H (1980)
Cause of death: Shot by a police officer after escaping from prison
Sharon Gilmour, Prisoner: Cell Block H (1980)
Cause of death: Pushed down the stairs by a corrections officer
Karen O’Malley, Casualty (1987)
Cause of death: Head Injury
Cecília, Vale Tudo (1988)
Cause of death: Car Accident
Cicely, Northern Exposure (1992)
Cause of death: Shot by a gunman employed by the town’s evil overlord who doesn’t want to let the lesbians change his town. The shot was intended for her girlfriend Roslyn, but Cicely, who was already sick, blocked the bullet and died in Roslyn’s arms, thus magically healing the town’s long-simmering feuds and leading them to re-name the town “Cicely.”
Talia Winters, Babylon 5 (1995)
Cause of death: Activated a sleeper personality that wiped out her actual personality, effectively killing her
Beth Jordache, Brookside (1995)
Cause of death: Genetic heart condition, died in prison
Susan Ross, Seinfeld (1996)
Cause of death: Toxic envelope glue
Naomi “Tracy” Richards, Band of Gold (1996)
Cause of death: Stabbed herself
Lucy, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996)
Cause of death: Caught thieving and hanged
Kathy, NYPD Blue (1997)
Cause of death: Shot by a hit man hired by her girlfriend Abby’s ex, who wanted to get rid of Kathy so she could get back together with Abby. Abby was pregnant at the time.
Sondra Westwood, Pacific Drive (1997)
Cause of death: Murdered by a serial killer
Jadzia Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998)
Cause of death: Blasted by an alien-possessed alien
Sonia Besirky, Lindenstraße (1998)
Cause of death: Drug overdose from medication given to her by her ex-lover’s husband
Leila and Rafaela, Torre de Babel (1998)
Cause of death: Explosion in a shopping mall
Susanne Teubner, Hinter Gittern (1999)
Cause of death: Shot during a bank robbery (she was a customer)
Shaz Wiley, Bad Girls (2000)
Cause of death: Bomb, died in resulting fire
Laura Hall, Shortland Street (2000)
Cause of death: Heart attack
Diamond, Dark Angel (2001)
Cause of death: Used as a lab rat for research that killed her
Xena, Xena the Warrior Princess (2001)
Cause of death: Beheaded
Beate “Bea” Hansen, Hinter Gittern (2001)
Cause of death: Injuries from an explosion
Jule Neumann, Hinter Gittern (2001)
Cause of death: Suicide
Frankie Stone, All My Children (2001)
Cause of death: Murder Mystery!
Bridgit, 24 (2001)
Cause of death: Shot by a man in front of her girlfriend
Tara Maclay, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002)
Cause of death: Shot in the heart by a stray bullet
Kelly Hurst, Family Affairs (2002)
Cause of death: Pushed down the stairs by her lover’s husband
Megan Hartnoll, At Home With The Braithwaites (2003)
Cause of death: Electrocuted in the bathtub
Juliet Becker, The Bill (2003)
Cause of death: Stabbed
Tina Greer, Smallville (2003)
Cause of death: Impaled through the chest on a large piece of wood during a fight with a male character
Sandy Lopez, E.R. (2004)
Cause of death: Injuries sustained from fighting a fire in an abandoned warehouse
Al Mackenzie, Bad Girls (2004)
Cause of death: Poisoned
Hanna Novak, Verbotene Liebe (2004)
Cause of death: Stroke, died in her girlfriend’s arms
Ines Führbringer, Hinter Gittern (2004)
Cause of death: Throat slit, died in girlfriend’s arms
Thelma Bates, Hex (2004)
Cause of death: Murdered by a demon
Flora, Deadwood (2004)
Cause of death: Beaten by a man who then forced a woman to shoot her with his gun
Brenda Castillo, Charmed (2004)
Cause of death: Stabbed with a cursed blade by a man, causing her to rapidly age and then die
Tosha, The Wire (2004)
Cause of death: Shot during a heist gone wrong
Marissa Cooper, The O.C. (2005)
Cause of death: Car crash after being driven off the road by her drunk ex-boyfriend
Servilla, Rome (2005)
Cause of death: Stabs herself in front of her rival house, inhabited by the mother of her lover
Dusty, Queer As Folk (2005)
Cause of death: At a benefit at a gay club when a bomb went off
Dana Fairbanks, The L Word (2006)
Cause of death: Breast cancer
Helena Cain, Battlestar Galactica (2006)
Cause of death: Shot by her ex-lady-lover
Manuela Wellmann, Hinter Gittern (2006)
Cause of death: Stabbed, died in girlfriend’s arms
Maya Robertson, Hex (2006)
Cause of death: Hit by a car
Natalie, Bad Girls (2006)
Cause of death: Bludgeoned to death with a brick
Gina Inviere/#6, Battlestar Galactica (2006)
Cause of death: Set off a nuclear weapon
Eve Jacobson/Zoe McAllister, Home & Away (2006)
Cause of death: Inside a building when it was blown up
Van, Dante’s Cove (2006)
Cause of Death: Killed by the Shadows
Angie Morton, Stritctly Confidential (2006)
Cause of death: Suicide. Jumped off a building.
