Basically every queer person I know can name a tv show or movie that has taught them the hard way to stay guarded and not get their hopes up when there’s the prospect of a queer love story. Many of us wait till the queer romance storyline is concluded or until the whole show ends before deciding to watch it. Knowing how it ends upfront is like a safety net that limits the impact aka our disappointment. It doesn’t always work of course, sometimes we let ourselves be foolish. Isn’t it sad though that a safety net is still advisable for this? That we can’t just gleefully jump into those stories without fear of hitting the ground? When can we stop being guarded? When will there be more happy endings than deaths for queer characters? Not in 2022 it seems.