Voltron Shownner Apologiz for Season 7's Treatment of Gay Couple

Contents:

• SDCC SPOILERS: DID VOLTRON JT CONFIRM [REDACTED] IS GAY?
• VOLTRON SHOWNNER APOLOGIZ FOR SEASON 7'S TREATMENT OF GAY COUPLE
• GAY RIGHTS
• VOLTRON SHOWNNER APOLOGIZ FOR SERI' HANDLG OF GAY RELATNSHIP

SDCC SPOILERS: DID VOLTRON JT CONFIRM [REDACTED] IS GAY?

The show ends wh them kissg at their weddg, a moment that off as a fairly weak attempt to pacify fans who lashed out at the "Bury Your Gays" trope Adam's mise embodied.

Most people didn't know Shiro was gay the first place, rultg a revelatn that off feelg shed, as though the Voltron wrers never really valued LGBT reprentatn the first place. In recent years Netflix has released a few animated TV seri that show nonilly gay relatnships and non-bary characters (e.

People fight agast homophobia every day, while producers fight to attract all sorts of dienc – both queer and queerphobic. But alas, some claim the queer muny should be satisfied the end as the seri fale livered an on-screen gay kiss and a happy endg for Shiro.

VOLTRON SHOWNNER APOLOGIZ FOR SEASON 7'S TREATMENT OF GAY COUPLE

Both the kiss and the weddg were meant as an olive branch to the LGBTQ+ muny, shown as the creds were rollg and the creators were certa they wouldn’t lose the homophobic dience. Season seven not only nfirmed Shiro as gay, troducg (and then killg off) his love tert, but also showed two already known characters as partners crime and, apparently, life. Shiro reclaims the Black Bayard om Zarkon the season 2 faleThe seri fale of Voltron Legendary Defenr picts the first gay male weddg Wtern animatn history.

Rather than be treated wh the same dimensn and nuance he received when prumed to be straight, Takashi “Shiro” Shirogane had his role rced, his iendships removed, and his sexualy exploed a last-dch publicy stunt to “w back” the LGBT fans hurt and alienated by Voltron’s divisive seventh limed role the fal season and tokenizatn the epilogue ntradict multiple terviews where shownners stated that beg gay wouldn’t affect his iendships or role as a hero and that romance the show wouldn’t be thrown for the sake of ris his ciser to the Black Ln’s hangar on the Castle of LnsShiro’s fg tras are his learship, passn, and sire to explore space.

GAY RIGHTS

Instead of remag a hero who happens to also be gay, his other character tras and aspiratns are removed favor of rcg him to only beg temporarily leav his new post as pta of the Atlas orr to filtrate Sendak’s ship season 7Given that the other survivg palads are allowed to participate peacekeepg efforts even after the war is over and Voltron’s lns are gone, Shiro’s premature retirement and marriage are an obv attempt to put him out of sight, out of md. We are told that orr to be happy as a character and “unt” as gay enough reprentatn for viewers, he mt give up on his dream and all his acplishments to stead enter a relatnship wh a random nobody, a fate that none of the straight characters are subjected to. ” But immediately after the dience learns of Shiro’s sexualy, even this platonic timacy be “too gay” and taboo for him to give to or receive om his iends is no longer allowed to hug other men or put a hand on their shoulrs like he often did earlier seasons.

Simply bee the dience now knows he’s gay, ’s more appropriate for an adult man to sleep the same room as a teenage girl than wh fellow adults Keh and Krolia.

However untend, this plays to the homophobic stereotype that gay men are unable to view other men as jt iends or and Matt rne season 4 after beg separated the Galra Empire’s gladiator rgShiro don’t get to vis any of his jured iends the hospal the season 7 fale. ” In direct ntradictn of this statement, Shiro is paired off to an nsequential background character, whout any of the velopment or teractn that even sendary straight upl like Matt Holt and his girliend received season and Kolivan falize plans to take down Zarkon season 2Ignorg the optns favor of A Dignated Hband monstrat a blatant fear of pictg gay male timacy onscreen. By repeatg this mistake, Voltron’s fal season failed to reevaluate, intify, and rrect s unrlyg misnceptns about rpectfully reprentg gay characters that ma season 7 so problematic to beg team hugs out after Keh cis to leave Voltron season 3The cisn to also retire Shiro pounds the gradual isolatn he unrgo the narrative seasons 7 and 8.

VOLTRON SHOWNNER APOLOGIZ FOR SERI' HANDLG OF GAY RELATNSHIP

The character he is allowed to be as a rpected and acplished hero, loved by iends and strangers alike, is pletely different om who he is allowed to be as a gay man — the seri mak excciatgly clear that he nnot be both. Pairg Shiro off at all as an “apology” for season 7 was unnecsary; the seri had two other gay characters, Zethrid and Ezor, whose romantic relatnship is the fol pot of a mor subplot seasons 7 and 8, and uld have naturally culmated a marriage the epilogue.

Zethrid and Ezor worry that Voltron’s return means Lotor may still be aliveIf the narrative tly accepted that Shiro is gay, wouldn’t “no homo” his iendships to other men. It enabl the pani behd Voltron to shield themselv om further cricism of the pervasive homophobic wrg the fal two seasons by g a gay weddg as a smokcreen, while also embolng straight fans who refe to unrstand the nuanced discsns about meangful LGBT reprentatn Voltron and other of the fans say to “get over and move on” bee the show is already over.

Not every stumble along the way to progrs has to be accepted when has repeatedly worked agast , not for fear is that DreamWorks and WEP will look at the negative rponse to season 8 and, rather than take rponsibily, will e their mishandlg of Shiro as a spegoat to jtify why gay characters are “too risky” to allow on other properti gog forward.