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Let’s be fair though… spoiler alert, EVERYONE on Spartacus died.
Except two gay men. Who were all I really cared about anyway. So.
Lets be fair though… Less then 400 LGBTQ+ are on TV shows. Let’s say 150 dead Lesbians or bisexuals. Don’t know how many of the others and that leave us with one giant nothing! Straight characters on shows are over 18 000+ and couples are over 10 000+.
As tragic as their deaths might have been because I loved the show and the plot, their loss was not something to scar me for life because there are other shows to fill my time when that one is over.
The LGBTQ get stranded when someone like them dies on shows. They have to wait and hope that something better will come their way, some character that is not a freaking background to fill a few minutes in a few episodes.
I am still waiting for an actual serious show to have a big main LGBTQ character and not this teen/comedy garbage (LGBTQ again in the background of said shows) that the older audience of the community are no longer interested.
There is another deaths that is not on the list:
TV Serie: What Remains (2013)
Peggy (Victoria Hamilton)
Cause of death: Possibly murdered by his girlfriend (Elaine) or suicide.
Elaine (Indira Varma)
Cause of death: Is shot with a bow and this wound and bleeding on the ground. Possibly mortally.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Remains_%28TV_series%29
Dunno if you’re still editing this – may god have mercy on your soul – but it just occurred to me that there’s another Xena death that probably qualifies. I know, I know, more Xena, please don’t take me off the cliff, I’m not talking about Xena herself. But Brunhilda, who showed up in 3 episodes in season 6, was said specifically to be IN Love with Gabrielle (as opposed to the rest of the show’s hmmm shes loves her but what kind of love let’s not say outright hmmm) and died/dissipated after turning herself into a magic flame to protect Gabrielle from Odin.
I totally agree! Brunnhilda should be listed as some kind of suicide/sacrifice thing. I love her & her love for Gabrielle!
Torchwood: “Mary”, an alien in a female human form. Teleported into the Sun.
If you read the opening paragraphs it clearly says it only counts recurring characters, not characters that only appeared once, with only a few exceptions
Mary the alien only appeared in one episode. Same with that other couple.
Torchwood also has a female couple as its leaders in the past (Alice Guppy and Emily Holroyd). Technically, they are dead by Death by Torchwood. But there deaths were never shown on-screen or described in any supporting materials, and as characters from the past, they probably don’t count as “dead lesbians” – more like “living ones”.
WOW! So I just want to throw my telly out the window. Except my wife loves television.
*I have not seen The 100 (I considered watching it because my younger sis is a fan, but then decided not to when I heard of the Lexa death thing).
**I do not mean to be offensive, but if I am, do let me know.
***The word “brevity” is not in my dictionary. ;-)
Due to the criminality of gay sex in India (I am in India and am Indian) and how some of the majority perceives it and makes it clear while speaking publicly that they want nothing to do with it and can the gay people go elsewhere please…I have been wondering for some time whether we (as in LGBTQI or any minority/marginalised) people have the right to ask for anything from the majority.
After all, as one person in the IMDB thread on The 100 said, if the gay people want representation, why don’t they make their own shows? And as someone else and the Indian Supreme Court said about section 377 and decriminalising gay sex, it affects such a miniscule amount of the population why should they bother about it? Or, if the Muslims and Christians want to eat beef, let them go eat it elsewhere because India belongs to the majority Hindus. There are so few shows, if any, that show Muslim and Christian people on national TV, I kinda feel greedy for wishing that there were lesbians.
