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.
Pages: 1 2 3 4See entire article on one page
What a fuck?!!!!!!! PoI that better be a simulation or I’m gonna be raging mad!!!!!!
Not a simulation according to articles being circulated. :(
I am looking forward to the thoughtful response I am confident Autostraddle will publish once people have had a chance to digest this event.
I don’t watch the show (and will probably wait til it ends to decide if that will change), but it seems like it’s always been a hard show to understand if you don’t watch it, with both strongly positive and critical responses floating out in the ether. I found Heather’s article about why Root/Shaw was so important to queer women very helpful, and I look forward to learning more.
I do know that the show was well-known for killing off a character played by Taraji P. Henson in an earlier season, and I am really interested to know if there are parallels with the most recent character death, or not. From the discussion of the 100, I gathered that that was the case there, although the 100 seems to be a lot more…enthusiastic….about its racism than many shows.
But I’m sure it will take time to approach such an emotional event with the respect it deserves.
The comparisons between POI and The 100 are unfounded in my opinion because becoming one with the Machine was always the ultimate endpoint for Root’s character and this purpose is served in her death. There are disagreements as to whether the death could have been portrayed more poignantly considering that the character dies off-screen to set up a chilling moment in which her voice resurfaces as that of the Machine. But this was most certainly one of the better executed deaths of a lesbian character and Root’s personality is maintained in the form of an AI system that will continue to communicate and speak as her. If one wants to be positive, this was more of a transcendence than a death.
I honestly don’t even care anymore whether or not it was justified, whether or not her death was “honourable”, whether or not it was well done.
A queer character dies YET again. During Shaw’s simulation episode we see John die and I thought WOW is this show subversive for killing off one of the main white dudes halfway through the last season !
But no, it’s still the same old shit of queer characters and women dying to justify white dude’s character development (here Finch going dark).
I just DON’T CARE anymore. Like, this was the ONE SHOW where I had a tiny bit of hope that maybe everyone would die BUT Shaw and Root, because it made sense (in my head).
And I am SO SICK of all these writers saying “yeah but the way we killed her is DIFFERENT see because this was always where it would lead”. Shut up ! Yeah you filmed the episodes over a year ago. Least you could have done was say “sorry guys, we didn’t know back then how many queer characters die, if we did we might have done things differently”. Like, yeah, you’re using the trope better than most, you’re STILL USING IT.
It’s like when you’re complaining about the patriarchy and a white dude cuts you off to tell you HE’S DIFFERENT and doesn’t he get a cookie for not staring at your boobs that one time ?! You’re still part of the problem asshole.
I was so sad this morning but now I’m just filled with so much anger.
“Root’s personality is maintained in the form of an AI system that will continue to communicate and speak as her. If one wants to be positive, this was more of a transcendence than a death.”
Which is exactly Lexa’s fate. Only in case of Lexa, her personality and mind was actually transferred into chip. In Root’s case, The Machine is only mimicking and simulating her, there was no ‘personality transplantation’. She’s dead dead and basically someone just made a computer program with her voice.
I never believed that both of them would survive, I think it was always Root’s purpose on the show to become one with the machine, and I can’t say I think that should’ve been changed just because she fell in love with Shaw. The machine was always her God. So one alternative could’ve been to not explore Shaw and Root’s chemistry at all, but personally I think that wouldn’t been a bigger waste.
Yep, pretty huge parallels: Carter died fuelling Reese’s man pain and furthering his character development, and Root died fuelling Finch’s man pain and furthering his character development… It’s exhausting.
Hadn’t it been for Shahi’s pregnancy, Reese would actually have died in the season 4-finale and Shaw taking over his role.
I really appreciate the range of responses here, from those who felt that this plot point emerged from the character in ways that make sense to those who find this part of a larger assault of poor representation. A lot of fans seem to be feeling both, which is a peculiarly painful place to be. (My condolences.)
One of my questions is whether this death was predictable within the context of the story and the show (not just because she was a lesbian character). It seems to me that a certain number of fans did predict it or feel it was likely to happen based on internal cues, and that they were better-prepared. While others experienced the sense of betrayal that Katie describes here.
