Presenting The Winners Of The 7th Annual Autostraddle TV Awards

We created the Autostraddle TV Awards (formerly known as “the Gay Emmys”) in 2018 to honor the groundbreaking LGBTQ+ television so often overlooked and undervalued by mainstream television awards. Representation had been improving steadily for years, with massive sea change in quality and quantity of queer characters kicking off around 2017. In 2020, things were looking so good that I overzealously added a billion new categories (we reversed that decision in 2021). The past year, however, has been bleak. There’s been less television in general due to the refusal of studios to pay writers and actors what they deserved, thus leading to a strike, and we’ve also seen epic levels of cancellations and many steps backwards when it comes to shows centering queer female characters. It’s never been more important to create opportunities to celebrate and bestow accolades upon all the hot, smart gay people making really good TV and ensure that ‘making deeply queer stuff’ isn’t mutually exclusive from ‘having awards to post on your imdb profiles.” Of all the things we do at Autostraddle, The Autostraddle TV Awards routinely feels like one of the most important, and we’re always so grateful to our members for making this work possible.

Of all the shows snagging TV awards in best series and acting categories this year, only one is returning for additional seasons (Hacks). Of the 20 shows nominated for best live-action series across three genres (Drama, Comedy, Sci-Fi/Fantasy), only five have been renewed for additional seasons. On the upside, we are thriving in the realm of comedy, with so many shows and characters to choose from this year.

Conversely, this was our easiest year narrowing down nominees for our Drama and Sci-Fi/Fantasy brackets — we’re over the moon about our nominees, but didn’t have the usual 5-10 shows we were devastated to see cut in the nominations round. It wasn’t that long ago that we were choosing between shows in those two categories like Killing Eve, Euphoria, Gentleman Jack, The L Word: Generation Q, How to Get Away With Murder, A League Of Their Own, Black Lightning, Batwoman, Wynonna Earp, Marvel’s Runaways and Pose. It’s really important that more queer-centric shows get made so that I can recap something besides Emily in Paris!

But, I don’t want to keep dwelling on the past when we have such an incredible group of nominees and winners to celebrate today. The four shows that received the most wins this year were Under the Bridge, The Fall of the House of Usher and Station 19 (a tip of our hats to the 15,523 Station 19 fans who ensured Maya and Carina went out with a bang in the Fan Favorite categories). We also added a new category this year for Best Reality TV. Queer contestants have been mainstays on Reality TV since before we made it into narrative television, but we’ve been getting more things like our very own dating shows and gay housewives, and this category embodies our hope for that to keep going.

Finally, we’re so pleased to be able to bestow awards upon so many shows we’re saying goodbye to this year, like Station 19, Rap Sh!t, Sort Of, Riverdale, Minx and Everything Now. 

Without any further ado… here are the winners!

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Outstanding Drama Series: Under the Bridge

Nominees: Expats, Mary & George, A Murder at the End of the World, The Other Black Girl, Riverdale 

Under the Bridge showed us what the true crime genre is capable of at its very best. Based on Rebecca Godfrey’s book by the same name, Under the Bridge tells the story of the murder of Canadian-Indian 14-year-old Reena Virk, who was beaten and killed by her peers in 1997 British Columbia. Queer showrunner Quinn Shephard’s adaptation is less concerned with scandal or mystery than it is with empathy and curiosity, telling a haunting story about cruelty and desire and the aching compromises and mistakes we make trying to fit in to a place that won’t make space for us. Riley Keough’s Rebecca becomes the central character in the narrative which also invents the role of Cam Bentland (Lily Gladstone), who as a kid was taken out of her Indigenous community and adopted by a family of white cops, eventually becoming a cop itself. While Rebecca and Cam’s very hot bathroom makeout scene is what really imprinted itself on the collective lesbian consciousness, their relationship is ultimately about so much more than that, as both women push each other to grapple with and reevaluate their concepts of family, exploitation, guilt, justice and forgiveness. – Riese

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Outstanding Comedy Series: Hacks

Nominees: Deadloch, Minx, Reservation Dogs, Sex Education, Sort Of, Such Brave Girls, We Are Lady Parts

Season after season, Hacks continues to be effortlessly hilarious while also slapping you in the face with a handful of feelings. This season, Ava did her best to live a separate life of her former work partner but got pulled back into Deborah’s orbit slowly, surely, and inevitably. This season queer antics include (but are not limited to) Ava trying to balance having a live-in girlfriend and being married to her job, Helen Hunt as a ruthless network exec whose pickleball partner is her ex-wife, and Christina Hendricks as a gay Republican with a caddy kink.

What’s also great about this show is that it’s not just a static comedy where all the characters learn a lesson for a bit but never actually grow or change. The evolution of both Deborah and Ava is evident in each season, and they almost sort of seem to be growing toward each other. This season, we saw Deborah defending bisexuality to her peers that she was trying desperately to impress, despite knowing that it might affect her career, we saw Ava make a move that can only be described as a Deborah Vance Special. This show doesn’t lose its brilliance as time goes on, and I’m glad you all agree. -Valerie

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Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: The Fall of the House of Usher

Nominees: Gen V, The Horror of Dolores Roach, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Our Flag Means Death

In eight wild episodes, Mike Flanagan smashed together the works of Edgar Allan Poe with a very crucial twist: making everyone gay. Or, at least, close to everyone. In all seriousness, the macabre madcap thrillride that is Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher is not only a great ensemble horror series but also a feast for literary nerds, pulling at the strings of all of Poe’s most interesting themes and questions but with a modern sensibility. The series is fun, but it’s also a sharp critique of capitalism and big pharma. It speaks to the show’s depth and details that even when you know what’s going to happen, you cannot look away. -Kayla

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Outstanding Animated Series: Hazbin Hotel

Nominees: Harley Quinn, Moon Girl & Devil Dinosaur, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off, The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy, Star Trek: Lower Decks

Hazbin Hotel came onto the scene with a bit of a built-in fanbase that followed it from the YouTube pilot, and also the series Helluva Boss by the same creator, but it also stood on its own to those of us who didn’t find out about it until the Prime Video series came to be. With an all-star cast, including Broadway stars like Erika Henningson and Daphne Rubin-Vega, and TV legends like Stephanie Beatriz and Kimiko Glenn, the songs alone are worth watching the show for. But it’s not just the music that makes the show; despite being set in literal hell, Hazbin is full of so much heart, following Princess of Hell Charlie Morningstar, her girlfriend Vaggie, and their ragtag group of friends as they try to rehabilitate sinners to get them into heaven. While trying to improve their own selves, the hotel gang also learns to work together against Heaven’s angel army. No matter how bleak their situation seems, there is always a glimmer of hope, and despite being a silly, goofy show with songs about cannibals and a love song called Loser, Baby, the show really knows how to dig deep and get you right in the feels. Charlie and Vaggie’s relationship remains at the heart of the show; they hit some road bumps along the way but ultimately their love for each other is unbreakable.

A lot of my friends and I grew up with religious trauma from being queer and raised in a religious environment, and sometimes we joke that if we’re going to hell, at least we’ll be together, and that sort of is how this show feels sometimes. Sure, they’re in hell, but they’ve made a found family while they’re there, and if they can’t find a way out, at least they have each other. -Valerie

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Outstanding Reality Series: The Ultimatum: Queer Love

Nominees: The Real Housewives of New York, The Traitors, Couple to Throuple, RuPaul’s Drag Race, Tournament of Champions, Top Chef: Wisconsin

Historically, messy reality dating show drama has been reserved for the straights, which has always confused me because I can count on one hand the number of times I’ve been at a queer gathering where there aren’t at least 3 exes present. We’re messy too, and with The Ultimatum: Queer Love, that drama finally went mainstream. There are a lot of dating shows out there, so if you’re unfamiliar with this one the premise goes like this. Five couples arrive after one member of each couple has given their partner the titular ultimatum: get married or break up. To decide this, the couples “break up” and essentially speed date the other people in the experiment before choosing one person to embark on a 3-week trial marriage with. What that marriage looks like differs based on each person’s comfort level, but yes, it gets MESSY. Afterwards, they get back with their original partner for another 3-week trial marriage which inevitably involves a lot of drama around what they did during their first trial marriage. From there they decide if they want to marry their original partner, break up, or a not so secret third option of deciding to date the person from their first trial marriage.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of dynamics at play here that determine who pairs off with whom; age, personality, gender presentation, top vs. bottom, who gave the ultimatum vs. who received the ultimatum. And so much of the interpersonal drama is based on those factors as well as communication (or lack thereof) or what is and isn’t allowed during trial marriages. The show gave us big personalities (Lexi and Vanessa), heartthrobs (lookin’ at you there, Mal), and no shortage of absolute chaos. I loved checking in with my queer group chats every week to find out what everyone’s takes were on each couple. I’m so glad y’all felt the same way, and fingers crossed we get just as much insanity in season 2. -Nic