(Regional TV and Movies are better though at representing other religions. Both national and regional shows, and regional movies, are horrible in how they portray women, so there is that.)
Anyways, the point is what right have I to wish for something when the majority wishes otherwise and majority is writing the shows or making the laws? A sort of GRRM is not at your beck and call (I find “bitch” offensively sexist, why not “GRRM is not your dog”) kinda thing.
It’s a depressing question. A scary question… because how painful is it to have your rights dictated by the whims of others.
I have found an answer though (but I keep having to reinforce it to myself time and time again. :()
What I feel is, writing is not just about what you have experienced or what you could experience. If you only write what you know, you won’t be stretching yourself; you won’t be giving wings to the gift you have. There wouldn’t be a GRRM or a Patrick Rothfuss then, or a Tamora Pierce or Robin Hobb or Isaac Asimov.
A writer gets to experience a hundred lives, get to live their joys and sorrows, and most importantly, their growth and fulfillment; the writers get to feel empathy through that. And so does a reader. That is the blessing of being a writer (or a reader). That is why writers write about magical beings, aliens and about people from other nationalities or historical times. At the end of it all, you realise that there are similarities in human experience too that allows you to empathise with all humans (or human-like folks).
So, saying, I can’t write about a gay character because I can’t identify with them is a sign of homophobia rather than a sign of writing representing reality. How can you identify with someone having magical powers and yet not identify with a human who just happens to love another of the same sex?
And from my own personal struggles with bias, I know that bias or discriminatory feeling towards someone or a group of people is not healthy. It only brings you down. Besides, if a writer says that and doesn’t explore a gay character, aren’t they missing out on that experience too? (It’s a Hindu belief that we go through numerous births as our consciousness evolves; so the more experiences we have the better evolved our consciousness and the nearer we are to godhood). So, not having that experience is a lack.
And as for anti-discriminatory and inclusive laws and the importance of diversity, I have my corporate experience to draw on. Our company (an MNC) is celebrating the pride month in June and just day before yesterday decided to internally support the LGBT in the Indian workplace (though, globally, it was a policy, it was pretty silent in India). And their mantra whenever they talk about the importance of diversity and inclusion is that it is beneficial to the company: because a more diverse workplace ensures a more diverse amount of ideas, which means more winning ideas; and an inclusive place makes everyone happy, and happiness is good for productivity (who knew?).
So, it is basically good for society to give everyone their happiness.
And there is also the personal thought of mine that the civilized nature of a society (or a person) is not judged by its technological advances or its wealth but by how it treats the marginalised, the underrepresented and the weakest.
I know, most of you will have thought this; but I still feel happy writing it down. :) I would’ve probably blogged it instead of writing such a big comment here, but only 3 people read it so. ;-D But, i will blog it too.
Thanks for reading. :)
I can’t tell if you sincerely believe that Muslims and Christians should just stay quiet and eat their beef elsewhere because India is a “Hindu” country, or if you’re just saying what your countrypeople believe without endorsing them, but this sort of attitude is what has led to Muslims and Christians being murdered by the Hindu right-wing for basically not being Hindu.
India wasn’t originally solely a Hindu country, and isn’t even now. Muslims, Christians, and people of other faiths (and those without faith at all) make up a huge chunk of the Indian population. The separation of religion is an artifact of colonization, specifically the Partition, which split the Subcontinent into India (the Hindu section) and Pakistan (the Muslim section, which then split into Pakistan and Bangladesh due to language).
Let’s not continue our colonizers’ work for them by insisting we continue this false and dangerous separation.
Leslie Elizabeth Shay was a really interesting, unusual character, not just because she was a lesbian working as a paramedic in a fire squadron in Chicago, but because she was easily one of the most interesting people in the squad. A solid professional, it showed her as a solid female friend, a person who had ups and downs in her love life and — perhaps most importantly — one part of the pair who made up the best relationship in the show, along with Kelly Severide. Both were fervant in their pursuit of relationships, but the most solid, lasting touching relationship for both of them was their friendship.
Her death seemed almost random when the producers explained it…”this happens”…but it clearly showed that they were out of touch with the impact the character has had. Severide has gone from empty coupling to here today-gone tomorrow pick-ups and silly plot contrivances which add nothing to his growth. And while one of the female replacements for Shay is interesting, there is nothing that matches her gravitas or humor.
