Lena Waithe’s Next Project? ‘A Show Where A Black Gay Woman Is The Lead’

The Secret might not be real, but that won’t stop me from envisioning the shit out of Lena Waithe’s idea for a new TV show.

Basking in the glow of her recent Emmy win, the star and co-writer of Master of None’s incredible “Thanksgiving” episode sat down with The Daily Beast to talk about being the first black woman to win Outstanding Writing for a Comedy Series and what’s next. Winning the award feels “like a dream come true,” she told the outlet, but there are still a bunch of dreams she’s yet to realize.

“We do still have a long way to go,” Waithe said. “I want to create a show where a black gay woman is the lead, where she is the protagonist, she is the person whom we are following.”

In case the importance of this kind of show isn’t immediately apparent, consider the fact that only 41 of the 278 (~15%) of the queer and trans characters counted in GLAAD’s most recent report on LGBTQ inclusion on TV are black. Even fewer of them are women, and even fewer than that are female protagonists.

Off the top of my head, the only queer black female protagonist I can think of who’s on TV right now is Queen Sugar’s Nova Bordelon (Rutina Wesley). The other characters that come to mind, like Waithe’s Denise on Master of None and Amanita Caplan (Freema Agyeman) from the recently canceled (but sorta not dead) Sense8, are all side players in another more major character’s story.

“I’m writing something. Yep, yep, yep, I’m working on it,” Waithe added. “I hope we can make it happen.”

Seems like a much better use of HBO’s money than Confederate!!