To build a space for queer people like myself, every Saturday I’ll be posting interviews, opinion pieces (like this 9-1-1 Evan “Buck” Buckley editorial), listicles, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community from a Latina perspective. Welcome to Queerly Not Straight!
Enjoy and leave a comment below if you have a suggestion for what I should cover next. P.S. I, Lyra Hale, do not give any site permission to copy or repost my work in any form. If you are reading this on any site besides Fangirlish, it has been stolen.
Evan “Buck” Buckley is on a bisexual journey on ABC’s 9-1-1 and some fans are big mad. The reveal that Buck wasn’t straight happened during Season 7 Episode 4 “Buck, Bothered and Bewildered” this past week. Buck was a little jealous of a close bond that his friend Eddie had formed with someone else. By the end of the episode, Buck realized that his jealousy came from a place that he had never explored and he ended up kissing a man, confirming his bisexuality. Now this is just the boilerplate stuff that I know as someone who has only Buck and Eddie fanfiction floating around and I had always thought they were a couple. I’ve never even watched this show. But I always thought they were together. So color me shocked and bamboozled when I saw that 9-1-1 was trending because 1/2 of the fandom ship kissed a man and confirmed his bisexuality. And that’s where the people that got big mad come in.
While plenty of fans were celebrating this moment of representation for the LGBTQ+ community on a mainstream procedural show, some fans were threatening/promising that they were never going to watch 9-1-1 again. And it was because of Buck’s bisexual storyline. Some felt that it came out of nowhere while others believed that this was all part of a “woke agenda” that was being “shoved down their throat.” The fact of the matter is that these fans are ready to jump ship and they should. Because if they’re so fragile that a bisexual storyline shakes their entire existence, then go. No one is going to miss you. In fact, you will be replaced so fast by new fans that you will not even be missed. Hell, even I’m contemplating starting to watch this show and I don’t like procedurals. What I do like is the fact that we’re seeing a bisexual awakening from someone later on in his life. That’s different. That’s something I want to see.
These homophobic fans who are jumping the 9-1-1 ship also need to question why they’re so shocked that Buck is bisexual. The fandom surely wasn’t and there are over 24,000 fanfictions right now for Buck and Eddie on AO3. And as I mentioned earlier on in this post, I thought that these two men were queer from the jump after casually seeing them on X (formally Twitter). The signs were there and the fact that you (homophobic fans) automatically assume that everyone is straight until proven otherwise, shows that you are way too obsessed with yourself and your way of living. It’s not all about you. And you act like it is and we as bisexuals just popped out of nowhere like we’re a new trend. Bisexuals have been around being a disaster since the beginning of time. What makes you think that you’re the center of the story, babes? You’re not. And your worldview is not the only one or the “true” one.
The way that these homophobic fans are so pressed that this bisexual turn of events for Buck is “ruining” his character and arc, also shows the blatant disrespect that they have for LGBTQ+ people. They think that we as people are abnormal and don’t belong. And it’s because we don’t adhere to their “standard” or “true way” of living. Because again, they are so self-involved that they think they’re the only flavor. You’re not the only flavor. And if you want to stick to one flavor, you do you. And you let me do everybody else if I want. Because it’s what? *puts a hand to ear* None of your f*cking business who we bump uglies with when we’re just trying to survive the aftermath of a pandemic, a looming election, the destruction of an entire people in an open-air prison, and a whole multitude of other terrible things at once. On top of that, LGBTQ+ rights are being stripped away left and right. And you’re worried about Buck and his character development? Why are you so obsessed with us?
Biphobes who used to watch 9-1-1 before their self-exile because apparently bisexuality scares them, think about us as queer people more than we think about them. We’re just trying to survive like everyone else and we’re constantly being bombarded with this idea like we’re not enough. We are enough. And stories like Buck’s on 9-1-1 aren’t going away. They’re going to continue happening whether you like it or not. Because we’re not going away. We’re getting stronger with every day that passes by despite all the struggles that we face. And if you think that your homophobia is going to stop people tuning in week after week to see Buck explore these new facets of himself, you’re wrong.
9-1-1 fans are going to come out in full force to support their new bisexual king, as they should. So either look at your own biases and have a moment of enlightenment where you realize there’s nothing wrong with Buck and you were letting your own BS stop you from experiencing a human journey, or get out of the way. Don’t let the door hit you on the as* on the way out. 9-1-1 fans have fanfictions to write (someone should do Buck watching The Mummy for the first time) and fanvids to work on. They’ll be fine. And as soon as I start watching 9-1-1, I will be right alongside them.
9-1-1 airs Thursdays at 8/7c on ABC.
What did you think about Buck’s big moment on 9-1-1? Let us know in the comments below!
Queerly Not Straight posts Saturdays with opinion pieces, listicals, reviews, and more focused on the LGBT community (and occasionally about the Latine community since I am Latine.)
Why would they be mad at that when Hen on the show has had a wife forever?