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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Delphine can come off! Buuuuut *spoiler alert* Poussey from oitnb has to go on :////
$&@%*% god damnit people
can you guys PLEASE set up a filter so that comments containing this spoiler do not get posted right away??? I know you tried to use a filter to stop the barrage of “what about Paulie?!” comments, surely this is worth a try.
JAYSUS PEOPLE HOW DIFFICULT IS IT TO PUT A FEW LINES BEFORE YOU @#$Ù SPOILERS SO THAT THEY DO NOT SHOW ON THE HOMEPAGE.
answer:
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NOT THAT DIFFICULT.
oh crap, that * * actually didn’t work hahaha now I look like an idiot.
oh well, SERIOUSLY though can you stop posting about it here? not everyone has had the time/money for this season yet, several other people ALREADY posted it and Riese knows. there is no reason for you to keep re-posting such a spoiler on the homepage.
I don’t even want to watch S4 now and I have been excited about it for months.
Yeah all one has to do is write a sentence first that is perhaps about this long lalalalalalalalala people are trolling and being inconsiderate assholes honestly and I never swear at people on this site
And HERE is where you put the fucking spoiler. Below the fucking helpful pre spoiler sentence!
Also tho lets face it this was going to suck terribly either way. And the timing is just so terrible since we all needed something to hang on to after the real world this week…
But yeah. I almost think comments should close on this column. This is the second death I’ve been spoiled about in a show that came out less than 12 hours ago.
Also Riese you forgot to put Paulie from Lost and Delirious on this list.
I honestly can’t believe that the strongest reaction here regarding this event is about spoilers. Tropey and triggering dead lesbian. Check. Black Lives Matter whitesplained. Check. Spending an episode sympathising with the white dude. Check. Really? Lack of spoiler warnings are what you’re upset about? I’m going back into my bunker because I don’t understand anything or anyone anymore.
Well we haven’t seen the fucking episode to get upset about it yet, have we?
I don’t understand either. I’d rather be spoiled then have to sit through such disgusting and insulting episodes. I’m really really hoping that the writers on this website haven’t watched that far yet because this show doesn’t deserve to be covered or promoted anymore. Let alone praised.
NOT EVERYONE CAN WATCH LIKE TWELVE EPISODES OF TELEVISION THE DAY IT IS RELEASED
I’m so grateful to my community for warning me in time so I could avoid being hideously queerbaited. Again. I was really looking forward enjoying the shipping, the fan art, the fanfic etc. but I’m really glad that I had the change to choose not to get emotionally invested in this relationship before having my soul once again ripped out of me and stamped on. The whole situation appears to be a masterclass in queerbaiting and the exploitation of and damage to a particularly vulnerable community (more than one community actually) and I am personally grateful that I was given the opportunity to shut that down and cancel my account after episode two. I’m actually feeling a bit jealous that fairly easily-avoidable online spoilers are the worst thing some folk have to worry about right now. I’m afraid to leave the house and am working my way through six seasons of My Little Pony as it seems to be the only relatively safe thing to watch. I would welcome and trigger warnings (or ‘spoilers’ as some people call them) because if Twilight Sparkle or Rainbow Dash get killed istg…
then put a note saying “WARNING: tropey dead lesbian in episode X” and leave us the choice to decide whether we want to know ahead of time. but respect basic spoiler etiquette even if you are not happy with the show.
I have been mulling this one over and whilst I can see where you’re coming from I must disagree – I wouldn’t have given too much of a hoot about other wlw characters being killed on the show other than to wish to see them added to this list and being generally bummed and angry about it. This particular character was purposefully used to emotionally manipulate the audience; indeed she was the only reason I was still watching the show.
I admit that I’m having difficulty navigating the website in terms of editing previous comments etc. but I’m sure there’s some way of editing personal update settings so that updates to this page aren’t sent to users who wish to avoid spoilers. This page is a essentially a repository of spoilers isn’t it?
I have also just been reading the comments policy and I must sincerely apologise for my earlier use of the term ‘really?’. I would like to take that bit back and promise not to do it again. Sorry.
What are you talking about??
The way to avoid spoilers in the comment sidebar is to put 2-3 sentences before the spoiler.
You cannot edit previous comments.
You may be super upset about the writers’ manipulation and with good reason, but that doesn’t give you license to disallow the rest of us to discover it on our own.
the issue is that the first 2-3 sentences of ANY comment on this site shows up on the homepage until more recent comments take its place.
I did not come to this article intentionally and I avoided the articles on the show, but merely coming to the homepage it is almost unavoidable to see the spoilers if they are posted, as many – not just you- have done in the first line or two of a comment. if you are unfamiliar with that aspect of the site, I apologize for lashing out and certainly didn’t mean to make anything a personal attack.
HI HOMEPAGE! I see now about the homepage thing, thank you for explaining. Probably an issue for the site administrators to address in responding to user feedback and needs, I guess.
