Why do people insist Faith was a lesbian?

[burrunjor]

I keep seeing this on X, so maybe it's just something there. (I think this board often reflects the real world more) but yeah lots of fans keep going on about how Faith is gay?

Now I wouldn't mind in the slightest if a gay fan wants to see her that way for their own rep or whatever, but what annoys me is that they can get quite aggressive and nasty if you disagree, or not even disagree, but just wonder what they're talking about. That happened to me, as I saw one of them post it as fact, and I asked what do you mean, and they went off on one.

There was also a push online that if Buffy ever was remade they finally have the guts to make Faith a lesbian which she clearly was in the original, but they couldn't say it.

Again where does this crap come from? How is a character who only ever shows interest in men, sleeps with several men, boasts about sleeping with several men, SA's several men, and on top of all that is a homophobic POS to the only actual lesbian character in the show, obviously gay?

I mean maybe you could argue she is a repressed bisexual in some ways because of the subtext with Buffy. (Personally though I always thought Joss saying that was real was just Joss pandering to the base as we all know you do NOT disagree with toxic shippers online or else. I don't like Faith/Buffy that much as A/ it's bland and obvious having the two Slayers. B/ It's part of an infantile trend in modern writing where the villain has to want to shag the hero, because apparently you can only be obsessed with someone any other way. I've often joked that if Churchill and Hitler were fictional characters these people would insist they wanted to shag too. C/ It makes 0 sense for either of them as Faith isn't exactly the type of person who would be uncomfortable with exploring her sexuality is she, whilst Buffy is a petty bitch to Faith in s7, also part of why Faith goes bad is she feels she has nobody close to her? E/ I also think this trend often comes over as unintentionally homophobic as it casts the gay villain as a creepy, predatory character, rather than just having a normal gay relationship like Willow and Tara, before s6 anyway.)

Still since Joss did sheepishly admit these people were right about the subtext, then okay you can at most say she is bisexual toa degree, but not a lesbian. I hate to say but sometimes lesbian fans can be the most hostile to the idea of bisexual female characters. I don't think it's because they hate men like the homophobic cliche claims. I think it's because some lesbian fans worry that a character they viewed as gay being made bi and falling for a man is potentially a revival of the old homophobic cliche of a man turning a lesbian like Pussy Galore in Goldfinger. (The book is even WORSE than the film for that believe it or not.) The lesbian suddenly finding she is bi is a more PC way of that being used.

However that doesn't mean bi women don't exist either, and I think they need to stop attacking anyone who sees a bi character as such, particularly ones like Faith who were like 99 percent straight from the beginning. (Another example of this is Xena and Gabrielle both of whom are clearly bi, but a large portion of the fandom go nuts if you don't call them lesbians.)

 

[NotASlayer]

I see her as bi. As well as several other characters - Willow, Giles and Xander. Bi characters are under-represented in fiction, because being bi is more common than being gay. And, as you say, bi characters can get a lot of hostility pointed at them.

Willow is the most obviously bi of the four. She has expressed attraction to, and enjoyed relationships with, both male and female characters. With Faith, there is definite sexual tension between her and Buffy; it's not just subtext. Probably because Eliza is much like James; she has chemistry with everyone.

Giles, well, there's the subtext of his relationship with Ethan; there's also the fact that his sexperimenting little group only had one woman. Either she got a lot of, um, attention, or other things happened.

Xander has expressed at least some appreciation of male characters, and has had the kind of panic that can happen in such situations.

But Faith, no, I don't think she's a lesbian; I think she's bi. I read somewhere, so second or third hand, that Eliza thought the same.

 

[thetopher]

It's pretty obvious that Faith likes guys, (or maybe just certain parts of guys), and enjoys sex with them. But Eliza also played Faith as being really into Buffy and that, whilst being fairly obvious to many, was pretty subtle when she was an ally but turned up a notch or four when she went bad (the writing just added to it). The 'I wanna kill you/kiss you//de-pants you' vibe disappeared completely when she reformed.

That's actually a trope that the show indulges in; the evil bisexual. Faith and (more obviously) VampWillow are evil and aggressively sexual but their normal counterparts are more 'standard'; Willow is straight and then 'gay now' with no ambiguity or inbetween, Faith, when she returns from jail, is much less 'coded', involving herself exclusively with guys. In the comics she is pretty much 'confirmed straight' in 'No Future For You'. (but screw the comics!)

It unfortunately plays into the 'promiscuous bisexual' slur of the times where, doncha know, bi's will just do anything, so therefore the goodies must make it clear that they stay well within their boxes. No spectrum here.

