This is rare for me, because usually I never react very much to queer representation in media. I rarely consider myself in community with other queer individuals, real or fictional, for a lot of reasons.

So, I was watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer last night, one episode in particular being S4 E19. (I like to watch while I practice coding, so I watch them in large chunks.) Up until this point, my gaydar had definitely been sending me bleeps, sweeps and creeps in the direction of Willow and Tara, and I was devastated when Tara rejected Willow's advances in the previous episode. (It took me a little bit to convince myself it was only because of the poltergeists.)

But then, next episode, Willow's ex-boyfriend Oz shows back up. Now, I don't normally talk to the television, but throughout this episode I was yelling at the magic box helplessly trying to convince Willow to stay with Tara. I hoped beyond hope, but I didn't think she'd do it. I thought the queerness would be some sort of hipster fling on the part of the show's creators, that they were gonna reneg on the queer relationship for one reason or another and have Tara go off the show, as queer characters in relationships are wont to do on television.

But Willow and Tara stayed together! And were happy! And they were accepted by their friends! And it didn't feel shoehorned at all! And there was even a metaphor about how love was love, through a little mini subplot where the validity of the love Buffy and Willow have felt for a vampire and a werewolf, respectively, is questioned and then affirmed.

I was not expecting this from this show. I really didn't. I am so happy. Willow is my favorite character alongside Giles the man-candy, so it's nice. I can't imagine how wonderful it must have been to watch this when it originally aired on television. I wish I saw it when I was little. Would have helped me embrace my queerness a lot sooner with a lot less suffering along the way, probably.

I didn't know I could be so happy that someone else was queer. Usually I find media representation of us queer folk fairly poor and abstract and one-sided. This made me so happy that I just had to share with folks who would appreciate it. Thank you for reading!