Their Importance: Ennis and Jack’s story of navigating their complex relationship over the course of 20 years is widely considered to be a major turning point in queer visibility on film. Jack and Ennis are shown to be flawed but ultimately caring lovers, something which makes their romance realistic and engaging. The film had box office and critical success and proved that there was a wider audience interested in queer stories.
Issues: Content-wise, both characters have to deal with homophobia and the story depicts a homophobic hate crime.
Their Importance: Never would I have thought that a weekly live sketch show could give me such good and consistent gay rep, but Seth and Stefon were such a delight to watch on Weekend Update. On their segments, we got to see them talking to each other, flirting, and eventually falling in love - even getting married and having children together. Even after Bill Hader and Seth Meyers left SNL, on later guest appearances/hosting episodes, the characters will sometimes return, and we get mentions of their lives together (Seth Meyers even gave more backstory and canon for the two’s life in one of his Q&As).Â
Honestly, these two are better, more positive LGBTQ+ representation than I’ve seen on other, long-running “serious” shows, and it’s really nice watching two mlm characters fall in love and have a happy story without any suffering or torture.Â
Issues: Stefon’s character uses the word “midget” for little people in most of his appearances. This only changes in his most recent appearances on the show, (one where he’s told the term isn’t acceptable to use, and the most recent one where he states that he doesn’t want to be offensive and uses “little person” instead).
Their Importance: Dean and Cas are two characters that many in fandom viewed as LGBTQIA+, with the common belief being that Dean Winchester is bisexual.Â
There’s a lot about Supernatural and Destiel, and Dean in general, which I’ll go over in the “issues” section, but I think many people in fandom didn’t expect for the show to actually go anywhere with them - until 15x18, when Cas confesses his love to Dean. It’s riddled with issues, yes, but just speaking as a bi girl who’s been watching Supernatural for a decade now, watching Cas confess his love for Dean was just so incredibly validating. It validated that I - and other fans - weren’t delusional when looking for representation from Cas (and Dean). Cas is a wonderful character and gave a new life to the show, and has been a fixture of the show for 10 years. While like with every character he has his ups and downs, he is a kind, loving character, and the only main character who actually survives the show. Despite the issues on the show, knowing that Cas is canonically LGBT+ is something that’s comforting and validating to me, and continues to be so even as Supernatural kind of trainwrecks around everything else.Â
For myself, watching the show, I saw a lot of myself and my journey in Dean. Watching him grow and develop as a character, and try to experience happiness and find comfort in his found family was wonderful for me to see. I started this show when I was a young closeted kid, and I clung to Dean in a way that I didn’t fully understand until years later. I didn’t actually expect him to be explicitly mlm in the show, and for the most part, that didn’t happen - until the Spanish dub. There, we see the romantic reciprocation to Cas, and that’s something that is real and cannot be taken away. In fact, although it was said that it was a “rogue” translator, the episode will not be redubbed, so it is canon in a version of the show. Despite the fact that he didn’t get canonized in a way I expected or would have ever hoped, it still does give me some joy to know that he is canonically LGBT+ (and in my opinion, bi, although there is no actual label given to Dean). Even if it’s not in the version of the show I watched, I can go back and watch the Spanish dub of the episode and see that representation happen onscreen, and that means something to me.Â
Issues: The issues list for this show is a mile long, so I’ve split it up into sections and put most of it under a read more:
Dean + Canon Rep: Trying to wade through if Dean is actually canonically LGBTQ+ was....a struggle, to say the least, and I almost didn’t put him into this submission. If you watch the show in English, Dean never once actually reciprocates feelings for Cas, states that he’s into men, or is even confirmed to be in a relationship with other men. Although for many, it is implied, the average audience member may not see Dean as canonically LGBTQ+. However, in the Spanish dub of the show, when Castiel confesses his love to Dean (which is an explicit romantic “I love you”), Dean says “y yo a ti”, which is a reciprocation of Cas’s romantic confession. This post is very long as it is, so I want to link to @destielintheimpala’s timeline of events that occurred for Supernatural and I think it best lays out all the issues about 15x18-20, why it’s been so difficult trying to figure out Dean’s sexuality in canon, why fandom is upset, and can clear up any misinformation. This situation also goes into queerbaiting quite a bit (something Supernatural is infamously known for), which you can read in this article from @thecoolestfreakyouknow.Â