I feel I must defend that all I did was share some feelings about what I thought was a sh1tty situation (the reaction to spoilers overshadowing the reaction to the contents of the show) without myself actually revealing any direct spoilers. My brother does enough media blackouts following sporting events that he can’t watch live which I’m used to facilitating. I thought it might spark a bit of lively discourse about just how fiercely today’s consumer will defend their right to live a spoiler-free life above all other pursuits – sort of like when Duchamp put that urinal in an art gallery and now everything is about the consumers’ reaction to art rather than the art itself. Now all we ever hear about on the news is what Twitter is saying. Or something. I dunno. Nevermind.
Hopefully now the discussion can move on and we can all support any poc/wlw communities in how they’d like to deal with things.
Regret inadvertently igniting a spoiler sh1tst0rm. Off back to my bunker now …
oh no, you should DEFINITELY talk about your thoughts/feelings about it here! just please put a little rambly warning paragraph first.
And don’t feel too bad, you were not the only one. The admins have redacted a few spoilery comments above already. Which is why I was definitely harsher than I should have been with your comment, my apologies.
But definitely share your feelings! AS is posting a recap of an episode a day, so before long there will be a proper article on it, but until then here with a buffer paragraph is fine.
Because daaaaammmnnn. I don’t even really want to watch S4 now. I love a lot of things about the show S1-S3 (less 3 than the others, but ok). So this character isn’t the only reason I wanted to watch. But she was by far the best thing about the show, with only Tasty being close competition.
Those two were the bright, hopeful spots in the show. I don’t know if I will watch S4 and give the rest of the storyline a chance or just put my blinders on and pretend it ends at S3. UUUUGHHH
I think if I had already seen it, I’d probably be a raging/crying fit. So, hugs to you, dear guest! And eff this season.
Cool beans, friend. (You can visit my bunker any time you like. We can build a blanket fort and talk about feminism and Harry Potter)
Spoiler: Delphine Cormier (from Orphan Black) was revealed to have been alive and well now. But that list is still so very long… ><
ugh, im still angry about naomi from skins, she was finally happy with emily, and then they had to go kill her off in the third last episode ever. also, you could put in charlotte from pretty little liars, she’s not gay or bi but she’s trans so i think she deserves a spot, this list is so long it’s really sad.
I am forever grateful that I never watched Skins Fire. It makes it easier to pretend it all ended with Naomi and Emily happy.
also, there is a very comprehensive article on trans TV representation here: http://develop.autostraddle.com/105-trans-women-on-american-tv-a-complete-history-and-analysis-216732/
To add to your list: Lionel Trane from United States of Tara (2011). Cause of death: Car accident.
Should’ve read the intro first – lesbian and bi only! Feel free to delete comment. Apologies!
Lucy lawless is on this list 3 times. I just love that woman! Also…..
Gaia was not killed by a man she rejected. She was attempting to suduce him for a plot her and Lucy lawless’ character had going on. And he killed her to send a message.
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As my friend said so eloquently:
When this country can’t kill us publicly it’ll resort to “conversion therapy” and it’ll resort to sons and daughters and nb kids put in the grave because their parents viciously denied them their own identity and it’ll resort to denying the existence of AIDS until literal die-ins are scheduled on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, and it’ll resort to making lifesaving medication cost extravagant amounts of money, and when that doesn’t kill us off it’ll resort to bathroom bills and bombs in Targets in Evanston and killing off every bit of representation we see on the media and when that doesn’t work? It’ll go right back to killing us publicly.
A new one to add to the list: Justine from penny dreadful. she had her neck snapped by her lover’s jealous ex boyfriend in last nights series finale
Penny Dreadful just killed Justine a bisexual character introduced this season. Had her neck snapped by dorian gray.
The Root entry isn’t really accurate… she was as much of a target by the sniper as the man was, she was just the only one who actually died. She didn’t like, throw herself in front of a sniper to save a man, she was driving a getaway car like a boss (already with one bullet wound) trying to save both of them.
(I’m pissed af so definitely not trying to rationalize the death, but I think “Saving a man from a sniper’s bullet” is a discredit to her character.)
(I know it’s total semantics, but “Killed by a sniper while trying to rescue a man” would probably be more accurate.)
You forgot to add Triana (Legend of the Seeker, 2009). She was played by Charisma Carpenter (from Buffy) and used to make out with Cara (love interest of Dahlia, already on this list). She was killed by Cara out of vengeance after Triana betrayed Cara, beat her up with fellow Mord-Sith and left her to death.
Soooo, Delphine… :)
I’m rolling my eyes so hard at all the spoiler complaints. Tbh, I’m glad it got spoiled for me b/c I can now save myself like 10 hours of tv watching.
And now all 127755458845 dead straight characters in tv shows and movies
FOR F*CKS SAKE THIS IS JUST A LIST OF TV CHARACTERS. TELEVISION. TEEVEE.
if you are going to make an absurd comment that shows a total failure to apply any logic to the situation, then AT LEAST read the title of the article.