And yet virtually every one of the remaining Male “7 dwarfs” (as my wife and I call them) are still around, getting a few lines here or there.
Show still isn’t the same….
This list needs to be updated, unfortunately yet again. [EMPIRE SPOILERS] Mimi Whiteman from Fox’s Empire died on tonight’s episode after being murdered by her wife (her wife, Camilla, had only married Mimi to try and steal the Empire music company) and then had her death framed as a suicide. The death wasn’t even shown on screen & we didn’t get to see her face– the first we saw of Mimi dead, we only saw her body submerged in a full bathtub with her wife trying to erase her prints from the scene.
Would Jianna from Wentworth count? I know she was dead before the series started, but she was in multiple episodes, and we know she was in a relationship with Ferguson and the other inmates murdered her because of it. I know it was just backstory but should we add her to the list too?
Was she in a relationship with Ferguson or just another victim on Ferguson’s creepy obsession with pregnant women? My mind a bit blurry on what happened there last season as I was distracted by Franky and Bridget.
Oh that’s fair, I think we all were… I think Jianna was the reason for Ferguson’s creepy pregnant woman obsession though, she regretted that she didn’t protect Jianna so she tried to protect Doreen (in her mind, anyway – I think she even called Doreen “Jianna” at one point cause CREEPYYY) but yeah I’m pretty sure they were in a relationship and that’s why the other inmates killed Jianna. Such polite people you meet in prison
Don’t forget to add Mimi and Camilla from EMPIRE.
I AM SCREAMING. Can they stop killing us??!
Shouldn’t Allison DiLaurentis be on here? She was murdered 50 hundred times in one night.
Can you seriously REMOVE The Magicians example because the character didn’t actually die at all. (I assume no one on this site watches it…) She is a Goddess that showed up to test Julia and is literally in two more episodes so far as Our Lady Underground, one of the most amazing giving Goddesses. The fandom has talked about this at lengths and we don’t feel she belongs on these lists or in this conversation. This is a wonderful conversation to be had, and as a part of the LGBTQ community It’s nice to see. But please this the Magicians doesn’t fit the bill and you are harming the show’s character. Please and Thank you.
Is the goddess the same character though or she just using the character’s image? Or is it all a dream/hallucination (similar to what happened on Last Tango on Halifax). Will this new goddess version of the character (assuming it is the same person, they look different to me) have a girlfriend or even be a lesbian?
Just saw the final episode so spoilers…
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Basically another god was using the image of the dead lesbian character to trick his way into being summoned so he could kill all Julia’s friends and then rape her and impregnate her with his evil god spawn (or something).
And the gay guy was forced to marry a women so the group could get a dagger and then enchanted so he could never fall in love with anyone else… so yeah that happened to.
Whoa; I had no idea there were so many queer characters out there! Too bad they’re all dead.
*sad trombone*
Nit picking but Camilla poisoned Mimi and then Camilla poisoned herself.
River Song, Doctor Who.
Electrocution/Suicide. Died to save het characters
the two from Empire were poisoned not shot
Another two:
Constance Heck from Fargo – she was strangled by Hanzee while planning a romantic encounter in a hotel with Peggy Blumquist
Shayla Nico from Mr.Robot – killed by ex-boyfriend (after an episode where she kissed Angela)
I will never get over Lexa and Leslie Shay’s death. Never.
Mimi and Camilla were not shot. Camilla poisoned Mimi, and then Lucious forced Camilla, at gunpoint, to drink the rest of the poison herself.
I still think you should add Thirteen from House. we can assume that she is killed by House when she starts showing signs of Parkinson’s, which is an incurable disease.
I don’t think it counts, yes she is sick and it implied that she is going to die soon, but she didn’t during the duration of the show. And technically any character can die anytime soon, Cuddy can be run over by a car the next day, the hospital can explode and Thirteen outlives everybody, they can find a (fictional or real) cure for Hunttingtons and she gets better, idk.
I absolutely don’t want to be rude but is there are reason for ignoring Paulie Oster from Lost & Delirious (2001)? Cause she was in a lesbian relationship with her room mate/best friend and commited suicide in the end. I just saw her anme mentioned a few times.