Reading Dean as a queer character as well - having a character who is queer (or queercoded) and an abuse survivor and then immediately killing him off is also a huge problem. As mentioned in the link above, Jensen Ackles himself felt uneasy about Dean’s ending, and many Dean fans felt the same way. To have a character suffer through abuse and traumas for 15 seasons, imply or straight out have him be LGBT+ (depending on the canon), and then immediately killing him off in the finale is needless to say, an odd choice.Â
Also, with Dean being an abuse survivor - his father, John Winchester, is commonly shown to be neglectful throughout the show, and Dean has to raise his younger brother Sam by himself most times. He expresses trauma from the experiences he’s had growing up with their father and being forced to hunt at a young age. However, the show weirdly seems to flip flop on their portrayal of John, despite also specifically stating that what he put his children through was child abuse. They have Sam telling John that he did the best he could, they have characters excusing away John’s actions, etc. - it was like the writers themselves couldn’t figure out if they wanted John to have been an abusive parent or not. The show ends with John in Heaven with Mary - thus absolving John of his actions and putting him in the same Heaven with the children he abused.Â
Castiel: Cas confesses his love for Dean in 15x18, but gets dragged away to a void called “The Empty” immediately afterwards, where he’s meant to be suffering for all of eternity. Cas does get out of The Empty, and even helps to rebuild Heaven - he’s actually one of the few characters to survive the finale - but he never appears onscreen again after 15x18, so fans’ last image of him is getting dragged away to The Empty. Dean never has a follow-up conversation, and there was only one line referencing Cas’s fate, so many fans believed he was still in The Empty suffering.
As the timeline linked above shows, the situation around Destiel is an odd one - the Spanish dub, cast’s overall silence, the lack of Misha Collins in the finale all led fans to believe that something was switched around last minute in terms of Dean’s sexuality and Destiel as a general ship. Obviously, this is speculation unless someone from the show explicitly comes out and says that fans are correct, but it’s included in the issues section because - regardless of it it turns out to be true or not - it’s such a big part of the issues currently surrounding Supernatural and canon representation. In any case, however, Castiel’s confession in 15x18 gave fans hope where they may not have had hope before, and then it was unceremoniously dropped with no real follow up - from a writing standpoint, it isn’t good writing to confirm a major character as queer via a love confession and then never go back to that plot point. While I’m happy that Cas is canonically queer and I’m not trying to say that I would rather not have more representation, I do look back on the show and wonder, with the story that made it to screen, what the actual point of writing that in was.Â
As mentioned before, Castiel was a main character on the show for 10 years - while I’m glad that his character survives the series, to not have him show up in the final two episodes (particularly the finale, and especially after canonically making him LGBTQ+) felt like a slap in the face to both the character and the audience who loved him.Â
Miscellaneous treatment of characters: In general, Supernatural has many problems in its treatment of female, characters of color, and LGBTQ+ characters. Alongside being incredibly underrepresented in the show, if they do show up, they are commonly tortured, treated poorly, and/or killed off (if not all of the above). Even thinking about their recurring characters who are also representative - Kevin, their only recurring Asian character, is killed off and appears as a ghost multiple times, Charlie, who is a lesbian, gets killed off and replaced in the show with an Alternate Universe version of herself, Eileen, a Deaf woman, gets killed off and then is brought back and is implied to survive the show, but like Cas, never actually shows up in the final two episodes even though she’s Sam’s girlfriend. I can think of very few minority characters in the show in general, much less those who got any type of happy ending.Â
Their Importance: Unusually for a podcast and a piece of LGBTQIA+-related media it’s explicitly aimed at young children. Notably, it doesn’t talk down to or preach to the audience. The growing relationship between Rupert and Amir is set out like the classic Disney fairy tale that any kid will recognize and it doesn’t feel the need to stop and explain that, yes two boys can fall in love, it’s taken for granted that the kids will understand.