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Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character on a Drama Series: Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge

Nominees: Sophie Wilde as Mia, Everything Now // Ji-young Yoo as Mercy, Expats // Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent, Heartstopper // Julianne Moore as Mary, Mary & George  // Emma Corrin as Darby, A Murder at the End of the World // Lili Reinhart as Betty, Riverdale,

(Photo by: Bettina Strauss/Hulu)We are alas only human and it is impossible to deny the unyielding hotness of Lily Gladstone in this role, in her white t-shirt and her ponytail, hunched over the table, drinking a beer, experiencing emotional turmoil. Gladstone told Rotten Tomatoes that she’d read a lot of character breakdowns of Indigenous cops with skepticism, but chose to take this one on, seeing it as “an opportunity to indict law enforcement and to indict that power dynamic” of what happens when “a woman who largely is denied having power [is put] in such a role.” Cam faces so much over the course of eight mere episodes, delivering a journey that is yes, hot, but also shows that in the right hands, a tired trope can become an opportunity for genuine reckoning. – Riese

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Outstanding Supporting Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character on a Drama Series: Danielle Savre as Maya Bishop, Station 19

Nominees: Lauren Patton as Anna, Death and Other Details // Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl, Riverdale // Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz, Riverdale // Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, Special Ops: Lioness // Maia Reficco as Noa, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School // Isabella LaBlanc as Leah Danvers, True Detective: Night Country

In the penultimate episode of Station 19, Maya Bishop sits down next to her best friend — Andy Herrera, the newly appointed captain — on the bumper of the fire truck, fires raging around them, and contemplates a future where she’d carry a baby. It’s such a far cry from the Maya Bishop we first met that even Andy is stunned. Surely the overly ambitious former Olympic runner isn’t pondering a future of swollen ankles and “chocolate ice cream and pickle cravings,” Andy opines, but Maya seems ready to embrace the possibility.

“Maya Kathleen, you have come a long way since ‘monogamy is for the weak,'” Herrera notes.
“That’s who I am now,” Maya confesses.

Watching Maya Bishop’s evolution into the person sitting on that fire truck, imagining a future that they had never fathomed, over seven seasons of Station 19 has been a gift. It’s a credit to the writing, of course, but also to Danielle Savre, who dug so deep into playing this character that every step in that evolution felt earned. Savre brought Maya to life, adding dimension to someone who, in less skilled hands, could’ve been a caricature. As the writing for Maya leveled up, so too did Savre’s performance and, in the end, there wasn’t a bar that the writers could set that the actress wouldn’t meet. -Natalie

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Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character on a Comedy Series: Bilal Baig, Sort Of

Nominees: Kate Box as Dulcie Collins, Deadloch // Paula Pell as Gloria, Girls 5 Eva // Hannah Einbinder as Ava, Hacks //  Kat Sadler as Josie, Such Brave Girls // Juliette Motamed as Ayesha, We Are Lady Parts

Often, the bigger the performance, the more attention it receives. We celebrate actors who scream or cry or completely transform. But throughout the three seasons of Sort Of, Sabi holds themself together by revealing less. It’s a testament to Bilal Baig’s talent that behind these walls there has always been an obvious well of depth. Season three find Sabi grieving the loss of their dead while beginning medical transition. They’ve also allowed more of their vulnerabilities to be visible to the world — or, at least, those closest to them. Baig portrays these nuances with a rich, grounded performance. Their deadpan comic timing is matched by an ability to reveal immense emotions with just their eyes. It’s been a gift to watch Baig embody Sabi during this chapter of their journey. Their performance is a work of sharp subtlety and deserves endless reward. – Drew

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Outstanding Supporting Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character on a Comedy Series: Jonica Blu Booth, Rap Sh!t

Nominees: Poppy Liu as Grace, The Afterparty // Nava Mau as Terri, Baby Reindeer // Helen Hunt as Winnie Landell, Hacks // Jessica Lowe as Bambi, Minx // Lennon Parham as Shelly, Minx // Dua Saleh as Cal Bowman, Sex Education

In the wave of cancellations experienced by shows with an ounce of marginalized representation, Rap Sh!t’s hit me especially hard. Jonica Booth’s portrayal of Chastity was a big reason why. At first, I didn’t have strong feelings about the duke of Miami; she was a sex work manager and friend of Shawna and Mia’s who wanted to move into managing their music careers as well. Chastity’s one of those people who can talk their way into any room, if only because the bouncer is tired of hearing her spiel. But as the series progressed, so did Chastity’s growth and depth. We got to see more of her compassionate side without watering down her hustle. She put her heart and soul into getting Shawna and Mia more exposure for their music, sometimes even at the expense of her own pride, and we saw her get thrown to the side in spite of that effort. Jonica’s performance in the season two finale beautifully captured the hurt and anger that Chastity felt after her friends betrayed her. I’m gutted that we won’t get more of Jonica in this role, but I can’t wait to see what she does next. -Nic

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Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character In a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: Carla Gugino, The Fall of the House of Usher

Nominees: Lena Heady as Aster Calyx, Beacon 23  //  Jaz Sinclair as Marie, Gen V // Justina Machado as Dolores Roach, The Horror of Dolores Roach // Anna Sawai as Cate Randa, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters // Rosamund Pike as Moiraine Damodred, The Wheel of Time

I already knew Carla Gugino was a legend before The Fall of the House of Usher. I had watched her do basically a one-woman show in Gerald’s Game, fell in love with her as the mother in Haunting of Hill House, and had her break my whole heart in Haunting of Bly Manor. There’s a reason Mike Flanagan keeps casting her, and who could possibly blame him. But I don’t think I understood the full range of Carla Gugino’s talent before I watched The Fall of the House of Usher. She practically played a different character in each episode, showing up to each of the Usher siblings as they needed her to in order to get through to them. She rocked every single outfit, regardless of time period or theme, and carried herself with such grace and poise no matter the situation. Her voice is so soothing, it’s like everything she says is poetry, so when she’s reciting actual poetry, it’s something even more magical. This show was a series of Poe vignettes and Carla Gugino was the seamless silver thread that ran through them, and I can’t imagine anyone else in that role. Depending on the situation, she embodies a mysterious figure, a sexual enticement, a motherly comfort, or a fearsome presence. She is a force to be reckoned with, and frankly I would have probably been enthralled into making a wild and dangerous deal with her, too, if she looked at me looking like THAT.

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Outstanding Supporting Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character In a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: T’nia Miller, The Fall of the House of Usher

Nominees: Kate Siegel as Camille L’Espanaye, The Fall of the House of Usher // Derek Luh and London Thor as Jordan, Gen V // Shioli Kutsuna as Mitsuki Yamato, Invasion // Kiersey Clemons as May, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters // Vico Ortiz as Jim Jimenez, Our Flag Means Death

This isn’t the first time Miller has been a standout performer in a Mike Flanagan production — she was easily my favorite part of Bly Manor. And in Fall of the House of Usher, she plays an unraveling evil gay who captivates all the way up to her final chilling moments. The episode that centers her character, Victorine, contains some top-notch acting across the board, but Miller rises to the top. There’s a theatrical cadence to her monologuing that I mean in the literal sense — she makes you feel as if you’re watching a very good, very fucked up play. -Kayla

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Outstanding Performance By an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Drama: Lily Gladstone, Under the Bridge

Nominees: Midori Francis Iwama in Grey’s Anatomy,  Emma Corrin in A Murder at the End of the World, Lili Reinhart in Riverdale, Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country. Aiyana Goodfellow in Under the Bridge

What else can I say about Lily Gladstone in Under the Bridge that I did not already say about LIly Gladstone in Under the Bridge? Maybe how important it is for writers to work closely with the actors portraying marginalized characters in their work, knowing how Gladstone deepened Cam’s character and background after signing on to the project. Her collaboration re-positioned Cam’s initial draw to Vancouver for a promotion as perhaps indicative of something more, a way to return to who she really is rather than another step away in the direction chosen for her. But conversations about representation aside; Gladstone’s just a damn good actor. Everybody keeps talking about how this is a huge year for her. I think we’re hoping, in retrospect, huge will become her new normal. -Riese

