Stories have always held a special power for me. They are a way that I make sense of the world and a catalyst for self-reflection.
It’s probably not surprising that stories and the characters they are about have played an important role in my own story as a bisexual woman. With that in mind, to celebrate Pride, I’m taking some time to look back on the bi and pansexual characters that have been meaningful to me over the years.
Some played a personal part in my life. Others felt like important moments or spoke to important conversations about bi/pansexual representation. And then a few, well, I just really love and wanted to celebrate.
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A quick note about language for this list. If a character hasn’t identified as pan or bi within a show, I relied on what creators have said or how fans most often discuss them. If it was still vague off-screen, I tried not to assume at all.
Without question, Waverly Earp is the character, straight or queer, that has had the most significant impact in my life. The ways she influenced me and the unexpected things she brought to my life extend well beyond my identity as a queer person.
I needed Waverly’s idealism and resilience. I needed her heart and her spirit before I realized I needed her as a queer character. She inspired me to write again after nearly ten years, and the ripple effect of that inspiration continues to surprise me today.
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Through writing, I met queer friends who didn’t know anything about me and had no expectations. This was important because, at the time, I wasn’t publicly out and had no plans to come out.
Having a space to express myself freely was like a weight being lifted. Soon it wasn’t enough to have a space to escape to, though, and I made the decision to come out to my friends and family.
Suddenly, Waverly meant something to me in a whole new way. This character that I loved so much became important not just because she was a queer character, but because she was a bisexual woman constantly learning about who she was and evolving into a more confident, more honest version of herself.
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We found our voices together, and her courage was contagious. I borrowed some of it to make one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
My story as a bisexual woman can’t possibly be told without talking about Waverly Earp, and there aren’t words that could ever do justice to the gratitude I feel towards the character or the people that bring her to life.
If Waverly Earp helped me find the courage to come out, Sara Lance helped me find the courage to do it unapologetically.
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Sara Lance is one of the most formidable and important heroes in the Arrowverse. She earned her place in that universe with a tenacity and force of will that made her shine just a little brighter and fight just a little harder.
Sara’s words and the conviction and honesty Caity Lotz delivered them with often held meaning for me beyond the confines of the show and emotional resonance that made me feel brave.
Having all of that embodied in a badass bisexual captain felt special. It still does. It was affirming in ways few things I’d seen on TV growing up had been.
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When I came out, despite being lucky enough to know I would be supported, the words still sometimes got stuck in my throat and made me feel self-conscious. I felt awkward and nervous just saying bisexual in those first days.
Today, being bi is a source of confidence that empowers me to speak up. Part of that is because Sara Lance was the voice in my head telling me to be who I was proudly and to maybe raise a little hell along the way. After all, “when did a Legend ever go quietly.”
Like Sara, John’s sexuality is taken seriously and expressed as part of who he is but never all of who he is. It’s approached with a clarity not afforded very many bisexual or pansexual characters.
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All of that makes John important and worth celebrating much more than we do. For me, though, it’s the long journey John took that makes the iteration of him on Legends of Tomorrow so satisfying.
Before John Constantine was ever a Legend, he was a popular comic book character. He had a rich history and had been established as bisexual since the early 90s.
It was cannon, which made all the screen adaptations of him, especially his short-lived NBC series, that played him straight disheartening and frustrating.
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When it already seems like a part of your identity is constantly being devalued or delegitimized, it feels personal. It also makes the joy of seeing some of that erasure rectified on Legends of Tomorrow a little sweeter and more poignant.
Rosa Diaz was important to me before ever I saw her on my TV because I was a fan of Stephanie Beatriz first. Her words in interviews and on social media made me feel seen and helped me articulate my own experiences more clearly.
When I saw Rosa’s coming out story on Brooklyn Nine-Nine Season 5 Episode 9, “Game Night, ” it was everything I’d hoped for, starting with the simple fact that they actually said bisexual. Multiple times.
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TV often speaks about bi and pan characters in vague terms. There’s nothing inherently wrong with that. Not every character needs a label, and too much focus on labels can be harmful.
But there is power in words, especially ones we assert for ourselves. Too much ambiguity can feel like negation, so hearing Rosa affirmatively say, “I’m bi, ” mattered to me.
It also mattered to me that Rosa asserts she would always be bisexual no matter who she marries. That was a powerful statement because being bi is about who I am, not who I’m with.
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“Game Night” is a hopeful coming out story. It ends with Rosa’s found family rallying around her and Captain Holt offering the uplifting reminder that “every time someone steps up and says who they are, the world becomes a better, more interesting place.” Indeed, cheers to that.
Eleanor’s queerness is not a major part of her story. In fact, it’s not even confirmed outside of flirting with Tahani and a few jokes here and there.
At first glance, there isn’t anything extraordinary about the way Eleanor represents bi or pansexuality outside of the fact that she is either bi or pan. But it’s precisely the way Eleanor’s sexuality is portrayed as unexceptional that makes me a fan.
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There is always a need for stories about the experiences of LGBTQ+ people, and it is important to have stories that explicitly state that a character is bi or pan.
But, there is also a value in media that normalize the spectrum of sexuality and gender and tell stories that center characters that happen to be queer because heteronormativity need not be the default. Eleanor’s sexuality isn’t a gimmick; it’s just another part of who she is. Eleanor is bi or pan because why wouldn’t she be?
Helena “H.G” Wells is one of my favorite villains, redemption arcs, and really characters of all time. Smart, funny, mischievous, and full of grief and righteous rage, you couldn’t help but be charmed and intrigued.
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For the uninitiated, in the absence of explicit representation in media, queer fans had to create it for themselves through subtext and imagination (non-canon shipping isn’t something just queer folks do, they just happen to be really good at it).
The chemistry between them radiated from the screen, a chemistry that Jaime Murray and Joanne Kelly, who played Helena and Myka, respectively, later confirmed was intentionally romantic. Sparks flew, angst flowed, and the implication was obvious.
Looking back now, it’s clear that I had a bit of a crush on Helena, maybe even my first TV crush. All I can say is, I had good taste even before I knew I wasn’t straight.
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While not a perfect parallel, for me, Callie’s coming out felt a bit like a bisexual Ellen moment. Something shifted when Callie came out as bisexual. Whether or not you watched the show, you felt it.
She wasn’t the first bisexual character on TV, and there are some great examples of representation before her. But, it’s undeniable in 2006, when Callie came out, the pickings were slim.
Then all of a sudden, this complicated, fully formed character on a wildly popular drama said she was bisexual, and the scope of what was possible felt different.
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While her story and relationships had some highlights and lowlights, you just can’t talk about bisexual representation without talking about Callie Torres.
Is unapologetically queer. It’s a world where heteronormativity isn’t an assumption, and sex isn’t treated as a source of shame or something to be contained for its characters, especially its women, to be worthy.
At the center of this world is Bo Dennis, an unaligned bisexual succubus who refused to be boxed in by either the political factions of the Fae within the show or thematically in the way she was written.
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She so easily could have been
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