Jane the Virgin (2014-201), the beloved dramedy series created by Jennie Snyder Urman, gave us a few bi storylines. The show, based on a telenovela, follows Jane Villanueva (Gina Rodriguez), who is mistakenly inseminated and becomes pregnant as a virgin. The show cleverly blended telenovela-style storytelling with modern-day themes, addressing topics such as immigration, identity, the complexities of family dynamics, and more than one bi storyline.
The first story line is when Jane meets and begins dating Adam (Tyler Posey). At the time, he stood out as an openly bi male character, something that remains fairly rare on mainstream television shows. When Jane finds out that Adam is bi she freaks out. Happily, the show takes the time to go over and reject many common myths about bi men. Sadly, the relationship doesn’t last, and Adam disappears from the show, but he is not the last bi character.
The second is the story of Petra Solano (Yael Grobglas), who is married to Jane’s baby daddy, Rafael Solano (Justin Baldoni). Petra begins as a villain, determined to stay in her unhappy marriage even as she’s cheating on Rafael.
As the show unfolds, Petra grows and becomes a more nuanced character, especially when she starts to fall in love with Jane Ramos, or JR (Rosario Dawson). Although the two of them have had plenty of ups and downs, it is clear that Petra loves JR.
Petra is completely unphased by her attraction to JR, and for the most part, so is everyone else. Their relationship isn’t played as sensational (beyond the whole framed for murder storyline), and the revelation of Petra’s bisexuality is surprisingly uneventful considering the frantic pacing of the rest of the show.
To read more about Jane the Virgin, check out bi.org’s Unicorn Scale.