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Outstanding Performance By An Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Comedy: Ayo Edebiri, The Bear 

Nominees: Jessica Gunning in Baby Reindeer, Nava Mau in Baby Reindeer, Paula Pell in Girls5Eva, Jonica Blu Booth in Rap Sh!t, Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs, Bilal Baig in Sort Of

Whether she’s honoring the laws of time travel or punching girls in the face, it’s impossible not to love the wit and charm of Edebiri. But some of her finest work is, of course, on the television show The Bear, a show beloved by much of the Autostraddle team, so can they please add a sapphic storyline so we can cover it regularly, already? Edebiri’s performance as Sydney in season one of the series was already strong, but in season two, she’s even better, both comedically and dramatically going toe-to-toe with Jeremy Allen White in their shared scenes together, but we also get to see a more expansive view of Sydney as a character in season two, and Edebiri lends great specificity to that. -Kayla

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Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series: Devery Jacobs, Echo 

Nominees: Kate Mara in Black Mirror, Kate Siegel in The Fall of the House of Usher, Kiersey Clemons in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters, Celia Rose Gooding in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Stephanie Beatriz in Twisted Metal

We had it good for a while. There was a moment when the powers that be crafted worlds, protected by a new brand of superheroes. They gave us an Afro-Latina Batgirl, an androgynous Supergirl, a South Asian Marvel, and a deaf and indigenous badass. We could all be heroes, they told us.

But then came the backlash: a vociferous minority determined to always cast themselves as the hero of every story. They could not abide something like Echo existing in the world…a story which, at its root, is about the power of the matriarchy. They did what they do, creating a narrative about the show — which, in all likelihood, they’ve never even seen — in hopes of blunting its reach and, sadly, more often than not, their efforts are successful. Watching that play out, over and over again, over the last few years has been so disheartening. So I am particularly grateful to see this award not just to tout the talent of Devery Jacobs but also to celebrate this show and remind us all that we can be heroes.

What is remarkable about Jacobs’ performance in Echo — and what, frankly, is a hallmark of nearly all her performances — is the immediate depth she imbues in Bonnie and imparts upon her relationship with Maya. The cousins have been separated for years and yet, the moment that forces conspire to finally reunite them, you feel it. You feel the depth of their connection, a depth that hasn’t been eroded by time. You feel the heartbreak from their initial separation, Bonnie’s desperation to maintain their connection, and (ultimately) the contentment at being brought back together. It all happens with very few words being exchanged. It all happens because Jacobs has this innate ability to funnel that emotion into whatever character she plays. – Natalie

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Outstanding LGBTQ+ Showrunner/Writer/Producer: Brittani Nichols, Abbott Elementary 

Nominees: Devery Jacobs for Reservation Dogs, Erica Tremblay for Reservation Dogs, Bilal Baig for Sort Of, Kat Sadler for Such Brave Girls, Quinn Shephard for Under the Bridge

I’m thrilled that Brittani won both the team vote and the fan vote, so I can have this opportunity to sing the praises of my friend. Brittani is a great writer and producer for the same reasons she’s a great person. She’s one of the funniest people I know and her humor is somehow matched by a certainty in her values. In an industry where many feel like they have to compromise principles to get anything made, Brittani is stubborn and steadfast in doing things the right way. It’s no surprise to me that she works on a show that’s achieved major mainstream success while capturing the ways we fail public schools, teachers, and kids in the United States. Abbott Elementary is such a funny and entertaining show, it’s easy to overlook how impressive it is to get something so politically sharp on network TV and have it be a hit. Brittani brings her full self to everything she does and Abbott Elementary and Hollywood at large are lucky to have her. – Drew

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Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character: Sophie Wilde, Everything Now 

Nominees: Quinn, Heartbreak High // Jukebox, Power Book III: Raising Kanan // Noa, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School // Cheryl Blossom, Riverdale // Cal, Sex Education

Wilde’s Mia Polanco begins the series having just gotten out of a recovery program for an eating disorder, and from the start, Wilde makes all of Mia’s jagged edges so piercing. This isn’t a pristine queer teen character but rather a very messy one, one who lashes out at her friends and sometimes acts chaotically, self-sabotages. Wilde balances the scales well, making sure never to soften those edges but still making Mia a character worthy of empathy and understanding, even at the character’s worst. -Kayla

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Outstanding Episode with LGBTQ+ Themes: Riverdale Episode 720: Chapter 137

Nominees: Expats 105: “Central” // Hacks 308: “Bulletproof” // Minx 207: “God closes a door, opens a glory hole” // Rap Sh!t 208: “Under Construction” // Riverdale 720: “Chapter 137” // Under the Bridge 103: “Blood Oath”

Yes, it’s fun to make jokes about the series finale of Riverdale, which places the core four characters — Betty, Veronica, Jughead, and Archie — in a quad relationship, but have you considered that the episode is actually quite INCREDIBLE? In the span of the finale, Riverdale captures everything that made the series so delightful, oddball, and campy over the course of its seven episodes, which is no small feat considering just how much this series did and tried through the years. Endings are hard, but Riverdale approached its own the way it approached everything: never letting you guess their next move. -Kayla

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Groundbreaking Representation: Sort Of 

Nominees: Everything Now, Heartbreak High, Reservation Dogs, Sex Education, Sort Of, We Are Lady Parts

In the first episode of Sort Of, Sabi Mehboob’s best friend, 7ven, invites them to join her in Berlin. She’s secured a paid internship at a gallery there and she insists that Sabi join her in the “queerest city in the universe.” They’re leaving in a few days, 7ven announces, barely affording Sabi space to make their own decision. Eventually, though, Sabi comes around…not because they’re eager to go to Berlin but because they’re longing for an escape. But then, an accident puts her boss, Bessy, into a coma and Sabi decides to stay…not for themselves but for Bessy and for Bessy’s children.

“It’s not even a choice,” they say later.

But by Sort Of‘s end, Sabi is on a plane — in business class no less — on their way to Berlin. They’re by themselves this time, embracing a future that they’ve chosen, not one that’s been prescribed for them. Sabi stops letting others and their judgements dictate their path and, instead, chooses their own adventure.

Sort Of will be remembered for being the first show to center a character like Sabi — non-binary, trans-femme, Pakistani, Muslim, and messy — and for pushing the Canadian Screen Awards toward gender-neutral performance categories. It is groundbreaking for all those reasons. But what’s truly groundbreaking is the message: the idea that we’re all transitioning in our own way, whether your doing it medically or hopping on flight to a new city…or in Sabi’s case, both at the same time. We’re all evolving into the people we’re meant to be…and delivering that message, at this particular moment, feels like the most groundbreaking thing Sort Of ever did. -Natalie

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Outstanding Performance By a Straight Actress in a Straight Role: Liza Colon-Zayas as Tina, The Bear

Nominees: Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary // Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary // Liza Colon-Zayas as Tina, The Bear // Michelle Yeoh as Mama Sun, The Brothers Sun // Sarayu Blue as Hilary Starr, Expats // Anjana Vasan as Amina, We Are Lady Parts

While it wasn’t until season three that Liza Colon-Zayas’ Tina received her own focused episode, she’s always been one of my favorite characters on The Bear. In season two, she is sent to culinary school where she begins to thrive in a way she never imagined. Colon-Zayas has always been funny, making Tina a worthy sparring partner for Carmy and Sydney, but in the second season we’re allowed to see a more vulnerable side to her. She’s found something she really wants, something she’s really good at or could be really good at, and it’s a scary realization. Colon-Zayas portrays this desire with an immense tenderness and fire. She’s not just Sydney’s sous chef, she’s also a sous chef of sorts to the show. She’s not always be the focus, but her presence is essential to the recipe of the show. – Drew

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Outstanding Cis Male Character: Richie, The Bear

Nominees: Gregory in Abbot Elementary, Marcus Brooks in The Bear, Richie in The Bear, Jimmy Lusaque, Jr. in Hacks, Cory Ellison in The Morning Show, Bill in A Murder at the End of the World

From the moment we meet Richie Jerimovich, he’s kind of a jerk. At first, you want to chalk it up to the circumstances: he lost his best friend and his marriage, and had been running The Original Beef of Chicagoland until Carmy returned to claim the gift his brother — Richie’s aforementioned best friend — left to him. But then, huddled together, working to repair the restaurant’s mixer, Marcus wonders aloud, “Hey, was Richie always an asshole?”

