In an effort to build a space for queer people like myself, every Tuesday I’ll be posting opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx/WOC community since I am Latinx.) Welcome to Queerly Not Straight! Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next.
WARNING: THIS WILL HAVE SPOILERS FOR THE LEGENDS OF TOMORROW SEASON 4 PREMIERE!
Sometimes I wonder what we did to deserve Legends of Tomorrow. It’s a shitshow, no doubt about it. But it’s the kind of shitshow that is fucking amazing, that you’d fight to the ends of the Earth to save, and that you’d pay big bucks to take a pic with Avalance because gay power couples are worth crying over and taking pictures with.
But how did we get here? How is it that Legends of Tomorrow is the funniest show on DCTV? How is it the most heartfelt? And most importantly, how is it that this show has the best queer representation on The CW? The answer lies in the fact that no one really took it seriously or gave a shit about Legends of Tomorrow when it first came around. So it went and did it’s own thing!
Legends of Tomorrow was initially a collection of the throwaways of DCTV. They were the characters who were only on Arrow and The Flash to advance other people’s storylines. When they were given the chance to be Legends, Sara & the Gang were given an opportunity to be something they’ve never been before: the heart of the show.
Given that none of these Legends have ever been “the star of the show” they made it up as they were going along. They struggled, they fought, and they learned so much about themselves and the rest of the team. And us, the audience, went along this journey with them. We got to know the throwaways of DCTV in a new light and realized how worthwhile they were and how much we cared for them.
Being the throwaways of DCTV also made it that Legends of Tomorrow could do whatever the fuck they wanted. Demonic unicorn with a rainbow musk that makes you hallucinate? Let’s do this! There were no limits to the silly and serious when it came to the story they wanted to tell and the adventure that they wanted to take us on, no matter what time period.
This freedom to do whatever the hell Legends of Tomorrow wanted, is the reason why their queer representation is so top notch. In the season 4 premiere titled “The Virgin Gary” we had not one, but two bisexuals on screen. Yes, they had slept together before. But that didn’t matter in the grand scheme of things because they’re adults, understand why they slept together, and have bigger things to worry about like killer unicorns and dragons.
Sara Lance, my queen and Legend Captain with a (clone) girlfriend, is a bisexual. She’s well aware of who she is, what her appetites are, and how she feels for Ava. Last season she was scared out of her mind at what a relationship would mean but she pushed forward and ended up moving in with Ava in “The Virgin Gary,” no matter if Sara wants to stay out there with her team while their relationship evolves. IT HAPPENED. And if you’ve followed Sara from her Arrow days, you know how big and monumental this is for her!
What makes this ship heart eye worthy and why Legends of Tomorrow deserves all the kudos for their queer representation, is that they let Avalance be…normal. *GASP, I KNOW. YOU’RE SHOCKED. QUEER PEOPLE ARE CAN BE NORMAL.* Avalance cuddle, act sweet to each other, and have conversations about decorations in their place. It’s super normal, mundane, and everything a queer like me desires in a ship like this.
Another facet that I love about Avalance is that it’s not the main focus of the show. The fact that they are together is their business and should anything come their way, they’re gonna deal with it as partners and keep moving along. They’re not going to brood for episodes after episodes while doing reckless things. Well…maybe a little brooding. But not as much as other shows on The CW. *cough* Arrow *cough*
Sara and Ava aren’t the only queers that make Legends of Tomorrow a LGBT haven of goodness. There’s John Constantine, who will be a season 4 regular, and Gary. The latter is more of a guest star that is clearly crushing on John and who might’ve had some sort of sexual encounter with him. He’s also the one that almost got pulled into a hell dimension by a demon unicorn that will haunt my dreams forever.
Now John, he’s a special unicorn himself. Not the kind that the Legends fought and that John sent to hell. John is a special unicorn because he is ALSO a bisexual man. Besides Lucifer Morningstar on Netflix’s Lucifer, I don’t think I can name another bisexual man who has been the lead of his own show. And yes, the show Constantine was cancelled, but the fact still remains that he was a bisexual male lead in a time where they are few and far in between.
There is a small part of me that is bothered by his…how do I say it…predatory and straightforward responses when it comes to sex aka the trope that has plagued bisexuals for ages. But John isn’t being cheeky about sex because he wants to jump everyone’s bones. He does this because he wants to throw people off from the pain he’s feeling inside and all the people that he thinks he’s hurt along the way.
John thinks he’s a ticking time bomb who can drown himself in alcohol and bodies as punishment for the demons of his past. Joining the Legends will help him grow, change, and finally start to see that he deserves more than the scraps he’s been allowing himself to have. And that right there makes him wildly interesting as a queer character and another reason why I can’t help but wondering what we did to deserve such queer goodness in our lives.
Sara, Ava, John, and Gary are queer heroes and protectors of the innocent. But they are also people, queer people, who just want to make it through their day. Yes, some of them are broken. And yes, some of them are silly AF. But they keep fighting and they keep getting up. Even when they’re a nipple down, they keep going!
So thank you to those who didn’t think Legends of Tomorrow would last this long and that it was a shitshow not worth paying attention to. Because of you, this show has flourished in unexpectedly brilliant ways that have made it the funniest, most heartfelt, and queerest show on DCTV.
Legends of Tomorrow airs Mondays at 9/8c on The CW.
Queerly Not Straight posts every Tuesday with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latinx community since I am Latinx.)
Don’t miss out on posts like this! SUBSCRIBE to our monthly newsletter HERE!
