People die. Characters die. This is perhaps life’s most unfortunate fact: that people will die and leave the rest of us behind. It’s incredibly rare that any dramatic television series lasting over three seasons will never kill a main or recurring character, and all those deaths have driven a stake through the heart of fandom: Joyce on Buffy, Lady Sybil on Downton Abby, Charlie on Lost, Ned Stark on Game of Thrones, Jen on Dawson’s Creek, Nate on Six Feet Under — but when the person who dies is a lesbian or bisexual character, queer fandom takes it pretty hard.
The history of lesbian representation on television is rocky — in the beginning, we seemed exclusively relegated to roles that saw us getting killed/attacked or doing the killing/attacking. And until the last five or so years, lesbian and bisexual characters seemed entirely unable to date an actual woman or stay alive for more than three episodes, let alone an entire run, of a show. Gay and lesbian characters are so often murdered on television that we have our very own trope: Bury Your Gays. We comprise such a teeny-tiny fraction of characters on television to begin with that killing us off so haphazardly feels especially cruel.
Not every death listed below was wholly uncalled for. In many genres, like soap operas and shows about vampires, zombies, criminals, or games of thrones, characters are killed on the reg. That’s a different trope — Anyone Can Die. Furthermore, shows composed entirely of queer characters will inevitably kill one. But regardless, they still add to the body count weighing down our history of misrepresentation.
And, due to the recent untimely death of Lexa on The 100, this week seemed like a good one to count down everybody we have lost over the years.
This list contains every television death of an OPENLY lesbian or bisexual or queer female character on a television show. With a handful of exceptions, these are all characters who appeared for more than one episode. The exceptions were deemed exceptional because something about the characterization still fits in with the Bury Your Gays trope. Victims-of-the-week from crime procedurals (Law & Order, Cold Case, CSI, Criminal Minds or older shows) or patients-of-the-week from hospital dramas (Chicago Hope, E.R.), aren’t on this list, as that is an entirely different kind of list, but recurring characters from those shows are on this list. Nor is subtext on this list, because we’re not gonna give Xena showrunners Queer Character Credit for a character they refused to make openly queer when she was really so obviously queer. You know? [ETA: Okay, I’ve added Xena after doing further research and because if one more commenter takes up space on this thread — a thread I’m using to find more characters to add, and also to engage with thoughtful/funny readers who have opinions and feelings — to tell me that I “forgot” Xena without reading this introduction, I will become the 200th dead lesbian and the cause of death will be “Walked off a cliff with a commenter in her arms. Murder-suicide.” But Xena will be the one and only inclusion based on subtext.] Also, although I’ve done tons of research, I haven’t personally seen all of these shows, so mistakes may very well exist, and feel free to politely inform me of them in the comments, or tell me about characters I may have missed — it’s especially helpful if you can tell me the cause of death and the year.
Unsure if this needs to be said but… SPOILER ALERT.
Special thanks to the LezWatchTV Database for providing info on shows I haven’t seen or heard about directly!
Every Regular or Recurring Lesbian or Bisexual Female Character Killed On Television
Julie, Executive Suite (1976)
Cause of death: Hit by a car. Her love interest had just walked into traffic after realizing her lesbianism and Julie was chasing her.
Franky Doyle, Prisoner: Cell Block H (1980)
Cause of death: Shot by a police officer after escaping from prison
Sharon Gilmour, Prisoner: Cell Block H (1980)
Cause of death: Pushed down the stairs by a corrections officer
Karen O’Malley, Casualty (1987)
Cause of death: Head Injury
Cecília, Vale Tudo (1988)
Cause of death: Car Accident
Cicely, Northern Exposure (1992)
Cause of death: Shot by a gunman employed by the town’s evil overlord who doesn’t want to let the lesbians change his town. The shot was intended for her girlfriend Roslyn, but Cicely, who was already sick, blocked the bullet and died in Roslyn’s arms, thus magically healing the town’s long-simmering feuds and leading them to re-name the town “Cicely.”
