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So that's over

@lexamatters / lexamatters.tumblr.com

Not that groundbreaking after all
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lgbtfansdb

The total number of bisexual female characters on TV since 1983, over the course of 33 years, represents 0.5% of heterosexual characters in one year.

A few weeks ago we had mentioned some upcoming projects and we are finally ready to share one of them with you all. We have been working the last few months on a character database, starting with bisexual women, to help capture what issues there are with LGBT representation on TV.

So here it is, our findings on how female bisexual characters have been represented on television from 1983 - 2016:

We did our best to make this as accurate as possible, but if you find that we missed a character or see any other issues, please don’t hesitate to let us know so we can look into it and update if needed.

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ATX Festival - Bury Your Tropes Panel...

…or as we like to call it, the “defend your lack of creativity and blame fans for it” panel took place today and as you can tell by our alternate title, the panelists spent most of the time defending their use of the trope as well as trying to shift the blame to fans.

We did a write up on our site here:

Audio of the panel can be found here:

One of the things that is so frustrating is that these writers/show runners fail to understand that SM and the Internet is where fandom has thrived  - we have ALWAYS been here.  None of this is new; it’s just before, we were contained to private groups, live journal, forums and chat rooms.  Now, we have an even bigger medium to express ourselves and some of these creators are being exposed to it for the first time; clearly they have no idea how to handle it.  This isn’t OUR problem - it’s theirs. 

When LGBTFANS say something negative you know it’s bad bahahaha

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lexamatters

This is no different than all other posts we've made either on BYG issue or on the state of representation in the media, but okay, you do you and keep pretending it's the first time.

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lgbtfansdb

About Us

Hey guys,

We’ve realized something recently with the announcement of the books and being (positively!) overwhelmed by the amazing feedback we’ve gotten - we think it’s only appropriate that a few of us introduce ourselves to the fandom we work so closely with. The truth is, the majority of the people behind LGBTFans truly want to focus 100% on working without having their names out there. Some of us are extremely shy, some of us want to protect our identities for security/job reasons, and a bunch of other reasons… which I hope you can understand. However, a few of us have agreed it was only fair to have some of us say hello!

you could have told us months ago about yourselves without ever revealing your names. that’s what I do - I’m not out either - but people still trust me because I was transparent from the start about my intentions, my hobbies, hell, my relationship.

too little too late if you ask me.

who exactly “””trusts””” you????? did you ever think that maybe some people aren’t as comfortable as you are about being out there because…..idk…..maybe they’re grown adults that have actual jobs and don’t feel the need to talk about themselves constantly in order to be perceived as “transparent” but certain members of the fandom? maybe they don’t owe YOU or anyone else personal information in order to be trustworthy??? or maybe…you know….they didn’t feel like the movement needed to have names attached to it because they don’t have some sort of superiority complex about being the “leaders”…..because as far as i can tell, they’ve run TTP fundraiser, started the lexa pledge, and ran the clexa fanbook project all without giving out personal info on tumblr and it’s all gone just fine. isn’t that fucking crazy? what have you done exactly that has made you so trustworthy? put up some billboards and stroked your own ego online? forced yourself into a “leadership” position that the movement didn’t need? 

nobody’s asking you. 

ahh, discourse time. well, I could tell you who trusts me but you’d see that as stroking my own ego. :/ 

funny that you peg me as someone who’s not an adult with a real job! bingo bango you’re wrong. 

you can be trustworthy without giving out all your personal info. LGBTFans has just never been accessible. like I said, people don’t know things like my name, age, location, etc, but I take the time to listen to them and actually, sorry, I don’t have a superiority complex and need to be titled a leader. maybe if you took the time to look through my blog, you’d realize that. last time I checked, we all have contributed to TTP. it’s not “theirs.” and full offense, but the Lexa Pledge is great in theory but to ask showrunners to not kill any LGBT characters ever again limits their storytelling ability and how are you possibly going to hold them accountable if they do? its just no feasible and it never has been. and its old news. I just have no interest in being associated with a part of the movement that comes from L Chat, a place that only seems to care about the L in LGBT and have been downright nasty. 

also, I had nothing to do with the billboards or raising the money, so I’m not going to take credit for that. and I don’t see what you have against them, because I think Mix and everyone involved in putting that together did a great job. 

people voted for me. I was ASKED to put myself in the running to be part of the “leadership.” and even then, I don’t use that in a domineering way. we all have a responsibility to fight for better representation, not just me as a leader. 

but hey, nobody’s asking me, right? 

