Stop canning our Queer shows!

Cancelling any queer show reduces the visibility of the group and can shut down discussion and support.

Source: Greta Hoffman / Pexels. 

It’s no secret a shockingly high number of LGBTQIA+ centric shows are getting cancelled left, right, and centre. The routine sees them pop up, providing an outlet for queer communities and representation on our screens before getting canned after only couple seasons, if that – sometimes all it takes is one.  

In the past few years, we’ve said goodbye to Dead Boy Detective, A League of Their Own, First Kill, Generation, Queer As Folk, I Am Not Okay With This, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies and Glamorous.  

While not all were given the chance to properly circulate among their target audiences, many of these shows received praise and trended on social media, yet it was not enough to save them from the axe of huge production companies like Netflix and BBC Studios. 

Giving LGBTQIA+ television shows a fighting chance in the world of ever-changing media and trends is fundamental for ensuring authentic representation. This means not cancelling them when they haven’t met every quota.  

“Cancellations perpetuate historic invisibility and is a real disserve to honoring these narratives,” said queer+ advocate Erin, specifically on how queer women including trans women and women of colour were left out of and discouraged from participating in liberation movements back in the 1960s.  

“Based on some of the queer perspectives uncovered through my PhD research, I’d say we might be seeing an intentional shift away from LGBTQ dominated shows, in favour of more integrated representation,” Erin said. 

“The idea being that our sexuality is not monolith, and in fact, ‘queerness’ exists across every facet of society and should be viewed this way.”  

There are a number of reasons as to why these shows are disappearing, with some linked to a lack of financial success, and continuous viewership. But there are other patterns driving these cancellations, specifically around the shift away from singular representation to satisfy a broader majority. This can have positives to it, such as integrated representation which can be more long-term.  

“The constant cancellation is so upsetting. Some of the best queer media only gets given one or two seasons, and everyone gets so invested in the visibility … The censorship of queer media is so rife,” Avo (they/them) said.  

However, past and current shows centred around the Rainbow community have been massively impactful to everyday queer people, teaching life lessons that may have been obscured in more heteronormative mainstream television. 

“‘Feel Good’ is a really good lesbian show! It goes into a bit of depth of family issues and a lot into drug use. It’s a really good show to learn from,” Nikhita (she/they) said.  

Avo and Nikhita noted media like Sex Education and Heartstopper were essential to helping them understand various aspects of queer life and mental health, and that they portray real life issues in a relatively realistic way.  

“Everyone wants to see themselves on screen,” Nikhita said. 

A noticeable pattern that has been picked up on by the public, and news outlets, is that so many sapphic shows are getting cancelled, and that this hinders certain inclusivity in media. ‘Sapphic’ is an umbrella term that refers to women or women-identifying individuals who are attracted to other women. 

In an interview given to THEM, Deadline associate editor Valerie Complex directed the issue toward “misogyny and lesbophobia.”  

“I do notice a lot more male/male relationships on screen. It tends to be shown first before sapphic relationships, they’re more of a secondary addition often. Hopefully there can be more visibility of positive sapphic relations on screen,” Nikhita said.   

“While we’ve seen a significant increase in the amount of queer shows and characters overall, what is less noticeable are queer BIPOC storylines. I believe, as with BIPOC representation in general, the entertainment industry still has a long way to go,” Erin told Canta. 

“Until there is representation from these lived experiences in every room; from head of production down to the on-set runners, I am not sure how we’ll achieve sustained visibility.” 

There are important shows that exist to tell stories of underrepresented groups. Steven Universe has a character that is canonically intersex, and Owl House – which has unfortunately been cancelled – introduced various queer characters and relationships in a subtle way to begin with, developing them throughout its’ run.  

But there is still a massive gap. 

“Even in this day, there is a huge lack of queer and disability [representation], as well as other minorities. This needs to change,” Nikhita said. 

Regarding future steps, there should be a focus on integrating more cultural diversity into these queer shows, to ensure further visibility. 

The reality of having LGBTQIA+ characters integrated into shows is about amplifying their voices, and creating an overall environment that represents multiple demographics. There is a spectrum to queer and gender identity, and so many different ways that the community can engage with this. 

It’s not a one size fits all, and there is so much work left to do.