Far from first kill: sapphic fan campaigns + the fight for queer television

Author

Lake Best, University of Tennessee at ChattanoogaFollow

Project Director

Harriss, Chandler

Department Examiner

Gibson, Angelique

Department

Dept. of Communication

Publisher

University of Tennessee at Chattanooga

Place of Publication

Chattanooga (Tenn.)

Abstract

Over the decades, LGBTQ+ media has had a long history of, despite getting better, more popular, more powerful each time, being canceled, delayed, even simply never seen again. This has led to justified anger, sorrow, + distress from the queer fandom communities, who, already inspired by the sense of activism that their community is founded on, have created over 8 years of online fan campaigning to fight back, maybe even bring the shows from the grave to a new life. This case study will examine 6 of those campaigns, ranging from the birth of modern queer fandom in We Deserve Better, to the reinvention of the campaign in Fight for Wynonna, up to the present day First Kill Forever, among others. In the end, a success model will become apparent from the various wins + losses of each campaign, thus creating a blueprint from which future campaigns can pull.

Acknowledgments

Mx Best acknowledges that the majority of this portfolio was created on the land of the Yuchi, Cherokee and Miccosukee Nations. These nations were forcefully removed from this land, and it is now more important than ever that the sovereignty of these peoples is uplifted, supported, first and foremost.

IRB Number

N/A

IACUC Number

N/A

Degree

B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.

Date

4-2024

Subject

Internet and activism; Lesbianism on television; Lesbians in popular culture; Television broadcasting--Social aspects--United States; Television programs--Rating; Television viewers--Social networks

Keyword

Fan Studies; Queer Media; LGBTQ Studies; Online Fan Studies; Queer Fandom

Discipline

Critical and Cultural Studies

Document Type

Theses

Extent

ii, 28 leaves

DCMI Type

Text

Language

English

Rights

http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

License

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

Date Available

5-12-2024

Recommended Citation

Best, Lake, "Far from first kill: sapphic fan campaigns + the fight for queer television" (2024). Honors Theses.
https://scholar.utc.edu/honors-theses/453