And I keep seeing that pattern, over and over again. I know Arrow watchers who were legitimately shocked when Sarah died, and others who didn’t even watch the show who knew it would happen, because the show runs on the main character’s manpain. I know people of color who thought the 100’s treatment of women of color was a good indication what would happen to Lexa. There’s a whole page here at Autostraddle of viewers who are upset that a lesbian character DIDN’T die on Jane the Virgin–and yet the internet was filled with people who predicted that particular plot point (including the “controversial” part of how it happened) because there were hints to that effect in the script.
I feel like at this point the lesbian and bi community needs to start analyzing the shows we watch in a different way. Basically, we need to start using literary criticism as self-defense, and to share that knowledge.
I understand the frustration, I myself having been vacillating on this issue and at times understand the development and at other times cannot help but see the alternative routes that could have been taken and weren’t. It is particularly annoying to continue to be told that the deaths of lesbian characters serve to advance plots in ways no other death could – it’s as if we have some incredible metaphysical function that no one else has. I hear you all.
I will however add that the Machine will imbibe Root’s personality and continue to communicate with the team as Root. So her relationship with Shaw doesn’t end, it just changes. I know that sounds like crumbs and is not what we wanted, but it may help some people going forward if they wish to continue watching the show. The persona thing has been confirmed by Nolan, Plageman and Acker herself.
I do find myself questioning whether it is even worth ‘shipping’ lesbian romances anymore given how often they go awry. After the 100 and now this, I think it may be best to sit back and detach oneself for fear of having to go through this all over again.
I would buy into the whole “Root is one with the Machine” thing more if they hadn’t spent the whole series developing the Machine as its own character with its own personality. Root herself advocated for the Machine’s autonomy. While I do think that Root would be touched by how the Machine is honoring her memory, it is just that. Root is dead, and her relationship with all of them, Shaw included, is over.
@clochou I feel 100% the same. I don’t care anymore. I’m sick and tired of it and it’s legitimately unhealthy at this point for me to continue to go through the emotional distress that comes with every new death that I thought wasn’t going to happen. I’m sick of feeling like it’s the only way to end a wlw’s story. I’m sick of it. I’m done.
Right ? Like wake me up when someone finally has the guts to do a show where EVERYONE dies BUT the queer ladies. I’ll be doing a standing ovation then.
Root from Person of Interest. (Note: her name is Root, not Samantha Groves. Samantha Groves is her dead name pretty much) Swerved into a bullet an episode after reuniting with her love to advance the story of a straight white man. (She did it to protect him and her death is setting the character on an arc of moral grey bs.) Classic fridging. I’m dead inside.
Now we can add Root from Person of Interest as well. Oh joy
Okay, so Root was the next lesbian to die, now I wonder how long it will take for Waverley or Nicole Haught to die on Wynonna Earp.
I’ve only seen the first two episodes of that show, but based on the small size of the cast, how important and integrated Waverly is to the action, and the fact that the show centers on a female character and has a female creator, they seem safer than most. (Haught as a recurring character might be more vulnerable.)
I still maintain there are some rules to these deaths–maybe not iron-clad rules, but rules of thumb–and we can figure them out!
The show’s Twitter account has been encouraging but yeah obviously we’ve all been burned before
The creator of Wynonna Earp actually did a really awesome interview with Dorothy Snarker a couple days ago saying in no uncertain terms that Waverly and Nicole will both make it through the season very much alive and in love! <3 <3 Given how reticent she's been all season to give away ANYTHING by way of spoilers, I thought that was a particularly lovely gesture on her part. She spoke really thoughtfully and eloquently about the trope in the interview, as well as the importance of representation to our community, and just made it really clear that she gets it. I know it's scary as heck to trust after the year we've had, but DUDES, this show is on our side for serious! Sooooo if you aren't already watching it, get on that right now – it'll make your heart so happy, and we need so badly for it to get renewed for a second season!
I really appreciate your sharing this!
And now is dead Root too, from person of interest?
Any idea when this massacre will be over?
Ok, it’s 2 am here and you all can blame the little weed I smoke a few minutes ago, but I’m having some kind positive moment here (yep, weed has that effect on me). I’m thinking about books, particularly early XX century and especially the pulp fiction era of books. You know, the most depressive queer books of all time or books where it was almost 100% sure that the lesbian would die (the other option was the madhouse).
