Dahmer creator Ryan Murphy pushes back against Netflix's removal of LGBTQ tag

Evan Peters as Jeffrey Dahmer in Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story on Netflix — (Image credit: Netflix)

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story has broken countless records for Netflix since its release, becoming one of the platform's most-streamed shows. But for all of its popularity, the show has also faced a lot of backlash, including it originally having the LGBTQ tag on the streamer.

Netflix removed this after some subscribers queried it, claiming that it wasn't the kind of representation they wanted. Now, the show's co-creator Ryan Murphy has queried this decision, revealing he asked Netflix why they did that.

"I don't think that all gay stories have to be happy stories," he told the New York Times about the show he made with Ian Brennan. "There was a moment on Netflix where they removed the LGBTQ tag from Dahmer, and I didn't like it and I asked why they did that and they said because people were upset because it was an upsetting story. I was, like, 'Well, yeah.' But it was a story of a gay man and more importantly, his gay victims."

Murphy also addressed some of the backlash from viewers that the show was glorifying Dahmer by showing his crimes. The American Horror Story creator shared that what he wanted to achieve with the show was to shed light on the racism and homophobia that allowed the serial killer to go undetected for so long.

"It was the biggest thing I've ever seen that really sort of examines how easy it is to get away with things with the white privilege aspects," he continued. "What are the rules now? Should we never do a movie about a tyrant?"

I’m the Deputy Entertainment Editor here at GamesRadar+, covering TV and film for the Total Film and SFX sections online. I previously worked as a Senior Showbiz Reporter and SEO TV reporter at Express Online for three years. I've also written for The Resident magazines and Amateur Photographer, before specializing in entertainment.