A “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” character just came out as bisexual, and fans are LIVING for this
Here is a cold, hard fact: Brooklyn Nine-Nine is one of the best shows on television and if you’re not watching it, you are missing out. Another fact: The show is ridiculously well-written, with complex, emotional characters who love and care about one another, and it’s a beautiful television fandom. And now, a super important fact that was just revealed during Brooklyn Nine-Nine’s 99th episode: Rosa Diaz is bisexual!
Fans of the show have long speculated — and also hoped, wished, and prayed — that the tough as nails detective would explore her sexuality at some point during the show’s run. Actually, there have been fan theories and ships for Rosa and aloof-but-amazing Nine-Nine administrator, Gina (and one time, it was maybe even confirmed). And now, literally 99 episodes later, it finally happened.
During a typical Charles Boyle-prying-for-information conversation with Rosa, he interrupts one of her phone calls. Rosa has just postponed a wedding with her fiancé, Detective Pimento, and Boyle asks if she’s talking to her new boyfriend. Upon hearing a woman’s voice on the other end of the phone, Rosa admits that she’s not dating a guy, she’s dating a girl — and no, she doesn’t walk to talk about it in true Rosa fashion. But the simple fact that Rosa gave this information to Boyle is a big deal.
Be proud. 🏳 🌈 #BiVisibility #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/qwMCByvnst
— Brooklyn Nine-Nine (@nbcbrooklyn99) December 6, 2017
Fans lit up Twitter like a Christmas tree with love and praise for the Rosa, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and the lady behind Rosa, Stephanie Beatriz:
Me: #Brooklyn99 can not get any better. Healthy relationships, no jokes that target marginalized communities, great POC & LGBT+ rep. How can they top that?
Rosa: I'm dating a woman. I'm bi.
Me: It got better.
— percy 💛🏳️⚧️ (@p_hoey_ig) December 6, 2017
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ROSA ACTUALLY SAID THE WORD “BI” ON PRIMETIME TELEVISION AND SHE’S DATING A WOMAN AND THAT WOMAN CALLS HER “BABE” AND I’M CRYING #Brooklyn99 pic.twitter.com/CqsX8zhjXK
— Rachel (@BendItLikeTobin) December 6, 2017
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https://twitter.com/udfredirect/status/938238966368792576
the #brooklyn99 fandom right now: pic.twitter.com/pVi2UqVx2R
— hannah (@bisxualrosadiaz) December 6, 2017
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This is a big deal for a handful of reasons, the most prominent one being that the LGBTQ+ community is still vastly underrepresented on primetime television — and even then, there are far fewer identifying bi characters. On top of that, Beatriz identifies as bi. You mean we have a bisexual character, being played by a bisexual actor? See, we CAN have nice things sometimes.
Beatriz herself was pretty stoked about getting to portray the character this way, and explained to Entertainment Weekly in a post-episode interview: “I was really excited about it. I hadn’t really seen much of that representation in television that I personally watch. I know it’s out there, but often times it’s written in a specific way…It’s really cool to me that our show is exploring something with almost the safety net underneath it, telling the audience, ‘Look, we’re not doing this so that we can explore a story and simply throw it away when it’s convenient for us. We are going to keep this person around because we love this person already.’ It’s part of the family.”
The 100th episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine will air next week, and further explore Rosa’s sexuality. This means you have one whole week to binge (or re-binge) the entire series on Hulu right now.