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lexamatters

Did you seriously just use the “limits their storytelling ability“ line? Seriously? That’s pretty much what we’re fighting against. Yes, I know I’m linking to the site, but here, look at some quotes, sound familiar?

After what happened to us, how can you really play the “limits creativity” card? So much of our fight has been educating people that killing off lesbian and bi characters isn’t creative.

Holding people accountable... how do you hold shows/movies accountable for failing the Bechdel test? Stop turning the pledge into something it’s not.

Also, regarding LGBTFDB and “about us” did you ever consider that who's who never mattered?

What mattered was getting the message out there, not talking about random people contributing.

Since the start, there have been countless contributors to various "LGBTFDB" accounts Some from day 1, some joined later, it doesn't really matter, what's important is fighting for better representation and visibility.

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Special Announcement

Being a part of the Clexa fandom has been a gift over the past year. The creativity of writers and artists and the fandom as a whole has elevated the relationship as something that is more than just what we saw on screen. We’ve made lifelong friendships and memories in this fandom and couldn’t be happier to be a part of it; it means so much to us, and I don’t think we’re wrong in saying that everyone holds this same opinion.

Lexa may be gone from the show, but she lives on through us: through the headcanons, the fanart, the fanfiction. Clexa is ours. It belongs to the fandom now, and this fandom understands what Clexa, Clarke, and Lexa mean and we will treat it with greater respect than it ever got on the show.

In recognition of this wonderful fandom and ship, we wanted to create something that fans could hold on to.

After consulting with a few fans and artists, we decided to compile a book of creative fan works. We reached out to dozens of Clexa fandom artists and they responded enthusiastically.

What resulted is a 60+ page book of fan artwork and a couple of written pieces by fandom authors, created exclusively for the Clexa fandom. You all love the fanart you’ve seen online, and now you can have a tangible, 8x11″ book of that artwork to keep with you and enjoy always. 

Pictured above is the back cover of the book, a piece that PapurrCat created especially for this project. The front cover is being kept secret for now!

We have been brought together by this ship and done great things because of it, and this is a celebration of that. Rather than anyone profiting on these books, we have set it up as a fundraiser for the Trevor Project. We paid for an initial run of 100 books out of our pockets. The books will cost $30 each and 100% of the money will go directly to the Trevor Project. We will be posting more info on that later.

Additionally, because we expect demand to be more than 100 books, for the initial run we will be setting up a lottery of sorts, to randomly select 100 people from a list of interested fans for a first chance at the book. A second run of books is already being planned, so everyone who wants a book, will be able to get one. We will post specifics on this lottery system as well–we just want it to be as fair as possible for everyone.

Our goal with this is to give all of us a little piece of Clexa to have forever as well as raise some money for charity to continue helping those who need it.

Look out for additional posts coming soon: we’ll be posting the full list of artists who contributed, as well as an informational post about the details and process of the lottery, the payment process, the dates, and the specifics of the book. Spread the word! The more interest, the better! If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

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LGBT+  fans everywhere deserve better than the state of LGBT+ representation  in the media today. We will no longer settle for dead, sidelined, or  mistreated characters. Together, we can change the face of media,  starting with The Lexa Pledge. Editing/Graphics/Sound: @tazpants (twitter)  Concept/Research: @asset_6741 (twitter)  Featuring original art from: @TatyLovegood (twitter)

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Since a lack of names behind the LGBT Fans account has become a major sticking point, here I am. I’m one of the admins behind LGBT Fans, opening up what was originally just a throwaway blog so that I could help the main blog. 

My name is Nicole, I’m 23, and bisexual. And in the interest of protecting myself and my job from the threats we’ve gotten on the main blog, that’s all I’m going to say. I’m one of many, but for the time being, let me be your point of contact if you don’t want to directly engage with the main LGBT Fans blog.

