Bury your gays

Trope in fiction "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. This reflection of widespread homophobia drew mainstream attention in the 2010s through publicized examples such as the death of the character Lexa in The 100 television series. The controversy and discussion resulting from these examples led some creators of popular fiction to consciously avoid harmful tropes and present more positive portrayals of LGBTQ characters. Prevalence Across media, gay or lesbian characters tend to meet unhappy endings such as heartbreak, loss, insanity, depression or imprisonment. In many cases, they end up dying, either through suicide, homophobic attacks, illness or other means. Viewers have called this trope "bury your gays" and "dead lesbian syndrome". "Bury your gays" has been linked to TV shows, books, and other character-driven works profiting off of queer coding characters without having to commit to a queer storyline, especially as many partners to killed-off queer characters find themselves in "endgame" heteronormative relationships.