ALSO, if this list did contain movie characters, it would be much longer and include falcon-taming lesbian superhero Paulie Oster.
We’ll leave that for you to write during your Completely Missing the Point seminar which you can then read aloud from a megaphone atop your Straight Pride Parade float.
According to statistics presented by Vox queer women make 10% of all TV deaths while queer men – 3%. An article on AfterEllen pointing at GLAAD reports stated that queer women and queer men make 2% of all TV characters each.
Which means that straight people make 96% of all TV characters and only 87% of all TV deaths.
i just wanted to tell you that charlie from supernatural actually died two times! you got the second one, but she was killed by The Wicked Witch before that (she was resurrected by the angel Gadreel). i’m still super upset about her death, she was an amazing character.
Margaery Tyrell, Game of Thrones – killed in an explosion set by her mother-in-law
Sofia in Blindspot was show to have faked her death.
Just been binge watching “Call the Midwife” series 4 while I recover from surgery. The gorgeous Patsy Mount finds her true love, a Welsh district nurse named Delia, they move in, have one happy night together-and then the object of Patsy’s desire is hit by a car on the way to work. So that’s the end of that then.
Its all very well that we are being acknowledged but how about some happy endings- or even middles- for lesbians every now and then?
Lets hear it for the end of the narrative of the tragic homosexual.
It gets better! Watch Season 5!
Sofia Varma faked her suicide and appears later on in the show.
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Y’all it is really f’ed up that you redacted Poussey’s name from this listing. I get that people are pissed about spoilers but I know I don’t have to tell you that there is an entire #SayHerName campaign for the deaths of black women in real life and Poussey Washington being reduced to a [SPOILER ALERT] while everyone else on this list gets their name AND their photo is in direct opposition to everything that I think Autostraddle stands for as a community. Please, really, consider changing how you list Poussey because right now, this feels really disrespectful, to say the least.
To those concerned about spoilers, how about you don’t look at an article specifically meant to list dead characters on shows that you watch???
The specific problem was that people update this list REALLY FAST, and her name was up here like six hours after the season dropped on Netflix. If people are going to do that, I honestly don’t mind! as long as they put a buffer sentence first so that their name doesn’t show up in the comment bar on the homepage.
Yes, we live in the age of the internet, and things are going to be spoiled. But giving us a little bit of time to watch the episodes and/or just providing a buffer sentence is common courtesy.
I think some people (like me) felt pretty strongly about this particular spoiler too because it’s such an upsetting death anyway. It was just such a bummer to be excited about the new season of the show and just be getting home from work, without time to even watch the first EPISODE, and idly opening AS’s homepage, only to be blindsided with Poussey’s name in the sidebar.
To quote Tumblr’s @decaheda: ‘a black lesbian died in a horrible, racist way. if you’re more upset about being spoiled than THAT, you need to reevaluate your priorities and check your privilege’
How do we know that Cara Thomas from Marcella was queer? Did I miss a kiss or anything else romantic with her female roommate before she died?
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Youre missing the girl from Lost and Delirious :'(
And Lexa also died in her lover’s arms
HEY RIESE YOU’RE MISSING PAULIE FROM LOST AND DELIRIOUS
Isn’t that a movie?
OMG read the tittle and introduction. Only on TV.
Hi
In episode 15 season 2 of Elementary [Spoiler] Nell Solange a queer woman is the centre of a murder investigation. Although she’s not a recurring character, she is seen in flashbacks of the episode and her relationship with another woman (her suspected killer) is explored. I’m sorry if this doesn’t suit your list. Have a great day!
Sorry if she’s there and I missed her but what about Tara from buffy shot with a bullet intended for Buffy?
Tara is on the list.
This makes me sad and angry (though I lolled at Jenny). Thanks for keeping score.
Just adding my voice to the call for Justine from Penny Dreadful to be added to the list. She was trying to start a revolution against men but had her neck broken by Dorian Gray.
Lucious didn’t poison Camilla he gave her the option of poisoning herself or going to jail for killing mimi
Allie Novak in Wentworth?
Killed because we are not allowed nice things.
I fucking check this list every single week before watching that show and yet my hopes were still sky high that this was going to end well. I know the entire point of the series is basically Bea doesn’t get nice things, but what the fuck. Seriously. UGHHHH.
Sorry I was totally wrong Allie’s not dead. It’s much worse Bea is. She should have stayed straight her life span would have been longer.
guess what happened on wentworth tonight
Here’s the article to confirm this news. http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/tv/spoiler-wentworth-has-officially-killed-off-the-character-no-one-thought-theyd-ever-kill-off/news-story/4604b34e9f189e3eaa0375d365c8d7db
So damn upset. I almost don’t want to watch any show with queer women outside of The Fosters anymore.