So, that sounds familiar? Kinda looks like TV nowadays, no?
Well, it took some time but then by the 60’/70’s authors as Jane Rule and Rita Mae Brown came along and later Katherine V. Forrest and Jeanette Winterson, just to name a few very well-known names, and the world of literature was never the same, especially for our community.
And no, I didn’t forget. I’m considering The Price of Salt; that’s my Lost Girl, my Doccubus in the 50’s, without the cleavage of course.
So, all of this gives some hopes, maybe 5% hope.
PD: Now that I think about it maybe I’m wrong. Maybe this is a huge conspiracy by those super-powerful indie and independent publishers to make us read more LGBT books.
Add Root to the list. Smh. So disappointed…
so by your rules being influenced by an alien life form makes you bi cause 2 of these that’s what happened with jadzea and Toshiko
To be add on the list now… Root, from “Person of Interest” died by getting shot in the 100 episode, this 31 may. Just after be finally reunited with her lover, Sameen!
Root from Person of Interest recently died unfortunately. She was my favorite character . ?
I was rewatching the last season of 30 Rock. I noticed that Jack’s mother(who is a recurring, side character) Collen was a lesbian and kept it from her son. Her gf/partner is a Latinx wouman she was living with in Florida. She dies of a heart attack(or was it age related) sitting next to Jack.
Add “Samantha Groves” (Root) from Person Of Interest.
gosh I miss her terribly
This is terribly geeky, but here are some of issues I have with this list:
1. Torchwood falls into the Anyone Can Die trope, since all but two of the main characters die, and one of the two (Jack Harkness) is famously a near indestructible omnisexual.
2. Spartacus is also Anyone Can Die, because (spoiler) everyone dies.
3. Same goes The Walking Dead.
4. If Talia Winters counts as dead because her personality was wiped, then logic would suggest that Jadzia Dax is actually alive. Dax, the alien symbiote Jedzia was attached to, has all her memories, skills, feelings, and some personality traits. The genderless alien was transplanted into a new host and continued to live on.
Here are some issues I have with your list:
ALL 156 Dead Lesbian and Bisexual Characters On TV, And How They Died.
Not “Here Are the Dead Lesbian and Bisexual On TV That Fit the Bury Your Gays Trope to a T”
It’s ALL not which ones are clear cut case of Bury Your Gays or are a Tara Maclay Situation. It’s accumulation of data that can be further broken down and does with “And How They Died” part.
Second issue is representation.
We get to be on Anyone Can Die shows, show with violence death death death and dubious morality but not teen comedies or “family oriented shows”
What I’m trying to say is we don’t get to be a part of normalcy, we get to be fleshed out characters in meat of the story in abnormal situations in TV.
Can you understand why that is a problem?
Root/Samantha Groves from Person of Interest too. On 5×10
I’m so sad and angry about all this I’m not going to leave it here. I just came to say, now there’s Sameen Shaw (aka Root) from Person of Interest to go up on here as well.
What??? Wait… Sameen is still alive… no? What episode are you talking??
Sameen Shaw is alive, as far as I know. Her girlfriend/love interest Root (formerly known as Samantha Groves) is the one who died.
I literally started watching Person of Interest to cope with Lexa’s death. I loved The 100 (despite its many flaws), but after they killed Lexa I had no desire to keep watching. Then I saw some comments about how well Person of Interest handled the Root/Shaw relationship, so … I figured I’d give it a chance.
And now Root is dead too – killed by a bullet meant for someone else, no less – and I just kind of hate everything.
ROOT!! Of course, how could it be otherwise. That’s it – it’s back to Sailor Moon S, Avatar Korra and the likes for me (I daren’t jinx Adventure Time). I take my lessons in real life pain from real life, I don’t need to be subjected to half-assed catharsis when all I want to do is chill, watch a (otherwise well-crafted sci-fi) show with cool characters and stimulate the mesolimbic pathway. Plus hasn’t this kill-off-the-budding-romance and let’s-all-have-a-real-noir-finale style gone on for long enough in the last decades of TV-storytelling? Bla bla bla everyone dies the end. It’s become the thing to do at some point and now it’s such a predictable way of ending stories in series/movies. This is just plain unimaginative and lazy. Same goes for Carter in POI, btw. In the unforgettable words of Willow *borednow*!
