We’ve seen LGBTQ characters portrayed as criminals, hypersexual villains, or tortured souls. Over the decades of LGBTQ stories told onscreen, there is one dominant theme: Suffering. So why have we insisted on making queer characters miserable? Here’s our Take on how this trope has dominated LGBTQ representations over the years, and whether we can get to a place where suffering isn’t always part of their story. From the “Bury Your Gays” trope that sees queer characters dying far more frequently than straight characters, to stories that foreground the struggles of LGBTQ lives, we rarely allow them to be happy. Throughout the many LGBTQ stories that have been told onscreen, there is one dominant theme: suffering.
