Netflix removes the LGBTQ tag from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story (and here’s why)

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story dropped in late September and appeared to take the world by storm, even becoming one of Netflix’s biggest launches since Stranger Things season 4, surpassing You season 3 and Inventing Anna. But the dramatization of the infamous serial killer (played by Evan Peters in the series) is not without controversy.

Many critics are frustrated at the direction the show takes, choosing to spend the bulk of its runtime on Dahmer’s origin story rather than following through on its promise to explore things from his victims’ perspectives and reckon with the police failures that allowed Dahmer to get away with preying on many young black men, particularly gay black men, for more than a decade.

At least one victim’s family member—Rita Isbell, sister of Errol Lindsey, who was just 19 at the time of his murder—has spoken out in an essay about her frustrations with the show, which depicted her victim statement in a frame-by-frame recreation.

Netflix removes the LGBTQ tag from Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story

Members of the LGBTQIA+ community have also found the show to be in poor taste, especially because Netflix chose to release it under the “LGBTQ” tag on the platform, a move that earned the streamer significant backlash. The LGBTQ tag is meant to be used for projects that uplift voices within the marginalized community.

Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is the vicious saga of a predator who repeatedly preyed on gay people. You can see how it feels a little disrespectful to stick that in the same category as shows like Heartstopper, Young Royals, First Kill, and others, especially when you consider that family members of Dahmer’s victims are already going to be re-traumatized by the dramatizations present in the series and now re-entering the news cycle.

While chatting with WISN, drag performer B.J. Daniels said, “I feel like it fetishizes this whole horrible moment in Milwaukee history. it shouldn’t be looked at it that way, it just feels completely wrong.”

According to Deadline, it’s not clear when Netflix removed the tag, but it seems like the right decision overall.