“Always and forever,” Richie’s longtime friend, Neil Fak, admits. “Dude, he’s the fucking worst.”

For most of that first season, The Bear affirms over and over again that Richie Jermovich is the absolute worst. But early in the second season, Richie confesses that he lacks purpose and worries that he’ll be left behind. It’s the most introspective that we’ve ever seen Richie and it’s the beginning of an incredible metamorphosis. By the time The Bear debuts and Richie finds himself expediting on opening night, you’re not just cheering for him, you know that he can do it…even when he, himself, doubts it.

Ebon Moss-Bacharach is amazing in the role, revealing that there’s more to Richie than his bluster. I relished Moss-Bacharach showcasing Richie’s emotions but, above all, I love his embodiment — the steeled spine, the renewed light — of a man who found his purpose. -Natalie

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Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character: Jaz Sinclair, Gen V

Nominees: Karoline in Death and Other Details // Lola Rahaii inThe Girls on the Bus // Griselda in Griselda // Darby in A Murder at the End of the World //  Abbi Montgomery in Sex Education

Marie Moreau is the queer lead character of Gen V, a young supe hoping to leave her past behind and harness her blood manipulation powers at Godolkin. Canadian hairstylist Charleen Shillingford is the visionary behind Marie Moreau’s hair. Across the series, hair is doing all kinds of storytelling work, from Jordan’s slicked-back hair letting loose as they retreat from Brink’s control to the cutesy blonde bob on Emma, who’s powers transform her into “Little Cricket.”  For Marie, the loose, curly ends of her locs often mirror the tendrils of blood she harnesses in her palms, and the length and weight of her hair adds velocity as she whips her body back and forth practicing her powers. 

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Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters: Marie Schley, Minx

Nominees: Giovanni Lipari, Sheena Napier, and Kate Carrin, The Buccaneers // Terry Anderson, The Fall of the House of Usher // Annie Symons, Mary & George // Marie Schley, Minx // Daniella Pearman, Sex Education // Marie Schley, Survival of the Thickest

On paper, I should not have loved this show as much as I did. However, in practice, it was a damn delight from start to finish. And the irony is not lost on me that the winner of the costume category is a show about a nudie mag. But! When people did have clothes on, what wonderful clothes they were. It’s set in 1970s Los Angeles, and not one stitch of clothing lets you forget it. It was really interesting to see which outfits, especially the women’s fashion, have come back around to being back in style, while there are definitely some outfits that stayed squarely in the 70s. Regardless of whether we would wear them now or not, everyone looked amazing in every scene. From Joyce’s feminized menswear, to Barbie’s gogo boots and revealing dresses, to Shelly’s housewife dresses and pearls, everyone’s wardrobe was perfectly suited to their personality. And it was also always interesting when each character veered from their norm to signal a change in their current desires and goals or a character shift. Like when Joyce would dress to the nines in a sparkly dress, or when Bambi would dress in more muted colors and longer hemlines when she wanted to be taken more seriously. The costuming in this show helped really immerse us in a time and place, and I’m glad they have won this category, even though there were some really strong contenders. – Valerie

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Fan Favorite Couple: Maya & Carina, Station 19

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Fan Favorite Character: Carina, Station 19

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Fan Favorite Out LGBTQ+ Actor: Vico Ortiz, Our Flag Means Death

Vote Now in the 7th Annual Autostraddle TV Awards!

On September 15, the second Emmys of 2024 will take place. That’s because the ceremony that occurred in January was delayed from last summer due to the strikes. Our Autostraddle TV Awards were created as a response to — and an expanse beyond  — these official awards so we’ve followed suit. We, too, are back on schedule and ready to celebrate the queer TV of 2023/2024.

The boom of queer TV that began in the 2010s has subsided. Fewer gay shows are being produced and the ones that do slip through are often canceled. But that makes it all the more important to celebrate the work that does get made. There is still so much incredible work airing each year and we hope these awards will remind you of the best series you’ve seen and the best series you still need to check out.

Trust us: Once you have to vote in some of these categories, you’ll realize there’s still a lot to choose between.

How it Works: For the past few weeks, the knowledgeable and passionate queer critics who make up our TV Team have collaborated on a lengthy process to determine the year’s nominees in each of our Autostraddle TV Awards categories. We have 22 whole categories, and while there is some overlap with the Emmys, we also feature our own original categories that celebrate LGBTQ+ achievements — including awards specifically for out performers — as well as awards for other parts of the television landscape that don’t often get love from mainstream awards systems, like genre television. We took a massive list of potential nominees and voted to narrow that down to just six nominees per category — except in cases where there were ties and there are seven nominees… or, occassionally, eight.

Now, it’s your turn to help us pick the winners. Individual Autostraddle readers can vote once in each category. Your votes will be combined with the TV Team’s final votes to choose the winners.

There are also three fan-favorite categories that YOU get to decide completely yourselves! Those categories are Fan Favorite Couples, Fan Favorite Character, and Fan Favorite Out Queer Actor.

We follow the same rules as the Emmys as far as timeline, which means the shows must have aired between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024 in order to be eligible. While the show’s full season does not need to have aired during that range, most of its episodes must have aired. We also follow Emmy submissions in determining what counts as a drama vs. a comedy.

Here is your official ballot!

Voting is now open and will close on Saturday, September 7 at noon EST. The winners will be announced on September 13.

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AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE 7TH ANNUAL AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS ARE…

Expats (Prime Video)
Mary & George (Starz)
Riverdale, season 7 (The CW)
A Murder at the End of the World (Hulu)
The Other Black Girl (Hulu)
Under the Bridge (Hulu/FX)

Deadloch, season 1 (Prime Video)
Hacks, season 3 (Max)
Minx, season 2 (Max)
Reservation Dogs, season 3 (FX)
Sex Education, season 4 (Netflix)
Sort Of, season 3 (HBO Max)
Such Brave Girls, season 1 (Hulu)
We Are Lady Parts, season 2 (Peacock)

The Fall of the House of Usher (Netflix)
Gen V, season 1 (Prime Video)
The Horror of Dolores Roach, season 1 (Prime Video)
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters (Apple)
Our Flag Means Death, season 2 (Max)
Quantum Leap, season 2 (NBC)

Harley Quinn, season 4 (Max)
Hazbin Hotel, season 1 (Prime Video)
Moon Girl and Devil Dinosaur, season 2 (Disney+)
Scott Pilgrim Takes Off (Netflix)
The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy (Prime Video)
Star Trek: Lower Decks, season 4 (Paramount+)

Sophie Wilde as Mia, Everything Now
Ji-young Yoo as Mercy, Expats
Yasmin Finney as Elle Argent, Heartstopper
Julianne Moore as Mary, Mary & George
Emma Corrin as Darby, A Murder at the End of the World
Lili Reinhart as Betty, Riverdale
Lily Gladstone as Cam Bentland, Under the Bridge

Lauren Patton as Anna, Death and Other Details
Madelaine Petsch as Cheryl, Riverdale
Vanessa Morgan as Toni Topaz, Riverdale
Laysla De Oliveira as Cruz Manuelos, Special Ops: Lioness
Danielle Savre as Maya Bishop, Station 19
Maia Reficco as Noa, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School
Isabella LaBlanc as Leah Danvers, True Detective: Night Country

Kate Box as Dulcie Collins, Deadloch
Paula Pell as Gloria, Girls 5 Eva
Hannah Einbinder as Ava, Hacks
Bilal Baig as Sabi Mehboob, Sort Of
Kat Sadler as Josie, Such Brave Girls
Juliette Motamed as Ayesha, We Are Lady Parts

Poppy Liu as Grace, The Afterparty
Nava Mau as Terri, Baby Reindeer
Helen Hunt as Winnie Landell, Hacks
Jessica Lowe as Bambi, Minx
Lennon Parham as Shelly, Minx
Jonica Blu Booth as Duke, Rap Sh!t
Dua Saleh as Cal Bowman, Sex Education

Midori Francis Iwama in Grey’s Anatomy
Emma Corrin in A Murder at the End of the World
Lili Reinhart in Riverdale
Jodie Foster in True Detective: Night Country
Aiyana Goodfellow in Under the Bridge
Lily Gladstone in Under the Bridge

Jessica Gunning in Baby Reindeer
Nava Mau in Baby Reindeer
Ayo Edebiri in The Bear
Paula Pell in Girls5Eva
Jonica Blu Booth in Rap Sh!t
Devery Jacobs in Reservation Dogs
Bilal Baig in Sort Of

