It was the introduction in the ballroom that was heard throughout the barrel Bridgerton viewers met Michaela Stirling in the second half of season 3. The character’s introduction to the Regency-era series may have seemed unexpected so soon after Francesca’s wedding – a quiet love story that many fans were looking for – but it also meant the added promise of a main queer storyline in a future season.
Fans of Julia Quinn’s romantic series on which the show is based knew that season 3’s Francesca Bridgerton love story with the quietly endearing John Stirling probably wouldn’t be her happy ending. If the show followed the progression of the books, Stirling would die and Francesca would fall in love with his cousin, Michael Stirling. By changing the character’s gender in the new season, Bridgerton gave fans Michaela and the promise of a queer romance.
While the change has sparked online debate, especially among fans of the books, the sparks that flew between Francesca and Michaela at first glance were exciting for fan Samantha Williams. Despite the popularity of the Netflix series, the 24-year-old was hesitant to stream it because she assumed she wouldn’t see herself reflected on screen as a queer woman.
“At a time when it is still very common to see shows with LGBT representation, especially sapphic representation, canceled, and when books with LGBT representation are being banned across the country – coupled with increased anti-LGBT legislation and rhetoric – this is truly affirming and great to see how one of the most prominent and mainstream shows in popular culture, whose entire premise is centered around romance and love in all its forms, is committed to platforming queer characters and queer love,” Williams told Yahoo Entertainment.
I’m still processing this because I didn’t dare dream that there WILL BE A SAPPHIC REP IN BRIDGERTON out of all the shows out there. imagine my reaction when Michaela (A WOMAN) shows up and the way Fran just stared at her… I feel like crying#franchaela pic.twitter.com/pN1WPx2kEQ
— . (@finrebi) June 15, 2024
Tonia, who asked Yahoo to use a pseudonym for privacy reasons, agrees. The 26-year-old is bisexual and lives in a country where being queer is a crime. If it weren’t for shows and storylines like these, Tonia thinks she might never have discovered her sexuality or accepted herself. Now living in a country where she cannot be open about her identity and sees no prospect of a free life unless she leaves, Bridgerton offers both escape and hope.
“I have no hope that my country’s politics will ever reflect its erratic nature [world] by Bridgertonbut it’s comforting to know that at least queer people can get their happy ending on screen… Bridgerton offers it to straight couples, so why can’t a queer couple get theirs?” she told Yahoo Entertainment.
While the show’s spin-off prequel, Queen Charlotte, depicts a homosexual love story between the queen’s right hand man and the king’s servant, and the first season of Bridgerton depicts minor male characters involved in clandestine relationships behind closed doors, none of the eight Bridgerton siblings had been given strange storylines until Benedict and Francesca’s respective journeys in Season 3’s Part 2 episodes, airing June 13 on Netflix were released.
The addition of these two storylines (Benedict’s sexual experimentation and Francesca’s future queer love story) also comes at a time when the number of LGBTQ characters on screen has declined by 22%, according to GLAAD’s Where We Are on TV 2023-2024 report. and this representation is especially meaningful for LGBTQ viewers.
“When I stepped into the role of showrunner and started thinking about queer storytelling, I took stock of what the show had already accomplished and thought about how I can learn from it,” said showrunner Jess Brownell to Teen Vogue. “There was also a lot of research and historical thought put into the choice to turn Michael into Michaela. I think it was important for me, when planning a queer story, to think about how we can tell happily ever after and queer can show joy that we don’t always see in historical pieces.”
Sydney Little, who identifies as queer, believed Francesca’s arc this season was representative of coming to terms with your identity. From not fitting in, to not being able to gossip with fellow debutantes about what she was looking for in a husband, to her disappointed reaction to the kiss she shared with her new husband at her wedding, Little thought there were so many signs that being at the moment Francesca looked at Michaela in the ballroom.
Little also appreciated how online speculation after the first four episodes premiered in May, which featured Eloise Bridgerton having an odd storyline, was undermined during the second half of the season.
“People have an idea of what queerness looks like, and I don’t think when people look at Francesca that’s what they think,” she told Yahoo Entertainment. “It’s unfair to make that assumption based on stereotypes we’ve created for ourselves.”
Undermining potentially harmful stereotypes in this way is one of the biggest benefits of including LGBTQ representation on television that is authentic and character-driven, Michele Kerulis, a professor of counseling at Northwestern University’s Family Institute and a media expert on the subject, told me. of Mental Health, to Yahoo Entertainment.
As a newer fan of the series, Williams felt like Francesca’s storyline did just that.
“Queer people are multi-faceted and there are multiple ways that we experience the world, as do all people, and I think it’s just a subversion of expectations to actually show that there’s no one way to be queer,” Williams said.