I have a personal tumblr, but I’m not using it here because it has a lot of my personal life on it, plus it’s more of an amalgamation of fandoms rather than specific to TheLoo. Same goes for a personal twitter. 

Good compromise for the time being? My ask box is open. 

lmao @commanderoswald remember when these sobs were demanding proof of employment and personal information from us but now that they need to “protect themselves and their jobs” we owe them the privilege of anonymity.

fact: My name is Eliza Taylor, I’m 26 years old and I love vegemite.

See the problem with your lame ass excuse?

I haven’t demanded anything from you, nor has LGBT Fans. If you have receipts showing otherwise, I’d love to see them.

I’m just trying to take the steps to start fixing things because it’s obviously broken, and people wanted names and a way to contact other than just the LGBT Fans tumblr. I also don’t think relative anonymity on the internet is a privilege. 

But hey, I don’t really need blessings or approval to do anything. People can believe what they want to believe. I’m going to try to start fixing things, and you can help with that, or you can step back and help this stupid divide grow even bigger.

lmao thats rich. I’ve been asked about my background by Alex and company multiple times but I\m not in the habit of posting private conversations.

Relative anonymity is a privilege to people who are representatives of a movement. Regardless of whether or not it’s on the internet. You people behind the LGBTFans banner are defacto “leaders” of the movement because you have claimed ownership of the movement.

You get to decide what accomplishments can be publicly acknowledged and claimed but denounce accomplishments that may harm the interest of your corporate partners. You get to decide what is right and what is wrong on behalf of the movement for the sole reason that you own the domain “LGBT Fans Deserve Better”. 

Even if L Chat did start the tag, the movement couldn’t have succeeded on L Chat alone. We both know that to be a fact. But still, you continue to disregard the fandom efforts for short term accountability from Jason and TheCW. Alex has REPEATEDLY said that LGBTFans cannot be associated with L Chat yet you have L Chatters repeatedly taking credit for the work and shitting on Tumblr/Twitter. Funny enough, LGBTFans only seems to want to try and associate with these social networking cites publicly.

Leaders don’t get the privilege of anonymity yet you want to invoke that privilege. You make up bullshit excuses of having to protect yourselves and your jobs to hide your identities. You don’t get to decide what’s best for this movement and not give me an idea of who you really are. 

Why wasn’t I afforded that same courtesy? You didn’t stick your neck out for shit. I did. I was the one who reached out to people and proved to them that I was a real person and everything I was saying about me was true. You stuck your neck out? Against what? Where were you 2 months ago when Blarkers were sending hate and calling CLs stupid for starting this movement? Were you the one being castrated on the internet for the movement? No, it was me. Where were you when people were getting mad about sponsors not pulling out fast enough or media outlets writing positive shit about the movement? Was it you that received all of that hate? No, it was me. 

People have made a punching bag out of me because of this movement so you don’t get to tell me that you’re sticking your neck out when you simply created a sideblog that no one can trace (bar illegal methods) and you still hide behind the guise of anonymity.

Is your name really Nicole? Are you actually 23 years old? You have not proven yourself to me or anyone in this fandom. You have not earned my trust much less my respect. 

You’re about as real and relatable to me as Taylor Swift. You’re a url on a screen, not someone I trust.

Go google catfishing. Maybe you’ll have a better idea of why people are so dubious of you and anyone from L Chat.

You lot said it best, L Chat is an anonymous chat board. For every one decent person on there, you get 5 trolls out to make trouble. 

PS: My name is Eliza Taylor, I am 26 years old, and I love vegemite :) 

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lexamatters

Excuse me? Since I'm the Alex in this convo, when did I ever ask for your personal info??

Oh and yeah for those not aware, I'm another person behind LGBTfans. Made this tumblr after Lexa's death and before WDB existed to have a central place to collect some of the main receipts of queerbaiting because everyone was dismissive and no one believed us.

In fact, that's how lgbtfdb site was born as well. Before we called it that, it was a google doc named "press kit" because the media was starting to pick up the story but we had no central, page/article we could direct them to that summarized what happened on the loo and gave them our side of the story.

I'm also @adkapo on Twitter. I've never hidden any of this but LGBTFDB was done by the fans so coming out with "hey I'm the person who sometimes uploads stuff on it" is pointless.

