Our Flag Means Death: A WIN for Queer Storytelling 

Part of the reason why the non-binary representation in Our Flag Means Death is so good is not only because a non-binary actor is playing a non-binary character, but because there are three non-binary writers working on the show! Zackery Alexzander Stephens, Natalie Torres and Jes Tom. It's always nice to see representation in front and behind the camera.

I'm afab nb and I love the scene where they're all questioning Jim's gender because I've HAD similar conversations irl where I'm surrounded by well meaning idiotic cis people. The scene wasn't tragic, instead it had me laughing so hard, because I could relate (this is how you do trans comedy). I also love that as soon as Jim laid it out on the table the pronouns were just accepted by their chosen family, and we were all like awesome! Jim is they! Also, Oluwande is best.

What I love about Stede and Mary's closure scene is that when Stede tells her who he loves, Mary doesn't look confused. She doesn't ask him to repeat or explain himself. She doesn't even have a big "WOW OMG" moment. Mary just smiles and embraces him, silently congratulating and feeling pride for Stede.

As a queer person born in the 90's...I was so used to queer baiting, like every single time. I thought this was going to be a bromance kind of show and then....and then Lucius kissed Pete!!! Right in front of my salad!!!!! And then...AND THEN FREAKING HELL STEDE AND ED STEDE AND ED!!!! I wasn't expecting it at all!!!! Had to watch it like 10 times cause I couldn't believe it!!!! A KISS???????? in this economy???? I was screaming to my pillow at 2 am and smiling like there was no tomorrow!!! Sorry for the rant, just wanted to share the love with this amazing community who has been waiting forever for something like this 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

I laughed when I saw the age bracket you included... as someone in my 30s and along with many of my older friends, this is a story we have been DYING for for years. Older queer representation is so often played for laughs and it's so beautiful to finally have a falling in love story for us!

it is just so insanely nice to have a queer show where the tensions and problems aren't inherent to the characters' queer identities. they can just exist and kiss each other and then fight off the spanish navy

That whole “daddy” scene with Izzy is so iconic. Considering it wasn’t really written, Con was told to improvise.

The way the representation is done is EVERYTHING! As so many have pointed out, ‘Nothing about us without us’ has been taken to the level we deserve! That’s a lot of why I enjoy projects to which TW is attached. (i.e., Reservation Dogs) The multiple POC & NB people in this writers’ room make the storytelling work in such a natural manner. I generally hate anything labeled rom-com because it doesn’t ever seem real, but this? A story about LGBTQ+ pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy… this feels real because the dynamic is organic. There’s also the ‘found family’ trope in play. Queers gonna have other queers in our orbit. Having multiple POC allows for the scenes with racism to play out in a different way. The fact that it’s all layered in there, along with side groups such as Mary’s widow brigade, it is a reflection of people finding their tribe. As a Pan person who traipses merrily somewhere between cis & agender, this is my happy place. I’ve been waiting for this sort of representation FOREVER! I’m Gen X! I find myself literally in tears over how this show is such a bright spot for Gen Z!! Thank you for this 💜

They waited until Pride to announce the Second season, because their extra and know their audience lol

I think a perfect example of the different ways in which queer and cishet people understand the show is this: when I finished the show, I (an extremely queer person) mentioned to my (as far as i'm aware cishet) sister how much I loved it. She told me that if I liked this show, I might like Bridgerton. I checked it out, and I hate Bridgerton. From her understanding since I liked one a-historical romance show I would obviously like another. But in actuality, it was the queerness and camp energy of OFMD that appealed to me so much. Enough in fact that I am still unbothered by the a-historical and rom-com nature of much of the show; two things that can instantly put me off pretty much anything. For the first time I experienced the joy of watching three-dimensional characters that are like me experience love, happiness, and acceptance without being punished for it. Without that context, I can understand why people might not "get" the show.

I loved completely omitting coming-outs in the show! I love good coming out story but at the same one I'm kind of sick of the trope. Maybe because I never had this kind of experience and it's one of several reasons I don't particularly feel a part of queer community despite being decidedly queer? Or maybe it's that label thing you mentioned - after all coming out requires having your orientation and identity figured out and damn that can be hard! I used to feel so much pressure to find the exact term that would describe me... Our Flag Means Death is so refreshing in not requiring its characters to do so. Not failing to mention but genuinely not requiring.

I've ranted and waxed poetic and basically evangelized about this show to virtually everyone I know, and got some family to watch. WOO! 🙌🏻 My sister just finished season 1 and was blown away at how ACTUALLY, TRULY GAY it turned out to be, rather than the usual queerbaiting. Her husband wants to watch too, and she's going to rewatch the whole first season with him. Plus, my mom watched the first season with me and was adamant that the story COULD NOT end there, because they NEED to have a happy ending. I felt the same joy you did about...basically everything you talked about 😄 and I'm SO GLAD we're getting more. I don't care how long it takes. Season 2 could come out in 2025 and I wouldn't complain because MORE GAY PIRATES, HALLELUJAH!

