by Jule

Note from Anne Moss: Jule is from Germany and found my blog two years ago when she was 15 after losing her friend Christian to suicide and she has since written posts here on Emotionally Naked. She has really campaigned for this show so passionately and the comments on the donation site  are so moving. 

Hello everyone,

It’s been a while since I wrote something for Anne Moss and I’d say that I’ve been doing pretty well since. I’ve also graduated high school last week and will start college in the fall as a political science major and Spanish minor.

But today I would like to write not about myself, but about a TV show. One that many of you have probably never heard about, but one that has saved and changed dozens of lives, including mine.

This show is called Shadowhunters and it needs your help.

If you google Shadowhunters, it probably looks to you like a normal teen show. Rotten Tomatoes describes the story as: “On her 18th birthday, a woman discovers that she’s an angel-human hybrid who hunts demons.”

But it is so much more than that. Watching it, if you push through the first few episodes (which are indeed a little poorly made), you might get an idea why.

While still having an exciting fantasy plot, it also combines a lot of little stories about “real world” problems. There are storylines about things such as family and friendship, but also racism which is represented by a cast that is racially diverse with 5 of 8 main characters being people of color and hitting on several mental health topics. Especially interesting, are the addiction and suicidal thought plot lines that happen to characters throughout the story and are displayed in a realistic and healthy way.

What the show has been praised for the most is its fabulous LGBTQ representation. One of the main characters is struggling to come to terms with his homosexuality in the first season, but then decides to come out to his parents at his own arranged wedding with a woman by kissing the man he has fallen in love with. This has been called one of the most iconic scenes in TV history because it gives a gay couple a huge cinematic moment in a way often only straight couples receive.

But also lesser-known sexualities are represented well in the show. It has especially been praised for Magnus, who is bisexual and Raphael, who is asexual, while both sexualities are displayed in a non-stereotypical manner.

For many people, these characters have been the first time that they have seen each other fully represented on a TV screen.

Heartbreaking testimonials can be found all over the Internet of people who would be in a significantly worse place without this show. In short, it has saved lives. 

However, TV network Freeform announced on June 5, 2018 suddenly and without much explanation that the currently half aired Season 3 would be the last one, for apparent “economic reasons.”

Fans like myself were obviously shocked and devastated by that message but we immediately started the #saveshadowhunters campaign on social media (especially Twitter, where we have generated more than 11 million, yes 11 million! tweets in 5 weeks).

We are also trying to give something positive back to the world like the show did to us. That is why we also established a fundraiser for the Trevor Project, an organization dedicated to saving young LGBT lives. Cast and crew of the show have joined us and to this day we have raised $18,000 dollars. Just because this show means so much to us.

To this day, we have still not received any comment from Freeform, they even refused to comment on our fundraiser. We are currently promoting the show completely on our own, which is why I am also asking Anne Moss and you, her readers, for help today.

If you are interested in helping:

• Share this post!
• Most important! Take one or two minutes to sign our change.org petition
• Consider watching the show. Internationally, it is available on Netflix, in the US on Hulu. As I said, definitely push through the first few episodes. Season 2 at last is when it gets really good.
• Here is the link to the fundraiser, where you can donate and also read heartfelt comments about what this show means to people.

Here is an example of just one of them.

“Because this show saved me, healthy LGBT+ relationships and for my friends who died before they had a chance to see themselves being represented. A few years ago one of my friends killed themselves because they believed the world would never accept them for being bisexual, they couldn’t see any bi person be happy and in a good relationship. I believe that characters such as Magnus and Alec can make people see that they can be happy and that they can be loved Please, this show means everything to me and so many people. That’s why I am donating, because this show teaches us to do good.”

Thank you so much for your attention! This show has so much more potential and it does not deserve such a random end. Even if you do not know or like the show, it would mean very much to me and many other people if you helped our campaign.

LGBT Community and Suicide