While there’s a lot of opposition to their relationship from their families and there’s plenty of plot obstacles before they finally get to be together it has nothing to do with homophobia and everything to do with them being from two different kingdoms with a history of conflict. Also, the budding relationship between them, from the initial antagonism and mistaken identities that slowly turns to deep bond impervious to any magical interference as they’re forced to depend on each other to make it through the forest is frankly adorable. It’s a pretty well-done example of the “bitter rivals to lovers” plot point that heterosexual couples have run into the ground.
An episode in the 2nd season explicitly confirmed that Rupert is gay and Amir is MLM when Amir briefly falls under the spell of a siren while Rupert is immune.  LGBTQIA–related media can be very white so having one of the protagonists being visibly dark-skinned is great as well (his mother, Queen Atossa is pretty badass as well).
Their Importance: A major part of the first season is the deeply moving messages he sends to his husband Alexandre which is the main source of emotional moments. Also, having a male/male relationship as a major center of a story with no mention of homophobia or indication that it’s unusual still isn’t common enough.
Their Importance: In the 2nd season we also hear his responses to his husband’s messages, which shows just how strong and deep their relationship is. His heritage is relevant as he frequently quotes poets from the same background in his recordings and he also has several lines of Portuguese. In the 2nd season he talks extensively about suffering depression after a trauma and seeing a therapist to help resolve it which is presented as a completely normalised thing. He’s also nonbinary as is shown in the episode descriptor where he’s stated to use both he and they pronouns.
Character: Ashwini Ray
Reprsentation:Â Nonbinary
Their Importance: Zei’s eccentric and reclusive and morally ambigious in a genuinely cnvincing and interesting way. Having a nonbinary character who use neopronouns (ze/zir) who is just another member of the crew is still unusual, particularly for AMAB people. Ze also gets a good line about respecting other people’s pronouns. Ze’s also voiced by a nonbinary voice actor.
Character: Michelle L’anglois
Representation: Trans man
Their Importance: The hot-headed and blunt head of security. A lot of the stories with trans characters cast them as helpless victims so having a more domineering, passionate character who is also, frankly quite a jerk a lot of the time was refreshing. Having a trans male character who’s a bit older and in a position of authority was also a The fact that he’s had little done to physically transition and has a more feminine-sounding voice is never used to invalidate his identity. He’s also voiced by a trans voice actor.
Issues: A major part of his backstory is based around an incident where he was subjected to friendly fire motivated by transphobia
Their Importance: She’s the only alloaro** I’ve seen in anything. Contrary to stereotype she is a kind person and has fondness for her past partners even without romantic attachment and is mentioned to have much-adored children of her own. This is particularly significant as Alloaros are particularly popular targets of vitriol as they’re commonly assumed to be cold and manipulative to sexual partners and incapable of deep emotional relationships at all. She explains her orientation with a beautiful colour metaphor in the 5th episode of season 2.Â
**Does not desire romantic attraction while still desiring sex.
Issues: She tragically dies in an accident mid-way through the series. One of her focus scenes is her recalling a past attempt at a romantic relationship with an a(ro)phic partner who attempted to intimidate her over her orientation.
Their Importance: Wilder is just about the only crew member free of major angst and dysfunction (mostly). She’s another casually portrayed nonbinary character who goes by “they” a well as “she” pronouns. Another prominent part of her characterisation is her tinkering with her prosthetic arm. Unlike most other depictions of sci-fi prosthetics she still has realistic, relatable disabilities like pain in the affected limb and having to carefully monitor the prosthetic in case of malfunction. In episode 8 of the second season she conforms that she’s “gay as hell” and she also speaks fondly about the two women she’ in a triad with which is implied to be a normal part of the setting.
Issues: As the official description calls it as a “sci-fi tragedy” you can guess that there’s an overall pessimistic atmosphere and strong implications of an unhappy ending (though we still have another season to go).