Anyway, Faith 'being a lesbian' is just overcompensating cope after the fact. She was gay for Buffy both literally and metaphorically, which is why the dynamic worked so well in S3 and 4, but then she decided to change, bury her doomed pining for Buffy and dedicated herself to penance and heroics and all that good stuff. I find it telling that she never found romance in the comics, her heart was closed to all but the one she could never have. *sniff*
(oh, but still screw the comics)

 

[BuffyElevated]

I definitely don't see Faith as a lesbian. If anything, I think she is bisexual, as evidenced by her clear flirtation with Buffy in certain scenes.

 

[KaitKat]

I do think Faith is more prone to it than other characters because one of the writers and Eliza’s acting leaned into it but if you spend any amount of time online than everyone who had either had a friendship of a rivalry with someone of the same sex even if they refer to that person as a brother or sister will be gay according to people who are chronically online. To be clear I don’t care if people interpret them as gay but it’s ridiculous when they call people who think they are straight or bisexual homophobic.

As far as Faith goes I think a compelling case could be made for her being bisexual, bi-curious, or for her being straight but uses her sexuality as a weapon. I know that the Faith is a lesbian crowd leans into the last one and assumes because she hasn’t had meaningful connections with the men that she’s been with she’s actually a lesbian.

 

[SavvyScoobie]

I think she's bisexual and the people being rude and insisting that she's lesbian are biphobic. I've noticed that biphobia isn't too uncommon, (especially on online spaces.) But it's like...kinda obvious that she's bi.

X tends to have the most horrible bunch of people that never understand nuance.

Joss Whedon sucks at writing characters that are gay or POC. Tara and Willow are fine, but the tragic endings or villain gay characters are meh. And it might be undertones of homophobia but I don't know the guy that well.

And I will die on the hill, that if done correctly, Fuffy could've outsold every other ship.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

Well, Faith is definitely not a lesbian, as clearly seen in her interest in, and experience with men, but I definitely think it's possible she could be bisexual. Buffy is, after all, as proven when she dates a woman, Satsu.

Perhaps in the Buffyverse, it's intended that Slayers, like vampires, are more fluid in their sexuality? Just a thought.

 

[SavvyScoobie]

Perhaps in the Buffyverse, it's intended that Slayers, like vampires, are more fluid in their sexuality? Just a thought.

Possibly!

 

[KaitKat]

Buffy is, after all, as proven when she dates a woman, Satsu.

If I recall wasn’t this another weird bisexuality doesn’t exist thing? If I remember it just kept getting brought up that Buffy wasn’t a lesbian so they break up and the thought bubble at the end of the story is something along the lines of it’s so hot when she does that?

Post automatically merged: Mar 30, 2026

That's actually a trope that the show indulges in; the evil bisexual. Faith and (more obviously) VampWillow are evil and aggressively sexual but their normal counterparts are more 'standard'; Willow is straight and then 'gay now' with no ambiguity or inbetween, Faith, when she returns from jail, is much less 'coded', involving herself exclusively with guys. In the comics she is pretty much 'confirmed straight' in 'No Future For You'. (but screw the comics!)

It really did seem like shows in this time period very much had a promiscuity and bisexuality are linked and therefore evil because evil is a seduction. When characters are good or redeemed they have to pick a team and stop seducing the good characters.

 

[Joan the Vampire Slayer]

If I recall wasn’t this another weird bisexuality doesn’t exist thing? If I remember it just kept getting brought up that Buffy wasn’t a lesbian so they break up and the thought bubble at the end of the story is something along the lines of it’s so hot when she does that?

Post automatically merged: Mar 30, 2026

It's been so long since the comics were released and I read them, I don't remember! But I'm about to do a re-read, so we'll see what happens.

 

[NotASlayer]

It unfortunately plays into the 'promiscuous bisexual' slur of the times where, doncha know, bi's will just do anything, so therefore the goodies must make it clear that they stay well within their boxes. No spectrum here.

Which is in and of itself a negative thing. Bi just means being attracted to both sexes; there are bi people who remain exclusive to one. Naturally, they are on the receiving end of statements that they are just gay/straight, not bi.

That's actually a trope that the show indulges in; the evil bisexual. Faith and (more obviously) VampWillow are evil and aggressively sexual but their normal counterparts are more 'standard'; Willow is straight and then 'gay now' with no ambiguity or inbetween, Faith, when she returns from jail, is much less 'coded', involving herself exclusively with guys. In the comics she is pretty much 'confirmed straight' in 'No Future For You'. (but screw the comics!)

It really did seem like shows in this time period very much had a promiscuity and bisexuality are linked and therefore evil because evil is a seduction. When characters are good or redeemed they have to pick a team and stop seducing the good characters.