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

Lena Heady as Aster Calyx, Beacon 23
Carla Gugino as Verna, The Fall of the House of Usher
Jaz Sinclair as Marie, Gen V
Justina Machado as Dolores Roach, The Horror of Dolores Roach
Anna Sawai as Cate Randa, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Rosamund Pike as Moiraine Damodred, The Wheel of Time

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

T’nia Miller as Victorine LaFourcade, The Fall of the House of Usher
Kate Siegel as Camille L’Espanaye, The Fall of the House of Usher
Derek Luh and London Thor as Jordan, Gen V
Shioli Kutsuna as Mitsuki Yamato, Invasion
Kiersey Clemons as May, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Vico Ortiz as Jim Jimenez, Our Flag Means Death

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show

Kate Mara in Black Mirror
Devery Jacobs in Echo
Kate Siegel in The Fall of the House of Usher
Kiersey Clemons in Monarch: Legacy of Monsters
Celia Rose Gooding in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds
Stephanie Beatriz in Twisted Metal

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Writer / Showrunner

Brittani Nichols for Abbott Elementary
Devery Jacobs for Reservation Dogs
Erica Tremblay for Reservation Dogs
Bilal Baig for Sort Of
Kat Sadler for Such Brave Girls
Quinn Shephard for Under the Bridge

Outstanding Reality TV Series

The Ultimatum: Queer Love (Netflix)
Real Housewives of New York (Bravo)
The Traitors, season 2 (Peacock)
Couple to Throuple, season 1 (Peacock)
RuPaul’s Drag Race, season 16 (Paramount+)
Tournament of Champions (Food Network)
Top Chef: Wisconsin (Bravo)

Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character

Mia, Everything Now
Quinn, Heartbreak High
Jukebox, Power Book III: Raising Kanan
Noa, Pretty Little Liars: Summer School
Cheryl Blossom, Riverdale
Cal, Sex Education

Best Episode with LGBTQ+ Themes

Expats 105: “Central”
Hacks 308: “Bulletproof”
Minx 207: “God closes a door, opens a glory hole”
Rap Sh!t 208: “Under Construction”
Riverdale 720: “Chapter 137” (finale)
Under the Bridge 103: “Blood Oath”

Most Groundbreaking Representation

Everything Now
Heartbreak High
Reservation Dogs
Sex Education
Sort Of
We Are Lady Parts

Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role

Janelle James as Ava Coleman, Abbott Elementary
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary
Liza Colon-Zayas as Tina, The Bear
Michelle Yeoh as Mama Sun, The Brothers Sun
Sarayu Blue as Hilary Starr, Expats
Anjana Vasan as Amina, We Are Lady Parts

Outstanding Cis Male Character

Tyler James Williams as Gregory in Abbot Elementary
Lionel Boyce as Marcus Brooks in The Bear
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Richie in The Bear
Paul W. Downs as Jimmy Lusaque, Jr. in Hacks
Billy Crudup as Cory Ellison in The Morning Show
Harris Dickinson as Bill in A Murder at the End of the World

Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character

Karoline as Eleanor Chun styled by Nina Adado and Jessica Rain, Death and Other Details
Jaz Sinclair as Marie Moreau styled by Charleen Shillingford, Gen V
Natasha Behnam as Lola Rahaii styled by Kat Drazen, The Girls on the Bus
Sofía Vergara as Griselda styled by Ketty Gonzalez and Dennis Parker, Griselda
Emma Corrin as Darby styled by Monique Gaffney and Joshua Gericke, A Murder at the End of the World
Anthony Lexa as Abbi Montgomery styled by Emily Bilverstone and Laura McDowell, Sex Education

Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters

Giovanni Lipari, Sheena Napier, and Kate Carrin, The Buccaneers
Terry Anderson, The Fall of the House of Usher
Annie Symons, Mary & George
Marie Schley, Minx
Daniella Pearman, Sex Education
Marie Schley, Survival of the Thickest

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To vote in the above categories as well as the THREE SPECIAL FAN FAVORITE CATEGORIES*, go forth and:

VOTE IN THE AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS!!!

*When voting in the fan favorite categories, please keep the eligibility guidelines in mind and only nominate couples/characters/actors who appeared in shows that aired between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024. Otherwise your vote will be wasted!

The 40 Best LGBTQ+ TV Shows on HBO Max With Lesbian, Queer or Trans Characters

HBO was an early pioneer of LGBTQ content, and its streaming service HBO Max has a lot of television available for queer women with lesbian and bisexual characters. But, like many other networks in the years of our lord 2022-2024, HBO Max has dropped a lot of beloved queer shows from its roster. Let’s talk about the best of what’s left!

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* indicates an HBO or Max original

Adventure Time (2010-2018)

Adventure Time is essential viewing for the queer all-ages animation aficionados, a bridge between the subtext of Legend of Korra and maintext of Steven Universe, a series long on-again off-again love story between Princess Bubblegum and Marceline the Vampire Queen. But it’s also just really delightful, really weird storytelling for nerds of all stripes. If you’ve joined the great Dungeons and Dragons Renaissance of the past several years, Adventure Time will speak to your geekery in very specific ways. Follow Jake the Dog and Finn the Human across the post-apocalyptic Land of Ooo as they challenge Death, make friends with psychedelic teddy bears, grow up, fall in love with princesses and unicorns, and confront the hardest thing of all: their own trauma and insecurities. If you stick around long enough, you’ll even meet Fionna and Cake, the gender-flipped protagonists! Stream Adventure Time on Max.

And Just Like That* (2021-)

When we begged the goddesses for a Sex and the City reboot with a bit more queer representation and they promised us Sara Ramirez as the charming non-binary comic/podcaster Che Diaz, we thought we’d really scored big. Unfortunately, Che turned out to be truly unbearable and Miranda’s big queer awakening has inspired a lot of lesbians to mostly just feel really bad for Steve. But it’s still kinda remarkable that it’s happening at all, and our myriad complaints have not stopped us from tuning in each week to see the outfits, the jumbled attempts at intergenerational dialogue and interesting takes on aging. Stream And Just Like That… on Max.

The Baby (2022)

This British horror limited series finds a middle-aged woman unexpectedly landed with a baby, thus forced to give up her life of impulsivity and adventure. But it’s not just any baby — this one is stinky, controlling, manipulative and in possession of violent powers. Her younger sister, Bobbi, is a lesbian who desperately wants a baby of her own. Mrs. Eaves/Nour is another queer character, a 72-year-ld “Enigma” who’s lived in her car for 50 years and once had a passionate affair with Helen, a married pregnant woman who tried to escape her marriage with Nour. Stream The Baby on Max.

Batwoman (2019-2022)

Batwoman is the most famous lesbian superhero in comic book history, and her first season pulled heavily from her most celebrated and GLAAD-Award winning “Elegy” arc with Ruby Rose playing the brooding, traumatized, Shane-esque Kate Kane with just the right amount of swagger and aloofness. There were almost too many queer women to count that first season, a gay bar and perpetual ex drama. Black bisexual actress Javica Leslie donned the cape and cowl starting in Season Two and the show has never been better, wowing us every week with what’s easily one of our favorite superhero shows of all time. (-Heather) Stream Batwoman on Max.

Betty* (2020-2022)

With naturalistic performances and dreamy cinematography, HBO’s Betty captures the NYC skater girl subculture in all its appeal and personality, Betty brims with life and centers gender non-conformity and queer characters including Kirt, a charmingly oblivious tomboy and Honeybear, a Black videographer from a conservative family who skates with abandon and dates with reservation. Stream Betty on Max.

A Black Lady Sketch Show* (2019-2023)

Carmen put it absolutely best in her review: “I’d put any part of A Black Lady Sketch Show against critics’ darlings like Donald Glover’s ATL or Julia Louis-Dreyfus on Veep, the best of SNL or anything from Mad TV and I wouldn’t break a sweat worrying about losing my lunch money. ABLSS is smart. It’s observational and absurdist. It’s the exact opposite of mindless humor; it requires the audience’s full attention…. I realize at this point it sounds like I’m basically saying “everything and the kitchen sink!” and it sort of becomes meaningless, but my point is the exact opposite: A Black Lady Sketch Show never chooses to limit itself; it sets a new bar and then rises to that challenge every single time.” Stream a Black Lady Sketch Show on Max.

