The Last of Us Stays Making Homophobes Mad

Graphic by Anika Dua

While the most prevalent outcome of HBO’s The Last of Us seems to be an outpour of Pedro Pascal edits, there’s also been a lesser-known response to the show’s popularity: barely-masked bigotry. 

For non-watchers out there, this post-apocalyptic video game adaptation follows a group of survivors of a zombie-like virus, including a young girl named Ellie. Played by Bella Ramsey, Ellie is *gasp* a lesbian, and the most recent episode revealed her relationship with her old roommate, Riley. 

At this point, we shouldn’t be surprised with the stream of backlash about the show “pushing the liberal agenda,” or whatever other bullshit people come up with. We’re just sick of it. 

Wake up call for everyone upset by Ellie’s sexuality: the existence of a gay woman is not a political statement. Reread that if you need to. And for those who swear that they don’t care about gay couples, they just “don’t want to see them shoved down their throats,”we have some news: That’s still homophobia! 

The Last of Us is not trying to convert anyone into anything, we promise. If it bothers people so much to see two young women in love, they need some self-reflection to think about why exactly that is. 

What we’re trying to get at here is this: Ellie’s identity - or that of any other member of the LGBTQ+ community - is not about anyone else. Yes, even the angry 20-year-old gamer who’s outraged that his favorite video game dares to be a little bit inclusive. Members of the queer community have had to hide their identities to make the people around them feel comfortable for too damn long. 

Before the flood of complaints and excuses comes out like “it’s just a personal opinion about a TV show” and “it’s not that deep,” we want to point out that the media reflects real life. This is happening to real people, who are afraid to show who they are for fear of it being politicized or vilified. 

We shouldn’t have to explain that it costs nothing to shut up and let people exist, and enjoy a great show, in peace. Tune in next Sunday at 9pm EST to see your favorite lesbian kill some more zombies!