Talia Winters, Babylon 5 (1995)
Cause of death: Activated a sleeper personality that wiped out her actual personality, effectively killing her
Beth Jordache, Brookside (1995)
Cause of death: Genetic heart condition, died in prison
Susan Ross, Seinfeld (1996)
Cause of death: Toxic envelope glue
Naomi “Tracy” Richards, Band of Gold (1996)
Cause of death: Stabbed herself
Lucy, The Fortunes and Misfortunes of Moll Flanders (1996)
Cause of death: Caught thieving and hanged
Kathy, NYPD Blue (1997)
Cause of death: Shot by a hit man hired by her girlfriend Abby’s ex, who wanted to get rid of Kathy so she could get back together with Abby. Abby was pregnant at the time.
Sondra Westwood, Pacific Drive (1997)
Cause of death: Murdered by a serial killer
Jadzia Dax, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1998)
Cause of death: Blasted by an alien-possessed alien
Sonia Besirky, Lindenstraße (1998)
Cause of death: Drug overdose from medication given to her by her ex-lover’s husband
Leila and Rafaela, Torre de Babel (1998)
Cause of death: Explosion in a shopping mall
Susanne Teubner, Hinter Gittern (1999)
Cause of death: Shot during a bank robbery (she was a customer)
Shaz Wiley, Bad Girls (2000)
Cause of death: Bomb, died in resulting fire
Laura Hall, Shortland Street (2000)
Cause of death: Heart attack
Diamond, Dark Angel (2001)
Cause of death: Used as a lab rat for research that killed her
Xena, Xena the Warrior Princess (2001)
Cause of death: Beheaded
Beate “Bea” Hansen, Hinter Gittern (2001)
Cause of death: Injuries from an explosion
Jule Neumann, Hinter Gittern (2001)
Cause of death: Suicide
Frankie Stone, All My Children (2001)
Cause of death: Murder Mystery!
Bridgit, 24 (2001)
Cause of death: Shot by a man in front of her girlfriend
Tara Maclay, Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2002)
Cause of death: Shot in the heart by a stray bullet
Kelly Hurst, Family Affairs (2002)
Cause of death: Pushed down the stairs by her lover’s husband
Megan Hartnoll, At Home With The Braithwaites (2003)
Cause of death: Electrocuted in the bathtub
Juliet Becker, The Bill (2003)
Cause of death: Stabbed
Tina Greer, Smallville (2003)
Cause of death: Impaled through the chest on a large piece of wood during a fight with a male character
Sandy Lopez, E.R. (2004)
Cause of death: Injuries sustained from fighting a fire in an abandoned warehouse
Al Mackenzie, Bad Girls (2004)
Cause of death: Poisoned
Hanna Novak, Verbotene Liebe (2004)
Cause of death: Stroke, died in her girlfriend’s arms
Ines Führbringer, Hinter Gittern (2004)
Cause of death: Throat slit, died in girlfriend’s arms
Thelma Bates, Hex (2004)
Cause of death: Murdered by a demon
Flora, Deadwood (2004)
Cause of death: Beaten by a man who then forced a woman to shoot her with his gun
Brenda Castillo, Charmed (2004)
Cause of death: Stabbed with a cursed blade by a man, causing her to rapidly age and then die
Tosha, The Wire (2004)
Cause of death: Shot during a heist gone wrong
Marissa Cooper, The O.C. (2005)
Cause of death: Car crash after being driven off the road by her drunk ex-boyfriend
Servilla, Rome (2005)
Cause of death: Stabs herself in front of her rival house, inhabited by the mother of her lover
Dusty, Queer As Folk (2005)
Cause of death: At a benefit at a gay club when a bomb went off
Dana Fairbanks, The L Word (2006)
Cause of death: Breast cancer
Helena Cain, Battlestar Galactica (2006)
Cause of death: Shot by her ex-lady-lover
Manuela Wellmann, Hinter Gittern (2006)
Cause of death: Stabbed, died in girlfriend’s arms
Maya Robertson, Hex (2006)
Cause of death: Hit by a car
Natalie, Bad Girls (2006)
Cause of death: Bludgeoned to death with a brick
Gina Inviere/#6, Battlestar Galactica (2006)
Cause of death: Set off a nuclear weapon
Eve Jacobson/Zoe McAllister, Home & Away (2006)
Cause of death: Inside a building when it was blown up
Van, Dante’s Cove (2006)
Cause of Death: Killed by the Shadows
Angie Morton, Stritctly Confidential (2006)
Cause of death: Suicide. Jumped off a building.
