@Sapphire_soc on Twitter
According to glaad, in the last year “30 LGBTQ- inclusive series have been canceled, resulting in the elimination of 86 [of a 356 total in current streaming media] LGBTQ characters who will not return.” These statistics also show that 52% of these characters identified as women and 56% were people of colour.
The sapphic community has had enough of it and it looks like they’ll keep up the fight for what they deserve. It seems like their multiple social media campaigns won't stop being loud until the people that have power start listening.
Two weeks ago, on March 15th, FilmUpdate announced on Twitter that fantasy series Willow had been cancelled after its first season on Disney+. This news, breaking no more than 24 hours after A League of Their Own's disappointing four episodes renewal announcement, only fueled disgruntled fans to fight even harder.
Later, a link to a new discord server was shared by @CocoCat38 (Twitter) using new inclusive hashtag, #SaveOurShows: "If you are fighting for your fav series to be picked up or saved then join here... we should fight together" in hopes to rally everyone together to pursue their fight for representation.
This new movement, operating under the tag #FandomsUnited, currently has gathered fans from 18 different shows, and members behind it are looking to add more to their fight.
"We want every cancelled show campaign to have an equal voice in this. No one is more important than another. We are all determined fans fighting tooth and nail to save our shows, so lets unite with #FandomsUnited in our tweets and social media posts and support each other." -CocoCat38
Glaad mentioned in its latest 2022-23 Were We Are On TV report that: "Representation and advocacy of LGBTQ+ community in media are important for youth to feel good about themselves."
Furthermore, according to Sarah Kate Ellis, president and CEO at GLAAD : "Developing and marketing nuanced and meaningful LGBTQ stories to LGBTQ audiences and straight cisgender audiences across all levels should be a priority for companies seeking to be relatable and a ‘Must Watch’ with contemporary viewers."
Of this, we can fanthom that the fight for these sapphic shows, that made the news few time in the past few month, is quite justified, and actions needs to be taken.
It is to no one's surprise that FandomsUnited Team have similar believes. They understand that power is in numbers, and it seems like this movement's focus isn't restricted to sapphic representation, but also includes the overall LGBTQ+ community, and other marginalized groups. Anyone is welcome and can find a support group among the different fandoms present.
Current list of fandoms part of this united movement:
Warrior Nun
A League Of Their Own
Willow
Motherland Forth Salem
First Kill
1899
Inside Job
Winx Saga
One Day at A Time
Gentleman Jack
Teenage Bounty Hunter
Gossip Girl
Bat Woman
The Wilds
Paper Girls
the Owl Hous
Wynonna Earp
Legends of Tomorrow
Let's get into what this movement is about and what they hope to accomplish throughout their journey. In order to write this article I had the great opportunity to interview Coco, one of the founder members behind this initiative.
I personally joined the discord a few minutes after the tweet was shared, and was surprised to see how organized the team and server were. To me, there was no doubt that the team had been working hard on this movement, way before its public reveal. Could you tell me more about when the idea of this server came to you guys?
The server was made a while ago, awaiting the right time to launch the fan effort. On the 15th of March, we tweeted the link out and started trying to get more people to join, the final push was the news of the Willow cancellation. Many of the staff and our friends are fans of Willow and losing another show encouraged the push to get our voices heard in unity.
Why did you guys think it was important to create something where existing fandoms could unite together under the same banner?
We think it is very important that each campaign has their own events and their own identity so we would not want to take away from that, but having experience from some campaigns has shown us that there is always room for more communication. Each separate campaign can have its own impact and carry its own message but we think that all the campaigning fandoms coming together under the #FandomsUnited can display even further the volume and passion of this. Just one or two shows being cancelled is unlikely to get attention but if we can show that its more than that, and it is a real problem of people now being worried to get into a show incase it gets cancelled, then we can be heard
Were/are you guys involved with current show campaigns? which ones?
Different members of the staff team have been involved in different campaigns to varying degrees. I personally am very involved in the #SaveWarriorNun campaign currently. Seeing more shows after being cancelled breaks my heart because fans should not have to do this. We should not have to carry the promo on our backs because the streaming company refuse to give the promo shows deserve. We should not have to buy billboards and sign petitions and binge watch a show in a single day in order to satisfy a companies statistics. Stories deserve to be told. Business is business of course and sometimes that is unavoidable but when you look at the data collected it does become alarmingly clear that in some cases, this is not just about business.
What are the main focus/goals as of right now? And what would you say will it be in the foreseeable future?
The main focus of the group right now is to be loud and heard under the tag #FandomsUnited. We have a discord server with over 400 people already that is filled with fans from all these different cancelled shows. We listen to ideas and discuss together ideas of what we should do. Right at this moment the goal is to reach out to even more fandom campaign leaders and get them into the conversation, and get more people aware of the group and the message behind it. We are growing quickly and it is in the early stages right now but we are eager and determined. In the future we see streamers recognising the power of fandoms and giving all of their shows a fair and equal chance to be successful rather than picking and choosing which to give promo to.
It seems like the fight isn’t stopping anytime soon. The community is eager for people to start listening, and are ready to pursue their efforts to reach their goals
If you'd like to engage more in this community and help to make our voices heard, join the #FandomsUnited discord here!