Letās talk about the LGBT Chicagoverse... or lack thereof
When I wrote my post about Schrƶdingerās Gay, I was tempted to slip into a rant about Chicago Med. But I figured maybe that deserves its own post. So here we are.
Letās start with the one that started it all. Chicago Fire.
Back when I got into this show, it was really refreshing because Iāve never seen a law-show focused on firefighters before. That was new, exciting. And on top of that, there was a lesbian main character! Best way to bait this lesbian right here!
And I liked Leslie. Until they buried the gay and killed her off. Their only LGBT character and they killed her off. Most characters who leave that show justā¦ move away. But the lesbian had to be killed off.
And then it took them four whole seasons before introducing a new LGBT character. Like, not just a new main LGBT character. Generally there were no other LGBT characters. Leslie had been the only one.
Now, Emily Foster is the only LGBT character. But oh, weāre not actually calling her bisexual - because itās far more fun having a character hold a five page essay woth monologue describing the act of being bisexual than just having them say ābisexualā.
Not to mention the fact thatā¦ they went a bit too hard on the promiscuous bisexual trope there, since there are only three things I actually know about this character. 1.) She cheated during a test and isnāt a doctor because of that, 2.) she ādoesnāt limit herselfā (BISEXUAL THE WORD IS BISEXUAL), 3.) she sleeps around a lot.
They havenāt really done a lot to flesh her character out in this one season sheās been with us and most what she did was no-strings-attached sex.
Letās move on to what prompted this post. Chicago Med.
There are two very minor characters who are LGBT in this show.
One is Denise,Ā the trans sister of one of the main characters, Maggie Lockwood. Denise first showed up as early as season 2. For one episode, until she disappeared again until this season - two years later. Again only for one episode.
Sheās not even a recurring character. Two appearances over three seasons. They couldnāt even be bothered to have her live close and appear at least sometime.
Andā¦ personally, Iām not really sure about her plotline this season. I donāt know how others feel about this, especially not actual trans people watching it, but to me as a CIS person it was very heavy on the ātrans victim, CIS saviorā side.
See, she came back to introduce her sister to her boyfriend. And then it turns out her boyfriend is actually a transphobic asshole who used her transness to manipulate her; making her believe no one would want someone like her and she should be grateful that he āacceptsā her.
Her CIS sister then confronts him, threatens him, chases him away to get Denise out of the abusive relationship - and then act like a martyr toward Denise by not telling her about the transphobic behavior he displayed toward Maggie, so Maggie graciously took the blame for the abusive boyfriend leaving - also effectively chasing Denise away in a manner thatā¦ makes it look like we wonāt be seeing her character again in the show.
Medās other LGBT character is Terry McNeal, a minor but recurring character who was introduced this season. Literally all we got on him was that he was not very sure in his own abilities as a doctorā¦ there was never any more characterization on his part; no actual development of any friendships or other dynamics with any of the other characters, much less any romantic relationships.
And then suddenly he comes out to one of the main characters with one throwaway line. And hasnāt been seen since then; not appearing in the last six episodes of this season.
Lastly, we have Chicago PD - but actuallyā¦ we donāt. Since, even after six seasons, there has never been any LGBT character on this show.
And, okay, very technically, there is also Chicago Justice but that was canned after one season and it was genuinely so bland, I donāt even remember the characters aside from the one they took from Chicago PD and the one who after the cancellation went on to Law & Order: SVU. Iām 98% sure they were all straight, but I honestly donāt remember much about that show.
(Which is genuinely upsetting considering the Chicagoverse is from the mind that gave us the Law & Order franchise, so I would have thought Chicago Justice to be a slam-dunkā¦ alas, that is not really important here.)
Let me recap this for you:
one trans background character, who appeared in two episodes,
one minor gay character, who was introduced after three seasons, has had no romantic plotline and has inexplicably been absent since his coming out,
one lesbian main character, with whom they played ābury your gayā after only two seasons,
one āI donāt like labelsā main character, who was only introduced after four whole season without any LGBT rep in that show,
all of this in a universe that spans 4 different shows,
summing up to 383 episodes in total over the past seven years,
with a total sum of 43 main characters over the years,
but all we have to show for are 2 LGBT main characters and 2 LGBT minor/background characters? In total?
Look, this post isnāt meant to shit on the Chicagoverse. I love the Chicagoverse. I am deeply invested in these idiots, I am eager for every crossover between the shows because it means I get my idiots from different shows together.
But as a member of the LGBT community, I am justā¦ bone-tired by this kind of representation. The one thatās less about validating us and showing a realistic view into the variety of human experiences - because yes that is what that is, if only 2/43 main characters are LGBT then you are not being realistic about what our world looks like and itās quite concerning if this is what you believe to be a ārealistic quotaā - but one thatās more about āwe are fulfilling out duty, here is One Token Gay to shut you upā and itāsā¦ upsetting and troublesome and frustrating, particularly because I love this universe.