If you saw her name mentioned a few times, I’m not entirely sure why you didn’t expand the comments? This is a list of tv show characters, Lost and Delirious is a movie. ctrl+f is your friend.
Yes, there is a reason. Lost & Delirious was a movie. This list only includes TV-shows.
That’s a movie. This is TV-deaths only.
Lois, Scandal (2015) → Shot.
Neither mimi nor Camilla were shot….Camilla poisoned mimi and then put her in a bath tub and then when lyon was holding a gun at Camilla he told her to drink some of what she gave mimi, and she did.
It was only a guest appearance but, NCIS a featured a storyline on March 22, 2016 season 13 episode 19, with a gay woman who was revealed to have an inoperable brain tumor and given a month to live by the end of the episode it was implied that she died.
This list doesn’t include single-ep guest appearances.
I know Lucy lawless is up there 4 times already but it should be FIVE times. The 5th is Countess Von Marburg that other comments have mentioned. http://salem.wikia.com/wiki/Countess_Von_Marburg
I wouldn’t necessarily count them in the tally, but both Castle and Elementary have killed 2 lesbian/bisexual female characters off-screen in the last month or so (we only briefly get a blurry look of one of the murdered women in a flashback of her murder). Both deaths were to set up the lover as killer. I wonder what the tally would be if we included off-screen deaths of inconsequential lesbian characters killed in crime dramas?
Aún faltan más muertes, en el Ángel azúl, muere la amiga de la protagonista y hay varios personajes de mujeres lesbianas en animes yuri que también fueron “asesinadas” por sus creadores … Oniisame e.. Rei, Burts Angel, Jo y otras
How about Nicole Wallace from Law and Order: Criminal Intent?
153, Cara Thomas from the UK series Marcella died on episode 3 after being hit then run over twice more by a car. She was in all the episodes of the series to that point and had only been shown sleeping with women.
this guardian article has a picture http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2016/apr/18/marcella-recap-episode-three-sudden-death-and-spaniels
Actually on Empire Camilla poisoned Mimi and Lucious held Camilla at gunpoint and made her drink that same poison. Neither one of them was shot.
Sophia from Blindspot faked her own death! She’s back!
Well i could always be wrong here , but i’m fairly certain that a few of those characters weren’t lesbians. It’s a small number,maybe 8 out of 100 +. For instance Victoria Hand, i don’t think that she was even around long enough for it to be established whether she was gay or not. I think the authors were really just guessing on a few.
I’m not familiar with that particular case, but the characters doesn’t have to be an out lesbian to be eligable. The conditions are that the character has been in at least a few episodes and that they have been shown to be interested in women, but not necessarily exclusively interested in women. Bisexual and fluid characters counts as well.
Victoria Hand is a character who is a lesbian in the comics but was degayed for the TV series specifically so they could avoid the lesbian death trope. The same with Isabelle Hartley (Victoria’s lover from the comics). So both were included for that reason to spite the creators who went to such lengths to try and avoid the trope, while still fulfilling it.
However, I have read that their relationship was hinted at in the episode “One Door Closes” but haven’t checked that myself.
this was addressed already in a previous comment–
oliviactually: “Seeing Agents Hand and Hartley from SHIELD on this list is bitterly ironic, cause the showrunners specifically said that one of the reasons they erased both character’s queer sexualities from the show is because they didn’t want to become known as the show with two dead lesbians. Yeah, fuck that show.”
Catherine: “That is why I don’t understand how they made the list but some other characters didn’t”
oliviactually: “Well, I’d support them being on this list if only because it’s a big f-you to the showrunners who explicitly wanted to avoid this outcome, which is bullshit homophobic erasure.”
Riese: “precisely”
Michelle Prado from NBC’s Allegiance (2015). Shot by her double agent colleague because she knew too much and to frame the protagonist (her male lover) for her murder. It’s not the murder that’s gruesome, but rather the way the protagonists have to hide and dispose her body once the attempt to frame the hero becomes obvious to them. (The 9th ep’s summary on Wikipedia is “Alex must deal with being framed for Michelle’s murder.”)
She isn’t shown being in relationship with women, her only relationship we see is with the male protagonist, but her closest colleague is surprised when she shows interest in the guy. “I thought you liked girls.” he says; she replies with a “You have such a constrained view of me.” (The GLAAD’s network responsibility index for 2015 adresses her as “out”.)