the best queer tv shows
When it comes to LGBTQIA+ representation in popular media, this is a great time to be alive. Never have there been more explicitly queer characters on the small screen. GLAAD’s Where We Are On TV 2019-2020 report showed that the percentage of characters on broadcast television who are queer reached 10.2%, a record high. In addition, the racial diversity among those queer characters has increased in recent years. Though we still have a long way to go—in terms of media representation as well as LGBTQIA+ rights more generally—it’s great to see a widening array of queer narratives become available in mainstream media.
We’ve curated a non-exhaustive list of some of our favorite queer tv shows from the past two decades. These shows don’t just include queer characters—they place their narratives front and center.
1. Pose (2018-)
This show belongs at the top of any list of queer tv shows. Set in the 1980s, Pose is an authentic depiction of New York’s underground ballroom culture and has the largest cast of recurring trans characters in tv history. Black and Latinx transgender women and femmes are placed front and center, performing at balls, falling in love, and building families of their own. The HIV/AIDS epidemic is also an important part of the narrative. This show does not try to sugarcoat the often violent reality of living as a gay person and/or trans woman of color in a transphobic, homophobic, and racist society, but ultimately it is a celebration of the community the characters create and the love they have for each other.
How to watch: Netflix, iTunes, Amazon Prime, Youtube
2. Sex Education (2019-)
Sex education is a show about a high schooler named Otis, the socially awkward son of a sex therapist who starts his own sex therapy clinic at his school with a girl named Maeve. The show is a hilarious and heartfelt exploration of teenage sexuality, and it does a great job of telling the stories of its numerous queer characters. Included in the lineup are Eric, Otis’s best friend and a Black gay man, and two other characters (no spoilers!) who eventually come out as bi and pan. There are also a wide variety of side characters whose identities include lesbian and asexual. These are fully realized characters who explore and embrace their sexualities without being defined by them. And the show is just plain fun!
How to watch: Netflix
3. She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018-2020)
Where was this show when I was a kid? This kids’ show was created by Noelle Stevenson, a lesbian artist who uses any pronouns. Adora and Catra, the main characters, have grown up together as best friends and soldiers in the evil Horde, but when Adora discovers her identity as the mythical warrior She-Ra, they find themselves on opposite sides of a war. The arc of the show is centered around their relationship. The story is set in Etheria, a world in which queerness is normal and accepted—in fact, it’s one of the few shows I’ve seen where you should just assume the characters are queer unless stated otherwise. The show as a whole is wonderfully inclusive: there is a truly iconic nonbinary character with shapeshifting abilities, several non-white characters, at least one non-neurotypical character, and a realistic range of body types. This is a story where queer love quite literally saves the universe, and it’s a great watch for anyone of any age.
How to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
4. The Bisexual (2018-)
This show about a bisexual Iranian-American woman has flown largely under the radar. Leila, the titular character, breaks up with her girlfriend of ten years, and shortly thereafter realizes that she might be interested in men as well as women. The premise is a kind of subversion of the popular myth that bisexuality is only a phase gay and lesbian people go through, and the show as a whole embraces the complex dynamics of bisexuality within and without the queer community. As the creator Desiree Akhavan noted in an interview with the New York Times, bisexuality often makes both gay and straight people very uncomfortable. The show also explores the dynamics between different generations of queer people. The result is a raw, funny, insightful series.
How to watch: Hulu, Amazon Prime
5. Love, Victor (2020-)
Set in the same world as Love, Simon, Love, Victor is a show about a closeted teen who hopes he’ll have a chance to start over and be himself when his family moves to a new city. But that’s easier said than done, and when Victor hears about Simon Spier’s story at the same high school, they start up a social media correspondence. We follow Victor as he crushes on a boy from his school while starting a relationship with a girl. Love, Victor tries to include more diverse perspectives in its storytelling: Victor is the child of Puerto Rican and Colombian parents, and his family is less accepting than Simon’s. In addition, unlike Simon, Victor isn’t exactly sure of his sexuality yet. This show goes deeper than its predecessor, and still succeeds as a fun watch.
How to watch: Hulu
6. Dear White People (2017-)
Dear White People is a show about a group of Black students at a prestigious, predominantly white university. It gets its title from a radio show hosted by a mixed-race student named Samantha. This show explores questions about identity—racial identity, as the title suggests, and also queer identity and how the two intersect. There are Black gay and lesbian characters, characters that experiment with multiple genders without putting labels on themselves, a trans character, and an HIV+ character. All of the characters are multifaceted, never defined by only one part of their identities. Dear White People is a fun and provocative watch.