The Deuce* (2016-2019)

Set during the 1970s and 1980s, The Deuce traces the Golden Age of the porn industry (and its adjacent economies) n New York City, centering on Eileen “Candy” Merrell (Maggie Gyllenhall), a street sex worker who eventually breaks into the filmmaking side of porn. A story that involves not one but TWO James Francos might not be at the top of your watch list, but Roberta Colindrez shows up in Season Two as Irene, a (gay) manager of the Show Land Sex Emporium. In Season Three, college student Abby, manager of the Hi-Hat bar, starts a relationship with a woman, and there’s also a sparingly represented lesbian couple of sex workers in the first Season. Stream The Deuce on Max.

Doctor Who (2005- )

Doctor Who has a complicated queer history. Its sister series, Torchwood, is probably the most egregious Bury Your Gays offender in sci-fi history, and Doctor Who itself is not without its missteps. The Doctor’s first and only lesbian companion, Bill Potts, ended the show as a sentient oil being! Lots of queer side characters have gotten murered over the years! But there’s still lots to love about the series. Madame Vastra and Jenny — the self-described lizard woman from the dawn of time, and her wife — are fan favorites and have made notable appearances in many of the show’s most pivotal episodes. Suranne “Gentleman Jack” Jones plays The TARDIS. And, of course, there’s bisexual heartthrob and Time Lord-y River Song, who is The Doctor’s loooooongtime love, an especially thrilling turn of events when Thirteen regenerated as a woman. (-Heather) Stream Doctor Who on Max.

Euphoria* (2019-2022)

Screwed-up, gorgeous, privileged, disillusioned, sarcastic teenagers on drugs: we know this song by heart. But Euphoria‘s heavily stylized trip into the trope feels somehow immediately fresh. Rue (Zendaya), fresh out of rehab at the ripe age of 16, returns home with no intentions to stay sober and quickly falls for Jules, the manic pixie dream trans girl (™ Drew Gregory), played by an actual trans actress, who she craves like the other habits she’s been encouraged to kick. Although Sam Levinson’s interpretation of sexual orientation and gender identity is blatantly incorrect at best and Season Two makes a brand new series of really bizarre choices, but we can’t tear ourselves away. Unfortunately, it does seem like the show is possibly never returning! Stream Euphoria on Max.

Fantasmas* (2024-)

“Every once in a while a show comes along that’s so unique, so unapologetic, and so, well, good, that it feels like a miracle it exists at all,” writes Drew. “With major companies turning against art since the pandemic and with the streaming bubble bursting, these little miracles are becoming more and more infrequent. This makes the arrival of Julio Torres’ Fantasmas feel like a sigh of creative relief.”

Gentleman Jack* (2019-2022)

The groundbreaking historical drama that Heather called “your sex-filled soft butch Historical Drama Dream Come True” follows legendary seductress Anne Lister, whose diaries from the early 19th century detail lesbian romantic consequences executed with remarkable boldness and fearlessness for the time period. This adaptation sees Surriane Jones display “a seductive, sensual, capable, robust soft butch energy that makes Shane McCutcheon look like a clumsy little baby goat.” Stream Gentleman Jack on Max.

Girls on the Bus* (2024)

This show about a group of female journalists on the campaign trail was so jam-packed with talent, it should’ve been better than it was. But there’s a queer gem in there, too — body-positive social media star Lola (Natsha Behnam). “Though the space in which she ultimately ends up feels implausible, watching Lola grow over the show’s ten episodes is a highlight of the season,” wrote Natalie of her arc.

Gossip Girl (2021-2022)

This hotly anticipated HBO Max reboot promised a much more diverse group of elite students but forgot to update the most inane elements of the original’s plot. Mean girl Monet de Haan is a lesbian, and trans model/actor Zion Moreno plays Luna La. While the first season didn’t use Monet de Haan to her full potential, that all changed in Season Two. “Rewriting Blair Waldorf as a Black lesbian who knows what it means to be sidelined, and who refuses to go back into the shadow?” wrote Carmen in her review. “It’s gold.” Stream Gossip Girl on Max.

Hacks* (2021-)

Ava, a bisexual comic who recently found herself cancelled and out of work gets hired to write jokes for an older, wildly wealthy, once-pioneering iconic comedienne now best known to millennials as a QVC salesperson. Ava moves to Las Vegas to work with Deborah Vance and self-discovery ensues! Season Two of this highly award-winning comedy was even better than the first, if you can believe it, and its lesbian cruise episode won an Autostraddle TV Award. Then Hacks Season Three continued to defy the odds with what’s possibly one of the best Season Threes ever? Stream Hacks on Max.

Harley Quinn (2019-)

Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy have been fan favorites and queer icons from almost they bumped into each other during a heist in 1993 in Batman: The Animated Series. TWENTY YEARS LATER they kissed in Bombshells in 2015 and in the main universe in Harley Quinn #25 in 2017 — but it wasn’t until season two of the DC Universe animated series that they finally got the on-screen romance they deserve. In fact, the full second season is a slow-burn of Harley realizing she’s in love with Ivy, Ivy reciprocating Harley’s feelings, and a near-disastrous wedding finale that ends with explosions, para-demons, laser guns, flashing lights, blood and guts and chaos, and a confession of queer feelings that is animated as a throwback to Harley and Ivy’s original meeting in the early ’90s. It is honestly a perfect season of queer TV. And you don’t even have to know anything about Batman or comic books or Harley or Ivy to jump right in and enjoy it. Stream Harley Quinn on Max.

High Maintenance* (2016-2020)

Katja Blichfeld came out as a lesbian after producing the first season of this show with her then-husband Ben Sinclair, who also stars in the very New York series as friendly neighborhood pot dealer “The Guy.” “When High Maintenance is at its best there’s nothing better on television,” Drew wrote of the series. “When it’s at its worst it’s still really funny and weird and intriguing.” Smashing 2-3 brand new stories into every episode, the show above all truly loves people and queer folks have been baked (get it!?!?!) into its DNA from the jump. Stories have included a rare two-episode arc loosely based on Katja’s divorce and subsequent lesbian relationship, Margaret Cho and Hye Yun Park as queer kinksters experimenting with some risky new sexual paths, a neurotic lesbian couple afraid to kill a mouse, a non-binary person on a surprise date doing ketamine at a bowling alley, a group of neurotic feminist activists confront a pet snake gone wild. Stream High Maintenance on Max.

I Hate Suzie* (2020-2022)

Billie Piper stars as Suzie Pickles, an actress whose life is turned upside down when her phone is hacked and compromising photos are leaked, torching her relationship and her career. Leila Farzad is hilarious and simply delightful as Naomi, Suzie’s bisexual manager and best friend trying to support Suzie while also sorting through her own cadre of personal problems. Vogue writes, “In a show filled with great performances, Farzad’s is an especially compelling one, at once funny, smart, and rich with pathos.” Stream I Hate Suzie on Max.

In Treatment (2023)

In Treatment debuted in 2008, starring Gabriel Byrne, and was rebooted in 2023, this time starring the always-incredible Uzo Aduba. The series follows several client stories through psychotherapy sessions from both sides — therapists and patients — and amongst those patients is Laila, a queer teen played by queer actor Quintessa Swindell.

Irma Vep* (2022)

To be honest, despite its near-universal critical acclaim, most of us here at Autostraddle did not enjoy Irma Vep, but it feels like a show we need to include on this list or else prepare ourselves for questions about why Irma Vep isn’t on this list. Mira, an American movie star who’s just had a breakup with her female assistant, goes to France to star as Irma Vep in a remake of the French silent film classic “Les Vampires.” She’s got a new assistant who’s also queer, and there’s a lesbian costume designer, but, as Drew wrote in her review, “there is nothing recognizably queer in these characters other than their obsession with chaos and heartbreak.” Stream Irma Vep on Max.

The Last of Us* (2023-)

Ellie is 14, queer and possibly the only human on earth immune to a brutal global pandemic that wiped out most of civilization, leaving survivors in a hellscape of a country ruled by a fascist government and groups of vigilantes. Based on a wildly popular video game, The Last Of Us follows Joel, a hardened and deeply traumatized smuggler tasked with escorting Ellie across a post-apocalyptic America to find the researchers who hope Ellie holds the key to creating a vaccine. What follows is a story of unspeakable cruelty and brutality and the patches of human connection and chosen-familial love that gathers in the absence of traditional structures of support. Stream The Last of Us on Max.

Mare of Easttown* (2021)

This limited series stars Kate Winslet as a sad detective in rural Pennsylvania trying to solve some murders and some disappearances that threaten to wear away the fibers of her community. She does so with a lot of flannel shirts, a Delco accent and a strong assist from Evan Peters. Her college-aged daughter, Siobhan, is a lesbian with an undercut who’s gotta be the steadying influence in an unraveling drama. Stream Mare of Easttown on Max.

