Portrayed by: Sarah Paulson
Sexuality: Gay
I’m not even going to pretend I’m not biased on this one. Lana Winters I hands down one of my favorite television characters of all time. She only appears for one season of American Horror Story, but over the span of those thirteen episodes she goes through more shit than most characters do in an entire series. By the end, some fans are torn between seeing the former victim a one of the most badass heroines in fiction or as evil and selfish villain in her own right.
Unlike the others on this list, Lana’s gayness is important to the story—sort of. In 1964, Lana is an ambitious young reporter, dreaming of getting recognition for her work, and decides that it’s a good idea to investigate a super shady, creepy insane asylum, Briarcliff Manor. The lady in charge, Sister Jude, has a big problem with that, and uses Lana’s hidden homosexuality (considered a mental illness in the 60s) to lock her up.
And things just get worst from there. Over the season, Lana undergoes electric shock therapy, all kind of mind fuckery, plays mommy to a psycho killer, is imprisoned, sexually and physically abused, and nearly killed. And somehow she becomes a complete and utter badass because of it. Lana goes from helpless victim to cunning survivor, and is one of the few to make it out (relatively) unscathed into the modern day.
So Lana being a lesbian both is and isn’t a huge part of the narrative. It gets her into the asylum, it shows the social difference between then and now, and—in one of the season’s most horrific moments—is the cause of her disturbing but factually accurate conversion therapy. But at the same time, Lana’s arc is about more than just that. She is ambitious, kind, occasionally selfish, smart and defiant, but ultimately a survivor. That a homosexual character that is so nuanced could also be the protagonist of a show is remarkable.
judeclee 