Season six in particular leaned very heavily into anti-LGBT tropes; the aforementioned Depraved Bisexual but also Depraved Homosexual and of course Bury Your Gays plus No Bisexuals

 

[Ethan Reigns]

Buffy was one of the few shows that had non-straight characters and as a result, the gay community ate it up and so far, they have written volumes of fan fic about gay pairings including Spander, Giles/Ethan, Angel/Spike and of course, Fuffy. Very thin evidence is presented as "proof" that a certain character is on the rainbow flag spectrum but in fact, the evidence is a bit of a stretch. And the writers, sensing the approval of the gay community, have written afterthought gay pairings like Buffy/Satsu just to indulge them.

I don't believe Faith was gay. Wood and Gunn were the pairings that could have gone somewhere. I don't think drawing a heart on the condensation of a school window is proof that Faith had the hots for Buffy. She was just trying to get her attention to convince her to leave the class early that day. This is not romantic, just boredom at its core and Faith had things she wanted to do with Buffy that had no romantic component.

 

[KaitKat]

Coming back for another point, people LOVE toxic relationships in media. I personally HATE the trope that Faith turned evil because she was romantically in love with Buffy and Buffy didn’t return her feelings. The body swap adds another level of toxicity that the Faith’s a lesbian crowd love. I truly don’t like the trope of the evil guy/girl that couldn’t have the good girl protagonist and snaps. It’s literally my least favorite writing trope. I also think in Faith’s case it’s reductive of a complex character.

Shippers in general can just be really aggressive/toxic. There are plenty of people that think that Faith is bi or a lesbian and are completely normal about it there are plenty of people that see her and Buffy as having had a thing in season three and are normal about it. The people that aren’t normal about it are people who think that they are the other half to each others souls and neither of them have never had a meaningful connection outside of each other. Not because they feel this way, I disagree but I don’t care but because these people can be aggressive when their ship/perspective is challenged.

 

[hoponlilmama]

I think she's bisexual and the people being rude and insisting that she's lesbian are biphobic. I've noticed that biphobia isn't too uncommon, (especially on online spaces.) But it's like...kinda obvious that she's bi.

X tends to have the most horrible bunch of people that never understand nuance.

Joss Whedon sucks at writing characters that are gay or POC. Tara and Willow are fine, but the tragic endings or villain gay characters are meh. And it might be undertones of homophobia but I don't know the guy that well.

And I will die on the hill, that if done correctly, Fuffy could've outsold every other ship.

I'm guessing the lack of representation might've also been push back from the studio/executives. If the series was made today, Faith and Willow would likely identify as bisexual.

And as I understand it, Xander would actually be gay.

 

[hoponlilmama]

@SavvyZ - Joss I believe originally intended for Xander to be gay. I think the higher-ups may have scratched that idea (?), and Willow was written to be gay instead.

 

[ILLYRIAN]

Faith appears to do what she wants to whom she wants.

 

[NotASlayer]

@SavvyZ - Joss I believe originally intended for Xander to be gay. I think the higher-ups may have scratched that idea (?), and Willow was written to be gay instead.

I suspect at that time it would have been difficult to get away with writing either the lead female character or a primary male one as being gay.

 

[hoponlilmama]

I suspect at that time it would have been difficult to get away with writing either the lead female character or a primary male one as being gay.

I suspect you are correct!

 

[November]

I suspect at that time it would have been difficult to get away with writing either the lead female character or a primary male one as being gay.

I suspect you are correct!

Wasnt Queer as Folk big over there? Australia had gay and lesbian characters all through the 90's. I remember seeing French orgies on SBS (free to air tv). Fitting into strict sexual labels is more of an issue now than it was back then. Run in the right circles and everyone has hooked up with everyone yet still don't label themselves, nor do they have to. US mainstream media is not the whole entire world of things.

As for Faith being a lesbian, and some lesbians being violently opposed to any other option - that's just their fantasy. We don't see evidence of that in the text (to date). Loads of virgins online @burrunjor , who are absolutely sure of a thing they have never experienced. See - Jojo Siwa and the backlash she got for batting for both sides. It wouldn't have been such a big deal to do that in the late 90's/00's.

Willow made her choice clear with "gay now" so I'd take her word, that shes not going back.

I cant be bothered getting dragged into another boring sexuality debate, so that's all I have to say about that.

 

[NotASlayer]

Wasnt Queer as Folk big over there? Australia had gay and lesbian characters all through the 90's. I remember seeing French orgies on SBS (free to air tv). Fitting into strict sexual labels is more of an issue now than it was back then. Run in the right circles and everyone has hooked up with everyone yet still don't label themselves, nor do they have to. US mainstream media is not the whole entire world of things.

I don't know how big a show it was, either the original British one or the American/Canadian derivative, but it is a tad tricky to have a show about gay men without anyone actually playing a gay man! 😀 But that is a different kind of show to a mainstream American one, and it is perhaps notable that the American version was American/Canadian, rather than pure American. Trying to get something past a bunch of US network execs for a show like Buffy was probably more difficult.