photo: Getty/Greg Doherty/Getty Images

The Bachelor is straight af. The whole point of The Bachelor, The Bachelorette, and Bachelor in Paradise is for (white) heterosexual, cisgender men and women to find love with other (white) heterosexual, cisgender men and women. There has never been an openly queer member on The Bachelor — until now. Demi Burnett, who starred on the 23rd season of The Bachelor with Colton Underwood, had joined Bachelor in Paradise, where she revealed early on that she had been dating a woman back home. While on Paradise, Burnett had made a love connection with Derek Peth, but ultimately decided that she loved the woman even more — giving the Bachelor franchise its first queer love moment. And Bachelor Nation fans are literally crying the happiest tears.

Burnett had been dating Derek Peth on Bachelor in Paradise, but her feelings were growing increasingly conflicted.

Burnett and Peth hit it off almost immediately when the two arrived at Bachelor in Paradise. They seemed like a solid couple, but in confessionals, Burnett explained how she'd been thinking of the woman she'd been casually seeing back home. 

Host Chris Harrison noticed that Burnett wasn't getting the love she deserved on the show.

Since the Bachelor franchise shows are ostensibly about finding *~forever love~*, host Chris Harrison sat down with Burnett to suss out her emotions. Burnett revealed that she couldn't stop thinking about her girlfriend back home and was growing further apart from Peth as a result. Harrison (and those sneaky producers) already knew how Burnett was feeling — and he told Burnett that there was a "surprise" waiting for her atop a flight of stairs.

Burnett's girlfriend, Kristian Haggerty, was waiting!

Burnett hurried up the stairs — only to see her girlfriend Kristian (pronounced like Christian) waiting for her with a huge smile and a killer white jumpsuit. The two embraced with hugs and kisses and Burnett glowed with happiness. It was one the most beautiful, genuine moments of love on any of the shows' 25 seasons.

FANS LOVED IT SO MUCH.

"Hi this is happening on a mainstream American reality TV dating show NOT EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD IS A GARBAGE FIRE," wrote TV critic Kristen Baldwin, noting the importance of this queer love representation on primetime reality television. 

the lgbtq community getting ready to protect @demi_burnett from the haters #BachelorInParadise
pic.twitter.com/9Thy1vNQPe

— LosCreed (@CreedLos) August 21, 2019

my heart just exploded for demi omg????????????#BachelorInParadise

— A???????????? (@ecstaticolors) August 21, 2019

Me seeing Demi and Kristian together: #BachelorInParadise pic.twitter.com/Ept0dKrRIz

— Kim (@kimrosa_) August 21, 2019

Me tonight because of how proud I am of @demi_burnett:
???????????????? pic.twitter.com/XxwPQDEd3B

— ellen (@symbolicsides) August 21, 2019

Even former Bachelor contestants loved it!

"Demi seeing Kristian is a real genuine moment and first mutual connection I’ve believed all season. Good for the show for making it happen," wrote Nick Viall on Twitter, who was the titular Bachelor on the 21st season of The Bachelor.

Even Chris Harrison was proud!

Yes, the Bachelor shows are produced with the precision of a full-length action movie, but this production was genuine perfection. "I’m extremely proud of the television we produced tonight," Harrison wrote on Twitter. WE ARE TOO, PAPA CHRIS.