19 People In The TV Industry The LGBTQ Community is Thankful For

Image via Syfy

It’s 2016 and LGBTQ+ stories are still highly underrepresented in the media, but I’m choosing to be thankful for the stories we do have.

What a year, people. There’s been death after death in the world of queer TV. There’ve been too many writers who kill off queer characters for dramatic effect, or to further the plot of a straight character. It’s just expected at this point. And if I may, I would like to speak for the entire LGBTQ+ community and say “we’re f*cking sick of it.”

But that’s enough negativity for one article.

It’s November. This is a month about what we’re thankful for, so that’s exactly what I’m going to talk about. I’m bringing you the writers, creators, producers, and people behind the scenes who are getting it right– the ones who don’t treat LGBTQ+ like they’re disposable, like they’re unnecessary, like they aren’t’ deserving of a strong story. Because those are the people I want to be talking about. Those are the people who are changing the game of representation on television.

Far too often, fans and fandoms of TV shows put only the actors and actresses on a pedestal. Now, I’m to blame for this too. Give me Syfy’s Wynonna Earp and I’ll gush and rave over Nicole Haught (Kat Barrell) and Waverly Earp (Dominique Provost-Chalkley) all damn day. Oh, did you mention Carmilla? I’m ALL about the heart eyes Carmilla Karnstein (Natasha Negovanlis) and Laura Hollis (Elise Bauman) deserve. How about The Fosters? Stef (Teri Polo) and Lena (Sherri Saum) are total mom goals, through and through.

But what about the people behind these characters? What about the people writing the quirks, and the habits, and the story arcs we’ve all come to love and adore and obsess over? Because they are the ones making it all possible, fighting for those who can’t fight for themselves.

So, to them- to the writers, to the creators, to the producers, to the people behind the scenes:

Thank you.