Burying the ‘Bury Your Gays’ Trope

Why the ‘Bury Your Gays’ Trope Needs to Be Buried

Mainstream media has hit a milestone in LGBTQ+ representation, with many more characters with queer identities in filmand tv. However, if you watch shows with LGBTQ+ characters, you might also be aware of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope. This trope refers to the disproportionate killing of LGBTQ+ characters in media, which has become increasingly common as representation has increased. With this representation in media, many fans have started discussing the harm of this trope and the importance of happy endings for queer characters. Around the 1930s, the public perception of homosexuality was rampantly negative. This negative representation was only perpetuated by the filmand tv industry. Industry guidelines such as, the Hays Code, which prohibited of any depictions of “sexual perversion” were used as a reason to exclude LGBTQ+ identities. The only LGBTQ+ characters that were shown in filmand tv were either presented as villains, deviants or diseased.

While portrayals of gay characters in the media became more empathetic during the AIDS crisis, they still predominantly shone a spotlight on their suffering rather than their happiness and focused on their deaths rather than their lives. Although they encouraged a more positive view towards the community, these depictions were problematic because not only did they strip them of their humanity, but younger queer people only saw themselves represented in characters who suffered because of their identity. Unfortunately, this representation set a precedent for the future of LGBTQ+ characters in the media.

Although the number of gay characters has increased, the type and quality of representation hasn’t progressed as far as it needs to. Many of these queer characters are still white, cisgender gay men which still leaves a number of identities underrepresented. Furthermore, the role LGBTQ+ characters take up is important. Stories with queer characters at the centre tend to be ‘coming out stories’ where we explore the protagonists coming to terms with their identity. As these stories revolve around queer protagonists, the characters are ‘safe’ from the trope. However, they remain stories focusing on the shame and suffering that comes with grappling your sexual/gender identity, reducing the LGBTQ+ experience to their suffering. The prevalence of these stories is troublesome considering LGBTQ+ members of the audience will only see themselves reflected in characters who suffer.

Media which does not focus on LGBTQ+ identity tends to push its queer characters into secondary roles, where characters are not as important to the plot and can be killed off hence the rise in discussion around the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope. The screenwriters that have been accused of this trope defend the deaths by vouching for “equal-opportunity killing”, where queer characters are just as likely to be killed as non-LGBTQ+ characters. However, as there tend to be fewer gay characters than straight characters, the ratio of deaths is visibly unequal. To truly understand the significance of LGBTQ+ characters, we must refer to stories with queer characters and their common tragic ends. How is it fair to keep killing characters for the sake of shock value, when queer viewers are constantly stripped of characters to look up to?

Ultimately, representation matters. The younger generations of the LGBTQ+ community need positive representation, characters who get happy endings and grow to be the fully realised heroes / heroines of their own stories. There will be no progression if screenwriters don’t start to acknowledge the ‘Bury Your Gays’ trope, giving both LGBTQ+ characters and viewers a real chance at a happy ending. words by: Catarina Vicente design by: Sebastian Jose artwork by: Amelia Field