Media representation of queer people has fallen between violence and dysfunction. It’s a harmful narrative that further perpetuates the stigmatization of queer people, and may be a catalyst in the meting out of violence against queer people.

The discourse around representation and visibility of queer people in mainstream media has been gaining traction over the last few years. Representation has become a buzzword, with television haphazardly complying with calls for more Black queer people on television. In a heteropatriarchal society like South Africa, scenes with gay characters have been the site for contention and embarrassment for many households. Many people can recall the infamous portrayal of a Black gay couple named “Senzo and Jason” on the popular prime time soapie Generations. This relationship not only introduced a new lexicon of homophobic slurs to a mainstream audience, but it also created such outrage that there were threats to boycott the TV Drama. Intended to humiliate, the term “Senzo and Jason” became synonymous with labelling persons who were supposedly carrying themselves in a “homosexual manner.” 

South Africa has come under scrutiny from the global community due to violent hate crimes against the LGBTIQ+ community. Activists like Eudy Simelane and other Black lesbians were introduced to the world through the violent and homophobic manner in which they were killed. The problematic term “corrective rape” ascended into notoriety in the country and around the world in describing the acts of targeted sexual assault of Black lesbians. Scholars such as Mary Hames and Zethu Matebeni have warned against the usage of this term and labelled it a misnomer in the way it is able to legitimize the erroneous belief that there is something wrong with lesbians that requires correcting. 

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In Violence against Black Lesbians: Minding our Language Mary Hames recalls a meeting about the depoliticization of terms and states. The idea was to rethink the use of language and to reflect on the use of terms such as “gender-based violence” versus “violence against women” and also to interrogate the process through which the language that describes the lived realities of Black lesbians in South Africa has become sensationalized.

These reductive ideas about queer identity are a threat in a world where LGBTIQ+ people are viewed solely as performers of sexual deviancy. South African lesbians are often only mentioned in relation to the hate crimes committed against them, and violence has become pathologized as part of their lives. Media reports of hate crimes and the sensationalisation of “corrective rape” have been the axis around which utterances of Black lesbians existence rotates. Although coverage of such reports is important in raising awareness against these crimes in South Africa, it creates a serious conundrum as violence becomes the dominant narrative associated with queer people. Viewers who echo the sentiments of these hate crimes may easily ignore the well-intentioned awareness component of the storylines and co-opt the narrative to legitimize bigotry that is rooted in homophobia and patriarchy. Hames continues to criticize the manner in which the media has commodified Black lesbian death and how urban legends have become “fact.” Words such as “curative” and “corrective” have meaning beyond the act of “reminding lesbians that they are women,'' as some have put it. They have implications that date back to homosexuality being described as a “mental illness” and a psychiatric condition which required a cure.  

The media has been criticized in an article by Bitch Media where the author considers the negative portrayal of queer and lesbian actors on television. In an article titled “Nova, Nola, and Annalise Queer Black Women and the Arc of Representation, “ author, Jordan Taliha McDonald, writes:

“This onscreen pattern of framing Black women’s sexual openness as a catalyst for dysfunction unearths centuries-old paranoias about our sexuality. Continually depicting queer Black women as a kind of sexual peril is dangerous, unoriginal, and hearkens back to the Jezebel, a slavery-era caricature that imagined Black female sexuality as immoral, promiscuous, and untamed.”

This harmful misrepresentation—considering the unique positioning of Black lesbian in the context of race, class and gender—is dangerous, as it posits that Black women are incapable of living lives outside of dysfunction. In a South African drama titled The River, we meet a young lesbian character who has been disowned by her staunch Christian mother due to her sexuality. The character follows an unsurprising arc that sees her becoming a violent alcoholic, and ultimately the victim of a hate crime. This predictable portrayal of a Black lesbian woman ultimately being punished for her sexuality runs the danger of legitimising bigoted views. A storyline that, instead, segued into the character living a regular life of attending school, and being loved by her family might have helped destigmatize and unravel the myths around Black women and the lives they lead. This is not to say that queer people should strive to appear “appropriate” to heteronormative society by performing life and ideals around gender roles and motherhood—that would be counterproductive and a harmful erasure of their valid life experiences. This is a note that Black queers, in general, are not afforded the same luxury of complexity and texture as their white counterparts. 

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However, space exists to bring forward characters who are complex and beyond violence and dysfunction. In “A Quick History of TV’s Elusive Quest for Complex Lesbians” Jaelani Turner Williams notes that although there has been an attempt to portray Black women as multilayered, these corrosive narratives still prevail. “Thoughtfully crafted Black lesbians are still an anomaly on TV. Overall, there are still pervasive stereotypes about Black women that bleed into pop culture: they’re desexualized or sex-crazed, aggressive or passive, anti-male or existing solely for the male gaze.”

Misrepresentation is a dangerous tool that can act as a catalyst for hate crimes and societal attitudes which are homophobic. Violence and dysfunction encourage the villainization of queer folk, in particular Black lesbians, in their own narratives. The singular story paradigm strips agency from Black lesbians, as their stories become facile and discourse around hate crimes becomes reductionist in nature.