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Bea Smith (stabbed herself) and Allie Novak (drug overdose(?)), Wentworth. Bea was confirmed dead by the writers as it was left open-ended.
bea smith died too.
I’m catching up on Zoo season 1. In episode 4 two random lesbian scientists in Antarctica freeze to death because bats block their solar panels. Wendy is one of them, I’m not sure if the other is named. They went there to try and save their marriage.
If they included all lesbian characters who are not serises regulars or guest stars this list would probably be running into the thousands by now.
You need to add Bea Smith from Wentworth.
Have they officially abandoned updating this list? It’s missing Bea Smith from Wentworth.
New addition. Spoilers spoilers spoilers not that anybody will give a hoot about it but let’s keep the name/show out of the sidebar comment thing. Some more fluff, fluff for spoilers, spoilers spoilers. Ok I think we’re good now.
Pretty Little Liars offed Shower Harvey (murder, found dead in a bathtub by a maid). Bonus points because they may have un-offed a creepy straight man in the same episode.
The straight guy was still in his grave when they dug it up so I seriously doubt they un-killed him.
I don’t think Julie Mao died. I think she becomes something else. About Talia Winter from Babylon 5, the actress wanted to leave. But, MS let an open door in case she would come back: Kosh had performed a full backup of Talia’s mind in season 1. But the actress never came back. It’s really sad.
I was wondering, could Zoe Vaughn from Scream be added to this list? She wasn’t explicitly a wlw but she did initiate a kiss with Audrey, and has since died.
She never showed interest in women except that one time while heavily influenced by hallucinogenic drugs, so I wouldn’t count her.
Tallie, The World to Come, Diphtheria:(
Good lord, how many times has Lucy Lawless played a lesbian/bi character who gets killed off!?
(Love her to bits, I’m just shocked as I didn’t know it was that many…)
I think there are 2 more you should add, they are from a chilean soap opera called “Preciosas”, their names were Paola Farfán and Elsa Morales.
Help, I’m still feeling all the feels re: Lexa. :(
Forever mourning Tara and Dana, too. (I would add Naomi but…Skins Fire? What’s that? Sounds made up…).
Also, confirmed: Delphine is alive post being shot in the garage.
another one from Scream to add onto this list: Zoe Vaughn, buried alive and then drowned by the killer
It was never confirmed that Zoey was into girls. She did kiss Audrey, but it sort of seemed like she did it to excite Noah, and also, she had taken halluicinogenic drugs.
New addition, and it doesn’t make any sense. Possibly a second new addition depending on what your Lily Kane rule is.
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Terrible Freeform drama Guilt finally screwed us over in its finale. Apparently the dead-all-along girl was secretly dating Sketchy Lesbian DJ Roz and pissed her off, so Roz got Main Girl’s boyfriend to kill dead-all-along. After Main Girl, who apparently didn’t notice her two roommates being In Lesbians together, finds out, she bashes Roz’s skull in. Roz, let’s note, had an actual girlfriend when dead-all-along was found dead at the start of the show. This does not make any sense. Anyway, one more dead lesbian, the dead-all-along girl was bi, and one of them was secretly psycho too.
THANK YOU for the buffer comment!! :)
You need to update this article with Sarah Lance’s resurrection. She was brought back to life by using the Lazarus pit and Constantine helped bring her soul back from the afterlife. The character is a regular on Legends of Tomorrow now
And one more, Delle Seyah Kendry, a recurring character on Killjoys who was flirty with the main character a couple of times. Shot and killed in the final episode of season 2.
and another. Karen Kim on Mistresses, who fell off a balcony trying to stop her nanny (who was just caught posing as her to Catfish a guy) from killing herself. ah, soaps! still a bummer.
DELPHINE IS ALIVE!
New addition: Manola (Kisa’s new girlfriend) in From Dusk Till Dawn. Didn’t even survive one episode!
13 from House MD deserves an honourable mention, despite the lack of on screen death (she actually lives long enough to be at the funeral for House in the finale), but they spent a lot of screen time on her sexuality and impending death – she’s bi, and becomes promiscuous / risk taking after getting diagnosed with Huntington’s. Her mother and brother had it and died, and she left the show/job to go off and be with her gf for as long as she can before she dies. It’s deathbaiting, rather than queerbaiting? def queer, maybe dead this week? maybe next? I definitely took it personally how much they threatened to kill her, even if she did survive til end of show she was given a terminal diagnosis, worsening symptoms and a lot of impending death narrative.
