The "Bury Your Gays" Trope
"Bury your gays" or "dead lesbian syndrome" is a trope in the media portrayal of LGBTQ people in which queer characters face tragic fates, including death, much more often than straight characters. In recent years, audiences have heard more about the "bury your gays" trope, leading to questions about its history in Hollywood and why it's so controversial. These deaths often come shortly after the queer character is finally able to confess or act upon their sexuality, giving them a brief moment of happiness before they are extinguished. Bury Your Gays
In recent years, audiences have heard more about the "bury your gays" trope, leading to questions about its history in Hollywood and why it's so controversial. Even as LGBTQ+ representation in film has improved, LGBTQ+ narratives in film largely revolve around the concept of suffering. The son of a librarian, Chris M. Arnone's love of books was as inevitable as gravity. 
‘Bury your gays’ – the history of a negative trope
As the above has endeavored to show, the literary trope Bury Your Gays has been in continuous use in various forms of media across various genres for approximately years. Sometimes a queer character is randomly disposed of. Other times, their death is treated as a punishment.
Bury your gays
The 'Bury Your Gays' trope is found throughout cinema history. Here's a closer look at this trope and some examples from film and TV. You never have to solve your initial problem: you decided to write a lesbian character, instead of a character who happens to be a lesbian. Gay male characters were shot, beaten to death, hunted out of town, or most typically succumbed to AIDS.
The History of the Bury Your Gays Trope
The became synonymous with Bury Your Gays, arguably bringing the term into the mainstream consciousness. As a result, it seems filmmakers and showrunners are moving away from this trope. Heartstopper, Love, Simon, Bros, Schitts Creek, and Fire Island have explored the struggles LGBTQIA+ people commonly face without resorting to burying them. This could be due to a multitude of reasons, but one that sticks out is the fact that gay characters were never in a leading role, making them prime targets for a tragic end. Remember, the Hays Code was introduced in and ended in , which is also coincidentally the end of the Civil Rights Movement. 
What Is the 'Bury Your Gays' Trope? 'Bury Your Gays' Trope
The “Bury Your Gays: Dead Lesbian Syndrome” trope from these sapphic pulp novels continues today across various media. GLAAD reported that the deadliest years for queer women in media have been these past 3 years. .
5 Examples of the ‘Bury Your Gays’ Trope in TV and Film
What exactly is the "bury your gays" trope, and why is it so harmful for LGBTQIA+ representation? Here's a breakdown of the trope, its origins, and how fandom is fighting against it. . Bury Your Gays
‘Bury your gays’ – the history of a negative trope ccording to GLAAD’s annual study, last year had the highest number of LGBT+ characters played by regular or recurring actors on primetime television ever, with %, up from % in or % in .