Your gut sinks as you watch the tragic scene unfold on the screen before you. Tears prick at your eyes and all you can think is: It happened. Again.

The trend of writers killing off LGBT+ characters in TV shows, movies, and video games has
recently been brought to the public’s attention. After an important LGBT+ character death in a hit television show called The 100, rightfully upset fans revolted. They have uncovered the writer’s fickle explanations for the character’s death and insensitivity towards fans. This is not a special case.

There has been little transgender representation in the media at all in 2016, and even there, transgender characters are mostly played by cisgender actors and actresses. There are plenty, plenty of transgender actors to play these roles but they generally are not casted.

There are 32 lesbians/bisexual women portrayed in the media in 2016. Edit: were. Eight of these 32 characters have been killed off in the past three months alone. Twenty-five percent. Compared to the 12% rate of heterosexual character deaths, it is more than two times likelier for a lesbian or bisexual female character to be killed off than their straight counterparts. And, in a majority of cases, they are murdered. What message is that sending?

Even when an LGBT+ character is not killed off, they are pushed into the background. Remember Aaron and Eric from The Walking Dead? If your answer is no, you’re not alone. I don’t even remember if they are still alive. They aren’t the only LGBT+ characters that The Walking Dead has wronged, either.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and I can assure you that all of mine are of outrage.