I am 100% a vampire who wants to be a pirate lol

Great video ❤. And like to point out that our flag means death is an awesome show. But it isn't the only awesome show that has come out for streaming that should actually be watched by everyone you got shows like Shadowhunters and Roswell New Mexico( tv) those are three to four seasons long and end in gay weddings. And then there is slightly longer shows like 911 Lone Star which also ends in a gay wedding but it takes a while to get through that series. And the show that it was Spawn from but I agree that our flag means death is an awesome show🎉❤

Great video! And I'm so glad they confirmed a season 2 finally!

as a lesbian woman i'm not directly represented in this show at all, but the environment created on this show means that it doesn't really matter. I know, should lesbians exist on the show, that they would be accepted because queerness is inherent to this setting. should more women be introduced, i know they would be treated with respect. it's just such a wonderful show and i'm so excited for season 2!!

Cowboy/Cowperson, definitely. I think about Annie Oakley (who was likely straight, but who really upended gender expectations), and Calamity Jane and all those cowboy dances where men tied a handkerchief to their arm to indicate that they were a "lady" for the night. I think: "There's the hankie code in its original form." Huge numbers of AFAB people dressing in male costume and driving stage coaches and working on the railroads as men and getting paid 3-4X the salary a woman could make. Men leaving their families back east to go join an all-male culture where there is no law. Women working as prostitutes and making bank and running all of society in these little outlaw towns and getting the right to vote BEFORE the women in the east of the country. Educated "single" women traveling in pairs to run schools, who were so dedicated to educating children that they stayed "single" together all their lives. So queer.

How dare you.... you made me ugly cry🥺 Love you so much

As a cis woman who is, if I selfexamine enough, probably bisexual but not biromanticand probably a bit gender fluid too ( i am sexually and romantically attracted to men and sexually attracted to woman) I can tell you as a dominant woman into femdom( including sexual practices like pegging which to me are the romantic and erotic thing that mainstream media tries to portray vanilla sex as) I can tell you I am not represented at all. Not to say that any sexual parts have to be part of a show that I like in any way, mainly in OFMD for the romance, just that romance OR sexuality isn't something I have any representation of. I am autistic, fat, mentally ill, dominant and want romantic relationships that are very much based around what you could call my "kink." And then people try to undermine it like it isn't a huge part of who I am, romantically as well. Not just in terms of sex, but in terms of romance, domesticity and love. But there are zero of those representations in mainstream media. I feel seen and represented in this, because I too am older and figuring things out. I too am on a journey to live out who I am after years and years and years of repression, misery and trying to cut off a huge part of who I am in favour of presenting myself as " A real woman." I love the representation of men that aren't based around infantilizing women and pushing them into gender roles. I have never seen women portrayed in a way I don't feel deeply uncomfortable about identifying with. Not because there's anything wrong with it, just because it isn't who I am. Not saying that LGBT rep isn't more important, but not everything is for us "straight" or straight presenting people.

Your video made me cry :') , love from Argentina!

1. Pirates 2. Vampires 3. Vikings 4. Cowboys

As an answer the Engagement Question... I am a Vampire Lady. With Vikings as a close second.

Came back to answer… after 10 months: Vampire Pirate Viking … … Anything else I could possibly think of … Cowboy (grew up on a ranch, & am not over it. I love the animals, but no to the lifestyle)

A lot of characters in this show seem relatable to me as a gay person because it feels like something written *for us*, not like they made a show with queer characters and then thought that maybe we were gonna watch it, if that makes sense. And also, as a trans man, for some reason Izzy seems way too relatable to me (I'm done with the whole internalized homophobia bit that comes from not knowing my own gender, and being in love with your best friend suxx), so I will also be claiming him as one of us, sorry not sorry

I like Pirates and aliens❤ it's one of the reasons why I like this show and Roswell New Mexico TV. In the show you get a chance to get to know people who are in fact Pirates and they are queer. In Roswell New Mexico you get to know at least one character who is a Queer Cowboy alien it hits a new level of Awesomeness. Side note my runner-up would be Shadowhunters because you know hello Nephilim LOL and also has the queer content the one show with Patrick and David and I cannot remember anything other than it's something Greek. That is also a cute show no real thing there except being cute. Also the CW created in my opinion Roswell New Mexico as a love letter to the people that really wanted Dean and Cass. And it does deliver on all the things that Supernatural is to an extent you know the soldier born a soldier not exactly daddy's little blunt instrument but always a soldier because he was taught to be by his father. And falls in love with an alien, I do not doubt by the end of Supernatural those two were in love and I do not doubt that when it comes to Roswell New Mexico these two love each other in fact the show just doesn't mean it's words it's in the first episode. And as I've already spoiled the one thing about it is that it ends in a gay wedding. Not spoiling how to get there though and it's a lot. What is the kind of storyline that's worth the Getting to Know It put on the side note if you did decide to get in Shadowhunters and you haven't seen them that is totally worth it too.