How to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Youtube
7. Steven Universe (2013-2020)
Steven Universe is a show about a half-human, half alien boy named Steven who lives with the Crystal Gems, a trio of aliens protecting Earth from colonization by their own kind. The show is created by Rebecca Sugar, a nonbinary, bisexual artist. Steven Universe is both explicitly and implicitly queer. Two female characters marry in a later season of the show; in addition, the writers introduce the concept of “fusion,” when two gems fall in love and “fuse” into one. In one such “fusion,” the character uses they/them pronouns. Though other children’s shows have depicted or hinted at same-sex relationships, a gay wedding was new territory. Steven Universe is an immensely important milestone in the effort to introduce queerness to children’s media.
How to watch: Hulu, iTunes, Amazon Prime, Youtube
8. Euphoria (2019-)
Euphoria is nothing short of a cultural phenomenon. It follows the life of Rue, a teenage drug addict, and her classmates. Rue finds a love interest in Jules, a transgender woman who’s new in town. Both have histories of trauma, which the show explores at length. Euphoria also explores the dangers of queer repression through its villains. The story Euphoria tells is grim and at times overwhelming; be warned that it includes depictions of statutory rape, assault, and revenge porn—but it strives to be honest in its storytelling. Many queer teens have found a catharsis in this show.
How to watch: HBO, Youtube
9. One Day at a Time (2017-)
This sitcom is based loosely off the show of the same name from the 1970s. It follows a multigenerational Cuban-American family living in Los Angeles. Penelope, the mother of the family, is an army vet with PTSD who lives with her mother and two kids. One member of the family eventually comes out as gay, and the show explores how the rest of her family struggles to overcome their prejudice to support that person, to varying degrees of success. That character eventually enters a relationship with a nonbinary person. The show also tackles issues like racism, immigration/deportation, and sexism with humor and intelligence.
How to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Pop TV
10. Glee (2009-2015)
Glee is an immensely popular show that follows a high school glee club. The recent death of Naya Rivera, who played Santana Lopez on the show, has reminded us of the show’s importance to the queer community. The show depicted a variety of queer characters exploring their identities, falling in and out of love, and dealing with varying degrees of prejudice and acceptance. There are multiple queer relationships, and by season three we are introduced to a Black transgender woman. Like a few other shows on this list, it spins a little out of control in later seasons, but it is still beloved for its queer representation.
How to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Youtube
11. Orange is the New Black (2013-2019)
Like the L Word, Orange is the New Black broke new ground in its portrayal of queer women. As Valerie Anne said in Autostraddle, “It was immediately obvious that this was a queer show, and it was as immediately obvious that this wasn’t a queer show about a bunch of skinny white girls from LA.” The show follows the inmates of a low-security women’s prison. Many of the women in the prison are queer and/or people of color, among them Sophia, a Black trans woman played by Laverne Cox. The show is a condemnation of the criminal justice system in America and strives to be authentic in its depiction of imprisoned women. Though the show has drawn some controversy in its later seasons, it remains an important landmark in the landscape of queer television.
How to watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, iTunes, Youtube
12. The L Word (2004-2009)
Because of course. The show follows a group of lesbian and bisexual women in Los Angeles through their various romantic and sexual exploits, and it has become a cultural touchstone for queer women. The show ran from 2004 to 2009, and though it has since drawn some well-deserved criticism for its treatment of trans characters and lack of characters of color, it remains groundbreaking for its depiction of queer women. Never before had a television show centered the lives of women who love women so completely. Notably, the show received a reboot in 2019. “The L Word: Generation Q” has not made waves in quite the same way as the original, but it tries to make up for some of its mistakes.
How to watch: Amazon Prime, Showtime, Youtube
There you have it! We hope you enjoy exploring these shows. Did we miss any of your favorites? Let us know @sunbowzine on Instagram!
Image sources:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7562112/mediaviewer/rm3369356288
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7767422/mediaviewer/rm3057615105
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https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8050586/mediaviewer/rm3393483008
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10166602/mediaviewer/rm1308537857
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5707802/mediaviewer/rm1352178945
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3061046/mediaviewer/rm390536960
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8772296/mediaviewer/rm1619682560
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5339440/mediaviewer/rm621563904
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1327801/mediaviewer/rm1034770944
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2372162/mediaviewer/rm1648927744
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0330251/mediaviewer/rm3327237376
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