If you hate “everyone dies in the end”, you should probably avoid Sailor Moon’s final season–the Senshi all get killed by the villain (again), although (just like the end of 1st season) they do get revived once again by Sailor Moon.
Oops, just realized that that was a minor spoiler and should’ve warned everyone. Sorry!
SPOILERS
You can add Root from Person of interest.
It’s a complicated one but Susanna/Rose in Jane the Virgin – there may not have been a real death in the end but there was an onscreen killing of a lesbian character and an erasure of a lesbian character, plus generally treating the only other lgbt woman like shit.
Rizzoli & Isles, Alice Sands, psycho lesbian* stalker of she’s-totally-straight-guys! Jane Rizzoli. Shows up in the season 6 finale, does crazy shit, shows up in the season 7 premiere, dies.
*http://www.afterellen.com/tv/479393-rizzoli-isles-subtext-recap-6-18-death-part/4
i was so heartbroken when the killed off bullet. she didnt deserve t at all, she spent the entire season trying to find her friend (who had been murdered by the same man). she was such a great fucking character an i as so so so excited when they introduced her and now shes fucking dead. god. she was like, one of the character deaths i felt the most viscerally
and FUCK when they killed of tricia form oitnb i felt betrayed honestly. like im glad that the entire show is basically about lesbians, but tricia was. such a good character and a good person at heart, and i was so upset when they killed her off, it was honesty unfair.
I have one. Flash Forward 2009, Janis is shot and left for dead however she does end up surviving but is unable to bear a child which she desperately wanted.
If she survives she shouldn’t be on the list
Delphine was shown to be alive on last night’s Orphan Black, so you can take her off the list.
Oh my gosh. We couldn’t avoid the spoilers for even twelve hours?
bisexual dating and bisexual threesome dating in http://bisexualdatingweb.com/
So, two things, spoiler warning for what comes below.
1. It’s been confirmed in Orphan Black that (at least for now) Delphine is alive. She survived the gunshot wound and was taken into captivity, surprising no one.
2. I don’t know if we’re only counting live-action TV shows, but if we’re not I can add several characters to this list from animated shows. The first ones that come to mind are Michiru/Sailor Neptune and Haruka/Sailor Uranus of Sailor Moon (although both were later resurrected) and Rem of Death Note (was manipulated into sacrificing herself to kill Watari and L), but I know there’s more I just can’t think of at the moment.
[THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN REMOVED FOR SPOILERS THAT WERE RUINING OUR LIVES]
YOU GUYS PLEASE STOP ADDING TO THIS LIST 12 HOURS AFTER THE RELEASE OF A SHOW JESUS
Jesus FUCKING CHRIST. You couldn’t have had put a spoiler warning? Or just waited? Thanks for ruining it for me. The season aired less than a day ago and not all of us have the privilege of marathoning an entire season of TV that fast.
delphine’s not dead!!!
[THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN EDITED BY THE EDITORS TO REMOVE THE SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT THAT WAS RUINING OUR LIVES]
[THIS COMMENT HAS BEEN EDITED BY THE EDITORS TO REMOVE THE SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT THAT WAS RUINING OUR LIVES]
Lalalalala knocking spoilers out of the sidebar tralalaa
Wouldn’t it be nice if people followed basic spoiler etiquette?
OK, one more to bump the sidebar free of spoilers for right now. Vigilance! I don’t even watch TV/OITNB but come on guys!
You can add Poussey forming OITNB.
thanks for the f*cking huge spoiler in the homepage sidebar. seriously, congratulations that you had the time/money to watch this season right away but have a minimum of respect for other people. christ.
Cause obviously everyone thinks about the homepage sidebar when they post comments and PURPOSEFULLY DECIDED to be rude to you.
Isn’t it a bit weird to have Nadia from TVD on there? She never showed any interest in women. Unless you count having a threesome once with a girl. I guess that makes Rebekah bi too because she’s done that twice even though all her relationships are with men?
I agree, and if I remember correctly, she only got close to Rebekah and Matt so she could steal from them after the threesome.