Make that 163. Mr Kaplan was shot by Raymond Reddington on The Blacklist this week for betraying him, even though she was actually trying to help him and protect the lives of another woman and a baby girl.
Not so fast!
add to the list, Zoe Vaughn from MTV Scream (2016). Confirmed bisexual, made out with both Noah and Audrey at a party, and eventually trapped in a coffin and drowned by the killer (Kieran, a known hater of sapphic girls, killed two wlw and tried to kill two more)
Another one to add to the list :(
Helen (who, I am now realising, had never been given a last name) from Masters of Sex. Died after giving birth to her and her girlfriend’s baby.
It’s been a long time since I last came back to this site so I didn’t see that some commenters wanted a spoiler warning/not to post before 24 hours after a character dies. If I spoiled anyone, I’m so sorry.
Hi, could you correct Halfiax to Halifax in Last Tango in Halifax? cheers
I think Yorkie and Kelly from Black Mirror should get a mention, even if it was a happy ending they’re still dead.
I think techinally they should as we have counted Lexa and Root who are tied to similar AI storylines.This just happened to have a happy ending.
Blindspot Spoilers
Sophia Varma, Blindspot (2015) isn’t dead, she had faked her death and turned up later in the series.
Tricia (orange is the new black) was encouraged to overdose by one of the prison guards, kinda a suicide/murder at the same time.
Also, were Victoria Hand and Isabelle Hartley gay??? (with regards just to the show and not the comics) I know Isabelle was only there for one/two episodes, Hand was only around for half a season, but I don’t remember there being ANY development behind their characters beyond how they contributed to the story. I mean, correct me if I’m wrong, but in the show up to this point, I’m pretty sure we’ve only had one gay character, and he was a guy.
It was mentioned somewhere in the comments that Victoria and Isabelle were not revealed as gay on the show because the writers knew they were going to kill them. Therefore it was felt that they needed to be included because is was a case of both Hide Your Gays and Bury Your Gays.
I think they had planned to keep Hartley around for much longer (and hopefully would have revealed that she was queer), but had to come up with a quick backup plan when Lucy Lawless had to back out due to pregnancy. It’s entirely possible that I’m remembering all of this wrong, though.
Why the heck does Lucy Lawless have so many characters in this list?! 0_0
I’m waiting with baited breath to see if Lana Winters will need to be added shortly. :'(
!@#$ing thankful for small mercies!
You’re missing Jocelyn from East Los High, 2016. She’s bisexual and she was shot.
Susan from Van Helsing (2016) Murdered two episodes after kissing her long time best friend.
Hm, while I think it’s awesome we get to contribute to this fight against Bury Your Gays by providing the actual facts for statistics etc. I think maaaaaybe when need to come up with some spoiler shield protocol for making comments/reporting to this post.
Cause while the title “All ### Dead Lesbian and Bisexual Characters on TV, And How They Died” is clear indicator of YO SPOILERS AHEAD it doesn’t negate seeing the comment in Latest Comments panel and getting spoiled from that.
our deaths are not spoilers.
I was going to ask if anime characters should be added to the list, then mention Ten’no Haruka/Sailor Uranus and Kaio Michiru/Sailor Neptune of Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, except that while they were killed off by the main villain of SailorStars (5th season), so were all of the other Sailor Senshi except the main character, Sailor Moon (including her boyfriend, Chiba Mamoru/Tuxedo Kamen) and resurrected once again, as I mentioned above, and it wasn’t because they were lesbians, it was because they were heroes fighting against the final villain of the series.
Still, if anime and manga characters do count, IMHO they should only be added if they were killed off because of being lesbian/bisexual rather than for another reason (as above).
Also, I really hate Rick Berman (executive producer of the different Star Trek series post-Roddenberry) partly because of his allowing Jadzia Dax to be killed off after her actor, Terry Farrell, decided to leave the series, but also because rape survivor Tasha Yar (played by Denise Crosby) suffered the same fate in ST:TNG for basically the same reason (Crosby wanted out of her contract too). So, if a female actor quits, that’s reason to pointlessly and needlessly kill off her character as well? Sexism, much?