This is why Stranger Things star Maya Hawke pushed for her character to be a lesbian

Actress Maya Hawke, who plays Robin in Netflix’s Stranger Things, previously explained that she advocated for her character to be a lesbian after filming began.

The first part of the fifth and final season of the sci-fi horror series is finally with us, and it’s causing a stir online. A synopsis for the final season reads: “The fall of 1987. Hawkins is scarred by the opening of the Rifts, and our heroes are united by a single goal: find and kill Vecna.

“But he has vanished — his whereabouts and plans unknown. Complicating their mission, the government has placed the town under military quarantine and intensified its hunt for Eleven, forcing her back into hiding. 

“As the anniversary of Will’s disappearance approaches, so does a heavy, familiar dread. The final battle is looming — and with it, a darkness more powerful and more deadly than anything they’ve faced before.”

When did Robin come out and is Maya Hawke a lesbian?

In 2019, Robin became the first LGBTQ+ character in the hit show, coming out as a lesbian to her ‘Scoops Ahoy’ colleague Steve Harrington in season three, episode seven. Maya Hawke is not LGBTQ+, but she has explained why she was so keen for her character to come out.

In a scene that cleverly defied expectations, Robin revealed that she didn’t actually have a crush on Steve in high school, but on the girl who couldn’t stop staring at him in class.

Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in 2019, Maya Hawke said the Duffer Brothers initially planned for Robin and Steve’s character arcs to end in a romantic relationship — but she had other ideas.

“Obvious decision”

“Throughout filming, we started to feel like she and Steve shouldn’t get together, and that she’s gay,” the 21-year-old actress said.

“Even when I go back and watch earlier episodes, it just seems like the most obvious decision ever.

“The Duffer Brothers and I, and [director] Shawn Levy, had a lot of conversations throughout shooting and it wasn’t really until we were shooting episode four and five, I think, that we made the final decision.

“It was a collaborative conversation, and I’m really, really happy with the way that it went.”

In a subsequent 2022 interview, she also said that her push for Robin to be gay was because of her belief in the importance of queer visibility. She said: “I’m really enjoying getting the opportunity to voice Robin and live in that world and be an LGBTQ character whose identity isn’t… the story that Robin gets to be a part of isn’t necessarily an LGBTQ story.

“It’s this adventure story, just like everybody else, her queerness is just a kind of aspect of her personhood. That feels really special to me.

“There should definitely be stories about queerness and gayness and explore that and express it, but also, there should be gay characters and stories that are sci-fi action stories. That feels really important to me.”

Viewers were delighted with the plot’s change of direction and took to X – then Twitter – to share their support.

“I’m genuinely so happy stranger things gave us this lesbian icon,” one user wrote at the time. “Robin is beautiful, smart, funny, one of the coolest characters and she’s a lesbian. it’s a win for the gays.”

Another tweeted: “Stranger Things having an official gay character makes me so happy finally some good f**king representation! And the way she just came out to Steve like that thinking he won’t be her friend anymore and he’s just like ma’am your taste in girls is S**T, everything I ever wanted.”

Hawke, who is the daughter of Hollywood actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, added that she hoped her character’s sexuality would encourage greater tolerance of LGBTQ+ people.

“If I can hope for anything it’s that maybe some people fell in love with Robin and that helped them fall in love with girls who love girls and boys who love boys,” she concluded.