Someone called for examples of straightwashed characters in media and the gays are wasting no time

We all know that when it comes to giving queer characters complex, full, embodied storylines, the media of the past often fumbles the ball. Whether we’re talking about how horribly Tara was treated on Buffy, Roland Emmerich’s Stonewall, or that one time Samantha tried her hand at bisexuality, we’ve got examples on examples on examples that stay locked in our minds rent-free.

But the worst misdemeanor of all, I think we can agree, is when movies and TV shows try to override a queer character’s sexuality by pairing them off with a hetero life-mate. Straightwashing is real, and unfortunately, it’s in just about every piece of media from before 2018. You know exactly what we’re talking about, and so does Twitter.

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When the fantastic user @cinesthetic put out a call for examples of queer characters that writers forced into heterosexual relationships, the gays showed up in full force, as usual.

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Time and again, we’ve watched characters that are obviously big flaming homos get relegated to the straight sidelines. So let’s start with some of the worst offenders…

Sharpay and Ryan deserved FAR better than…each other.

These two of course…

And who could forget the heterosexual hoops they made these O.C. characters go through just to distract from their obvious chemistry. They gave Mischa Barton a gay arc but not these two?

If you weren’t emotionally scarred by the force-femming of nonbinary icon Ally Sheedy in The Breakfast Club, don’t talk to me or look at me.

Daria fans,…if you know, you know.

The fact that they paired these two Star Wars gays with each other proves that straight math is inherently wrong.

And what on Earth were they trying to do with obvious lesbian Sasha in The Walking Dead? What, you’re telling me there are no gay people in the zombie apocalypse??

These Glee characters had zero chemistry (with each other)

And we’re still waiting for someone to explain what happened with these two in The Flash…

Bring It On could have been Get It On.

And if you think Road House is about straight people, brother you’d be wrong!

Grey’s Anatomy has committed so many acts of treason and this is merely one of them!

And we cannot and SHANNOT forget Rizzoli & Isles, aka Queerbaiting: The Series.

These two Outer Banks gays should have been allowed to live out their best gay lives!

So many tragedies, so many examples, so much wasted potential.