And i never cared about personal info from you Mix.

Regarding lchat, it's obvious you're not from those parts because everyone would know the first rule of lchat. No, we're not about to credit it when talking to media or publicly.

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A Pledge to the LGBTQ Fandom

Over the last few weeks, the LGBT Fans Deserve Better movement has been advocating to achieve real change in the quality of LGBTQ representation in the media, giving hope to the LGBTQ community everywhere –that our stories matter and our lives are important. 

In an attempt to create such a change and to improve the representation of the LGBTQ community in the media, the writers and producers of the CTV Network show Saving Hope co-created a pledge to the LGBTQ Fandom. 

Sonia Hosko and Noelle Carbone were in the writers room when the ‘bury your gays tropes’ discussion had reached a focal point on Social Media. The Saving Hope crew were incredibly supportive, wonderful, open minded people who were really willing to listen and understand the problem and get behind a solution. After sitting down and taking into consideration what LGBTQ fans wanted to see in terms of change in representation, as well as things which were clearly unacceptable and needed to be voiced, all the creators of the pledge came together to put together to put together a list of 7 points which we believe will allow change as well as prevention in future writing of LGBTQ characters. 

The entire Saving Hope writers room set precedent as the first to sign the pledge, showing the LGBTQ community that they are ready to take this journey with us and most importantly we have been heard. 

LGBTQ representation is a complex issue that requires multi-layered solutions. Change is not an easy task. But with continued coverage, what started as backlash over Commander Lexa’s mishandled, trope-ridden on-screen death, has the potential to grow into a culture-shifting power: This movement has gone beyond the realms of fandom and into mainstream media, a vital step that has added strength and legitimacy to young LGBTQ voices.

lgbtfansdeservebetter.com  is honored to have been given the opportunity to collaborate with its creators to present to you the Pledge to the LGBTQ Fandom, an important step towards achieving this goal.

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lexamatters

The Lexa Pledge

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LGBT Fans Deserve Better

On Thursday, the idea was put forth to create a decision-making council regarding the direction of the LGBT Fans movement. As the creators of the LGBT Fans website, the WeDeservedBetter website, and the Trevor project, we were offered a seat at this council and considered many different voices and opinions on the matter. Until this afternoon, we had not come to a decision.

However, in light of released messages showing some of the behind the scenes conversations about the movement by the people involved with creating the council, we have made the decision not to involve the official LGBTFansDeserveBetter website, the WeDeservedBetter website, and the Trevor Project with this council for the foreseeable future.

Instead, we have decided to create a Tumblr presence in order to spread news and information, and encourage open communication. People interested in the movement will have a direct line of communication and a direct source of information on upcoming events and developments. We have always endeavored to make this movement as inclusive as possible and would now like to reach out to every member of this movement directly on Tumblr to widen our approach and decision making.

In addition, a concerning amount of misinformation and rumors have been spread as of late; we would like to take this opportunity to answer questions and dispel these myths. From the outset, the goal of this movement has been change through positivity, strength, and unity in order to raise awareness about the systematic injustices in media: the discord among supporters has the potential to threaten all of the positive advances we have made.

This movement and everyone who supports it has a real possibility to create change in the media industry–we need to stand together in this. With that said, we encourage any and all interested parties to approach us with questions, requests for clarification, and ideas for the future. Or just to talk. Our ask box is open.

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Remember that death doesn’t always need to be the answer; there are a lot of ways to write off characters that can be resonant and consequential for the characters that are left, and some fates are worse — and more interesting — than death. And there might be instances in which leaving the door open to a character’s return — even for a short visit — might be preferable to yet another trope-adjacent death.
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Thursday March 31st Twitter trend:

BURY TROPES NOT US

4PM – 8PM USA PDT 7PM – 11PM USA EDT 8PM – 12AM Brazil BRT

(The following timezones are Friday April 1st) 12AM – 4AM UK BST 1AM – 5AM Euro CEST 2AM – 6AM Euro EEST/Moscow 7AM – 11AM Australia AWST/Singapore/Malaysia 10AM – 2PM Australia AEDT

Awesome poster by @posterheda

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