Nancy Drew (2020-)

I know we always joke about The CW making “gritty remakes” of anything and everything for better or worse, but they really hit this nail right on the head. A modern take on a classic book series that is, in my opinion, the perfect balance of nods to the original canon and brand new elements. For example, queer gals! Including but not limited to a character from the books, Bess Marvin. Plus, of course, plenty of mystery, stellar performances from newcomer Kennedy McMann, and that quintessential teen drama you’d expect from a CW original. (-Valerie) Stream Nancy Drew on Max.

The O.C. (2003-2006)

Many elder millennials considered oft-postmodern teen soap The OC to be appointment television in the early aughts. It brought Christmukkah, Mischa Barton, Imogen Heap and Seth Cohen into our lives via a fish-out-of-water tale of roughian Ryan Atwood, adopted into a wealthy charismatic Orange County family and consequently their high-drama social lives. It also brought us one of the most memorable Sweeps Week Lesbian Storylines ever when lanky it-girl Marissa Cooper (Mischa Barton) fell for edgy alterna-teen Alex (Olivia Wilde) and in doing so, became one of the first bisexual lead teen characters on network television. Stream The O.C. on Max.

Our Flag Means Death* (2022 – 2023)

“Packed with brilliant leads and an incredible ensemble of sensitive men, strong women, and badass non-binary folks, the show is an absolute delight, dancing between serious and silly in equal measure,” writes Meg of this show about a charming naive guy who upends his life to run away and become a Gentleman Pirate, despite a total lack of experience in the matter. “There are so many queer relationships, so many exes and love triangles, so many beautiful stories playing out and interweaving in ways that feel familiar and fresh all at once.” Non-binary Latiné actor Vico Ortiz plays Jim, a beloved non-binary character. Stream Our Flag Means Death on Max.

Perry Mason* (2020-2023)

The legendary fictional criminal defense lawyer gets his third television show with this dark period drama set in the 1930s and focused on his origin story. Second billing after star Matthew Rhys (The Americans) is Juliet Rylance as Della Street, the loyal and driven (and homosexual) legal secretary of Mason’s frequent client, E.B. Jonathan (John Lithgow), who eventually starts working for Mason himself. She has a girlfriend and in Season Two, her love life gets even more complicated — and intriguing. Stream Perry Mason on Max.

Pretty Little Liars (2009-2017)

In Rosewood, Pennsylvania, a town filled with barnes and graveyards, there exists a state of adrenalized hyperreality that is accessible to the town’s most exceptional teen girls. Imbued with its power, they can fly airplanes, survive being buried alive, perform black ops level surveillance and black belt level ninja moves, and bend time and space and the affection of burgeoning lesbians to their will. Pretty Little Liars follows the hijinks of these agents of chaos, and the friend groups they leave behind when they fake their own deaths and plant a series of increasingly insane clues, in the form of dolls and masks and human teeth, to help their friends solve the mystery of their disappearance. Emily Fields is one of these left behind friends, and while her heart belongs to the one who accused her of liking Beyonce a little too much, she entertains a string of other lovers, from free spirit Maya to catastrophically intense Paige to dead girlfriend lookalike Samara to coffee shop homosexual Talia. The later seasons make some egregious missteps with a trans woman character, the show perpetually kills off its queer women of color, and there’s a predator who is celebrated as a hero throughout. There are also a few seasons of absolute bananapants delight. Act Normal, Bitch! Stream Pretty Little Liars on Max.

Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin / Summer School* (2012-)

This spinoff takes us to Milwood and into a new group of girls being terrorized by a murderer and suggestive text messages, including queer computer nerd Mouse, who has lesbian Moms and stars dating a trans guy mid-season. This time, the girls are doing penance for something their mothers did 20 years earlier. While the first season came to a disappointing conclusion, there were plenty of thrills and chills and slasher mystery in the meantime. Its second season, retitled Summer School, saw another one of its core girls go queer and start dating a friend from juvie. Stream Pretty Little Liars spinoff on Max.

Peacemaker* (2022 – )

Danielle Brooks’ character, Leota Adebayo, inThe Suicide Squad spin-off Peacemaker is a lesbian with her partner Keeya played by queer actor Elizabeth Faith Ludlow. “While Peacemaker may not be breaking any new molds,” writes Carmen of the series, “it thrives at playing to Gunn’s strengths, now taken to the small screen. Peacemaker has a striking pummeled beating heart — with interrogations of loyalty, duty, and loneliness — underneath its dick jokes.” Stream Peacemaker on Max.

Rap Sh!t (2022-2023)

Issa Rae’s Rap Sh!t about two high school friends in Miami who reconnect in their twenties and aim for fame together stars queer actor Jonica Booth as Chastity, and her storyline is “absolutely the best thing about Rap Sh!t‘s sophomore effort,” writes Nic. “Chastity still delivers that swagger and she is nothing if not a hustler but this season also gives her the opportunity to be scared and vulnerable. That rounding of the character, plus the fact that Francois is an absolute jerk, makes it impossible to not cheer for her.” Stream Rap Shit on Max.

Search Party* (2016 – 2022)

Despite there being no actual lesbian activity for the first four seasons of Search Party, it’s undeniably queer — gay men are everywhere, of course, but this weird crime comedy starring queer actress Alia Shawkat as an aimless millennial whose attempt to track down a college acquaintance who’s gone missing sends her on a life path of murder, mayhem and possible sociopathy feels like it was produced by a gay hipster hivemind. Cole Escola shows up as a psychotic trans superfan starting in Season Three. In Season Five, girls start kissing girls and niche queer faves like Grace Kuhlenschmidt and Michelle Badillo join the cast. Stream Search Party on Max.

The Sex Lives of College Girls* (2021-)

Leighton, a legacy from the Upper East Side in Maje tweed and Gucci ankle boots, is the lesbian member of the four-girl set of roommates at the center of this comedy. Queer inclusion is effortlessly everywhere in The Sex Lives of College Girls — with every queer character played by a queer actor — from Whitney’s lesbian teammate on the Essex Soccer squad to her coach to appearances by our very own Vico Ortiz as Tova, a non-binary student Leighton meets at the Women’s Center where she’s forced to volunteer. But I was honestly just as much (if not moreso) invested in the stories of her roommates: horny aspiring comedy writer Bela (Amit Kaur), naive scholarship kid Kimberly (Pauline Chalamet) and star soccer player and Senator’s daughter Whitney (Alyah Chanelle Scott). All grapple with so much their first semester at school — sex, sure, but also sexism, class, and their sense of self in this shifting world. But most of all this show is fucking funny, consistently fresh, sharp in all the right places and a true joy to watch. Stream The Sex Lives of College Girls on Max.

The Staircase* (2022)

If you’ve not gotten enough of this story from the groundbreaking documentary by the same name, boy are you in luck! It stars Colin Firth as Michael Peterson, a (bisexual) writer convicted of murdering his wife, Kathleen Peterson (Toni Collette), who’s found dead at the bottom of a staircase in their gigantic house, and enlists a huge legal team and a camera crew to clear him of wrongdoing. One of his daughters, Martha Ratliff (Odessa Young), is a lesbian. Stream The Staircase on Max.

Sort Of* (2021-2023)

This big-hearted series follows fluid, sardonic and slightly codependent millennial Sabi Mehboob, the youngest child in a large Pakistani family. When the show begins, they work as a bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore/bar and as a nanny for a downtown hipster family and are trying to find themselves amid demands from all sides to be everything to everyone else. Ultimately the show reveals that, according to Himani’s review, “sometimes, our greatest journey, the one where we really find ourselves, is the journey we take when we stay and face the cracks in our relationships to uncover the self-truths we’ve been running away from the whole time.” Stream Sort Of on Max.

Station Eleven* (2021-22)

Although the ostensive protagonist of this show is queer, there’s no “queer female content” per se, nothing that would qualify it for inclusion on this list. But this show is simply so incredible that we will use any excuse in the book to tell you to watch it. Based on a 2014 novel, Station Eleven grapples with the aftermath of a flu that wipes out civilization entirely in 48 swift hours, weaving together stories of interconnected characters across time, flashing between the day the pandemic hit hardest and the ensuing few years and what remains 20 years later. It’s a sweeping feat of world-(re?)-building and careful character study, and what could be simply triggering instead becomes a type of catharsis. It is about the importance of fiction — of story, of art — in materially barren times, how we’re shaped by personal reactions to shared trauma, the nature of chosen family and so much more. Stream Station Eleven on Max.

