Quotes / Preserve Your Gays

Luffy: "I thought you died after you sacrificed yourself to save us!"
Bon Clay: "Nonsense, Queers never die."

— One Piece

"In all the films, the transvestites hang themselves twenty minutes in. No, let’s have all the alternative sexuality people who are existing at the end of the film and all the straight people are dead—we’re in there with the feral dogs."

—Eddie Izzard in an interview

new trope: lesbians that live through literally anything, to the point of hilarity. lesbian brings a knife to a gun fight, wins.

— A Twitter user who is entirely sick of "Bury Your Gays"

lets make a new trope: gay characters who are actually seemingly impossible to kill to the point that all of their enemies are comically frustrated. functionally immortal gay characters. being gay making you immortal. unkillable gay trope.

— A Tumblr user who feels the same way

Arizona: I survived a plane crash. Big deal.

Steph: And a car crash. And a shooting. You might be immortal.

— Grey's Anatomy

"Gay people don't need any more screen martyrs."

—Howard Rosenman

every other show: bury your gays! you got gays? gotta bury 'em, gays can't be happy!
black sails: unbury your gays! bitch you thought we killed him, but he's alive! Here, take this super gay finale while you're at it, too, make ALL THE GAYS happy! Oh wait what's this?? One more gay for the road, guys, you've earned it

— A tumblr user explaining the premise of Black Sails

Wynonna Earp

• lesbian character’s car gets attacked by a serial killer; she survives
• lesbian character gets shot in front of girlfriend but is saved by the bulletproof vest she’s wearing; she survives
• lesbian character gets bitten venemously, literally every other character on the show drops what they were doing to find an antidote, often at personal cost/pain; she survives
• lesbian character detonates a barn full of explosives while standing inside it with her girlfriend and another gay character in an alternate dimension; all three of them survive and save the day while pretty much every straight character died along the way
  — A Tumblr user breaking down a show that uses the trope well

"It tells the story of a down-on-their-luck LGBT protagonist who has an aim in life. But in order to achieve that aim, they must overcome a series of increasingly difficult obstacles. On overcoming these obstacles, they not only achieve their initial goal, but also become a richer, wiser and happier person in the process. But then … wait for it … in a wild and crazy twist that the audience never sees coming … they don't die."

—The Guardian, Why are gay characters at the top of Hollywood's kill list?

Often in fiction, bad stuff happens to gay ladies, and then the narrative just gives up on them. That’s the end! That’s it! Buh-bye. Meanwhile, stories bend over backwards with supernatural zeal to keep straight folks happy and together with whatever love interest they met five minutes ago. I wanted to subvert the shit outta that. So bad stuff is happening to Becky, but the narrative says Fuck No. Her dad’s attacked by her girlfriend in the woods. Her dad is followed by her best friend and somebody else on a friggin’ motorcycle. Her dad is hunted down by a goddamned SUPERHERO. And they all work together, somewhat unwittingly, to shut that jackass down. Physics is bruised a bit, but that’s the point. That’s the subversion. Becky’s not going down. The universe will melt in the face of her. And she will get that shining final moment with her father where she backs away, all grins, double birds. The last word. Because goddammit, she gets to win this time. Fuck you, dad! God answers lesbian prayers.

— David Willis on Dumbing of Age

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