Their Importance: He’s off-handedly noted to be asexual by his ex-girlfriend and what with all the horror going on there’s no time to angst or base plotlines about it (everything else I’ve read with canon ace characters make a huge deal of it so it’s a welcome variation for me). While he can be incredibly cold and detached (also hilariously socially awkward at points) and slides into very morally dubious territory as the story unfolds but it’s very clear this is nothing to do with his sexuality (the creeping supernatural influence and generally god-awful situation the heroes are in is not helping). Yet in the climax of season four, he rescues Martin from being consumed by The Lonely - it’s a bit complex but essentially he did it with the metaphysical power of love which is a plot I’ve never seen done with an aspec character. It’s a very heartfelt twist on the formula.
Character: Martin Blackwood
Representation: MLM
Their Importance: Again there’s a casual reveal with no sexuality-based plots or angst about it. He starts off mainly restricted to an emotional support/caretaker role which is a potential gay stereotype but he quickly becomes way more active with a host of strengths and tragedies of his own. He also reveals he has romantic feelings for Jon and accepts they’re unlikely to be requited (*at the time of submission). Unlike the many other things with unrequited love in it, this also isn’t a massive source of angst by itself which also goes against the usual” tragic queer” plotlines. Though the end of season four strongly hints that their relationship may be about to be upgraded (update: after this submission was sent into the blog, the character is as of now in a canon romantic relationship with a man).Â
Issues: Rep-wise nothing, but you practically need an individual wiki just for listing the wide range of horror-related potential triggers (thankfully they outline them in each episode description). The creators have also strongly implied that there might not be a happy ending for all the heroes.
Note: The two remaining characters are under a read more due to their representation not being canon as of the general rules of this blog. I decided not to delete them off this post, but based on the information/responses I have, their names have been taken off the submitted characters list, and I recommend reading this post for the canon/fanon representation on the characters.
Character: Basira Hussain
Representation: WLW*
Their Importance: It initially looks like she’s going to be another generic cop who’s blind to the supernatural, but it quickly becomes clear this is not the case. In fact, she’s a total badass. More specifically she’s incredibly intelligent and thinks nothing of facing off against eldritch abominations that humans can barely comprehend, winning several bouts. There are still way too few female Muslim and Asian characters more action-y side of things. Again there’s so sexual or cultural angst and no suggestion that being a wlw and a Muslim* are incompatible. While frequently brutal her undisguised devotion to Daisy is deeply humanizing (also for the podcast in general which can be very grim).Â
Character: Alice “Daisy” Tonner
Representation: wlw*
Their Importance: She’s also pretty badass considering that she started off with no knowledge of the supernatural threats the Institute face and manages to survive several situations no human is supposed to. Her relationship with Basira is one of the few mundane, domestic and sweet aspects of this story which is a flip of the old stereotypes.Â
Issues: Most of the “badass” moments described in this submission have been pointed out to be linked with police brutality.Â
Their Importance: A lot of the recent examples of LGBTIA+ characters in children’s media are still disguised in some way so having Mitch outright gush about his boyfriend was a pleasant surprise. He completely lacks any stereotypical attributes and while he’s an ally to the kid heroes he isn’t a completely flawless token character, being comically dim and is initially unwilling to help the titular Norman because he believes what the bigoted townsfolk say about him, though he’s still largely sweet-natured.
Issue: It’s not the fault of the original film-makers, but a lot of dubs change boyfriend to girlfriend. Also, as a potential trigger warning, Paranorman is probably one of the darkest kid’s film to ever exist with some truly brutal examples of ostracism and violence being aimed at the child protagonists.  Â
Their Importance: This short is completely kid-friendly and is very light and optimistic in tone, which is still frustratingly uncommon for LGBTIA+ media. Sherman’s crush on his oblivious classmate Jonathon is presented an endearing, cartoony similar to more conventional romances in kid’s media. When he’s inadvertently outed Jonathon comforts him, making it clear that he has no issues with his crush. It’s left ambiguous whether he returns his affections but it’s still a straightforward happy ending.
