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Netflix delivers masterclass in owning homophobes who feel gay TV characters are ‘unnecessary’

Someone tweeted that Netflix shoehorn LGBT+ characters in its shows, and the streaming service epically shut them down. (Netflix/Twitter)

Someone tweeted that Netflix shoehorn LGBT+ characters in its shows, and the streaming service epically shut them down. (Netflix/Twitter)

From Sex Education and Sense8 to AJ and the Queen and Hollywood, Netflix does not disappoint when it comes to LGBT+ representation in television and film.

The turbulent, decades-long trajectory of queer representation on the small screen has gone from flat one-episode secondary players to fully-fleshed characters central to storylines.

Indeed, the amount of queer characters on our screens has consistently hit new heights each year, according to annual reports by GLAAD. But as visibility for lives so often shoved into margins or not shown at all on TV increases, as does the potential for backlash.

But don’t worry, if anybody comes at Netflix for its track record in accurately reflecting the world that, newsflash, does contain LGBT+ people, they’ve got the community’s back.

When a Twitter user decided to share a meme depicting how Netflix allegedly shoves “an unnecessary gay character” into “any new series”, the streaming giant immediately shut their bigotry down.

“Sorry you have yet to realise that every gay person is very necessary,” the service’s Twitter account wrote Wednesday (May 6) evening.

We, for one, appreciate this being a statement, rather than a question, as did a lot of Twitter users.

https://twitter.com/Browntable_Ent/status/1258165217495863299

https://twitter.com/thatshortartist/status/1258327812567695360

https://twitter.com/AaronWitch/status/1258276487339311104

Some users defended Netflix and, you know, queer people’s existence, in the brand’s mentions as homophobes crept in. 

https://twitter.com/itsborlebitch/status/1258170820872015872

https://twitter.com/envelopeys/status/1258179069750976517

https://twitter.com/legndofphoenix/status/1258169585108422658

Although some pointed out the complexity of a corporation’s likes-friendly support for the LGBT+ community, as activism becomes tangled in profit margins. 

https://twitter.com/Smug_Legend/status/1258283860913262593

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