Steven Universe (2013 – 2019) and Steven Universe Future (2019)

Steven Universe and its epilogue series, Steven Universe Future is probably the most beloved queer animated series of all time. Created and showrun by non-binary queer writer/artist/musician Rebecca Sugar, the show follow Steven and his family of Crystal Gems as they seek to save the planet and keep Steven safe as he grows up and learns what it means that he is the vessel for his mom’s gem. One of his Gem parents, Garnet, is actually a married lesbian fusion between Ruby and Sapphire! They even get married near the end of the series, becoming the first children’s series to ever feature a gay wedding! The show itself is also full of queer sensibility. It’s an anti-capitalist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonization that centers and celebrates found family, refuses to shy away from the exploration of both trauma and mental illness just because it’s a “kids” show, and has as fluid a take on gender as any other series on TV, full stop. It’s sweet and silly and fun, and it’s also deep and nuanced and full of hope and healing. Stream Steven Universe & Steven Universe Future on Max.

True Blood* (2008-2014)

Allan Ball’s second dark, death-drenched ensemble drama for HBO (the first, Six Feet Under, is handily one of the best TV shows of all time), inspired by the Sookie Stackhouse Mysteries, finds a variety of pansexual vampires (and their friends) in New Orleans, at the dawn of the invention of synthetic blood that enables them to live without preying on humans. Parallels to queer community exist throughout, and seven regular and recurring female characters pursue same-sex endeavors of various degrees, including Evan Rachel Wood’s Sophie-Anne Leclerq, Rutina Wesley’s Tara Thornton and the legend Pam Swynford De Beuafort (Kristin Bauer van Straten). Stream True Blood on Max.

Veep* (2012-2019)

Julia Louis-Dreyfuss’s Selena Meyers and her crack team of savants and fools netted seventeen Primetime Emmys over its seven-season run. We had to wait a few seasons for her daughter to come out (and start dating a security detail played by Clea Duvall), but that was really the icing atop this cynical, sharp, politically incorrect political comedy and its knockout class. Stream Veep on Max.

Veneno* (2020)

Drew described this HBO series, based on Valeria Vegas’ book about Spanish trans icon Cristina La Veneno, as “probably the best trans show I’ve ever been fortunate enough to watch…. a complex, layered show that finds opportunity and expansive imagination in its flurry of stories.” Following Valeria Vegas (Lola Rodriguez) through her own transition as she meets Christina and writes and releases the book, it is interspersed with flashbacks to illustrate Cristina’s complicated, and often tragic, life as a sex worker, singer and media personality who was one of the first trans women widely known in Spain. Stream Veneno on Max.

Warrior* (2019-)

This martial arts crime drama series, rich in historical details, is based on an original treatment by Bruce Lee and captures the Chinese immigrant experience during the Tong Wars in late 1870s San Francisco. It follows a martial arts prodigy who emigrates from China to find his sister, only to find himself sold to a powerful tong in Chinatown. Olivia Cheng is Ah Toy, a bisexual madam who runs a brothel in Chinatown, known for amassing unprecedented levels of wealth for a landed immigrant. She has a romantic relationship with a wealthy white widow who provides asylum to Chinese migrants in Season Two. Paste, naming Warrior “the best show you’re not watching,” described its “colorful, complicated ecosystem of hatchet men, cops, laborers, brothel owners, corrupt politicians and long-suffering wives.” Warrior‘s first two seasons aired on Cinemax, and HBO Max picked it up after Cinemax dropped out of the original content game and is producing a Season Three. Stream Warrior on Max.

We Are Who We Are* (2020)

Chloë Sevigny and Alice Braga star as the lesbian Moms of a misfit teen who’ve just moved onto an American military base in Italy, where Sevigny serves as the base commander. There, her son makes an extraordinary connection with another teen undergoing a gender journey of their own. “What We Are Who We Are does most gracefully is to dunk you into the intense connection and limitless freedom the young people in this show seek together,” writes Kamala in her review of the series. Stream We Are Who We Are on Max.

The Wire* (2002-2008)

The intricate, slow-burn, novelistic storytelling David Simon employs in this modern masterpiece was far more unusual for its time than it would be today. Each stark, searing season focused on a different city institution and its relationship to law enforcement and the underground economies of low-income neighborhoods — the print news media, the seaport system, the city government and bureaucracy and public education. The Wire was one of several HBO programs to see a surge in viewership during quarantine as viewers settled in for a long haul story that humanized and centered the Black and brown characters usually given the short shift. Sonja Sohn played one of the first-ever Black lesbians on television as Detective Kima Greggs. Stream The Wire on Max.

White Lotus (2021-)

We were watching White Lotus despite the fact that it was not interested in representing our people (although it certainly came close) because gay showrunner Mike White’s sumptuous and satirical resort-set whodunit was just so very good. But in Season Two, White Lotus‘s Italian resort manager, the alternately meddling and anxious Valentina, turned out to be an actual lesbian who eventually had actual lesbian sex. Once again, we were tuning in anyhow: for bisexual queen Aubrey Plaza as the skeptical and standoffish wife of a newly rich tech millionaire Harper (who did report having partaken in a threesome during her halcyon days) but also for a delicious mystery set amid a perpetually unsatisfied group of wealthy couples and families vacationing against a gorgeous Sicilian sky. Stream White Lotus on Max.

Years and Years* (2019)

Queer as Folk’s Russel T Davies co-produced this nihilistic BBC/HBO production that sees one Manchester family, the Lyons, converge on one crucial night in 2019 and evolve over the ensuing 15 years as Britain — and the world  — undergoes great political, economic and technological instability. Amid the current pandemic, this show is frankly terrifying because it all feels entirely possible right now! As members of the family grow and change — including Edith, one of four Lyons siblings, a political activist who eventually begins dating Fran, a storyteller and activist — a few public figures remain constant as well, including specifically Trump-esque political celebrity Vivienne Rook (Emma Thompson). Stream Years and Years on Max.

Other shows on HBO Max with queer women as recurring or regular characters: Deadwood, Full Circle, Westworld, Industry, In Treatment, Katy Keene, Sex and the City, Sally4Ever, Rome, Run, Game of Thrones, Friends, Torchwood, Santa Inc, Snowpiercer, The Flight Attendant, True Detective: Night Country, Velma, Flight Attendant

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Looking for more lesbian TV shows you can stream right now? Here you go:

• • 2022-2023 LGBTQ Television Hub
  • 43 TV Shows with Lesbian and Bisexual Characters Streaming on Hulu
  • 41 Queer TV Shows with Lesbian and Bisexual Characters Streaming on Amazon Prime
  • 92 Queer TV Shows to Stream on Netflix

7 Unconventional Ships Only We Love

Nothing brings a fandom together — or pulls them apart — like a ship. People love love and it’s only natural we get obsessed with our favorite on-screen couples.

But what about the couples we’re obsessed with that aren’t beloved by a fandom? What about those couples that most may hate — or not even think about — that we still remember?

These ships deserve love too! Here are seven unconventional ships only we love… or maybe someone out there agrees with our obsessions?

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Shane and Jenny aka Shenny (The L Word)

Riese

I mean, anybody could’ve called this, I think, we did after all turn the entire website into a Shenny Fansite for April Fools Day 2018, aka the best day of my life, I talked about it when I was on the Pants podcast and not a week goes by that I do not somehow squeeze Shenny into conversation. But basically the thing is that I think Shane understood Jenny in a way that nobody else did, and Jenny was uniquely capable of seeing Shane’s entire self and loving her not despite that, but because of that — everything she’d been through and how she came out the other side. They’re also both very self-destructive in different ways and I think that makes them really in a good spot to get healthier together. I also think Jenny would be more accepting of Shane being poly than other partners which seems to me to be the best relationship structure for Shane, just saying! This is all very clear in my magnum opus of fan fiction, This is What I Want!

Arizona and Doctor Peyton Lauren aka Laurizona? (Grey’s Anatomy)

Valerie Anne

This was very hard, because a lot of the “unconventional” ships I have are just sapphic crackships that most other queer viewers are on board for (e.g. Mulan and Aurora from Once Upon a Time.) Or ships that split the fandom but I definitely wasn’t alone in (#Emaya Forever.) Or ships that are just silly because one of them is a canon queer character with a string of very lovely girlfriends and the other is the presumably straight star of the show (Bess and Nancy, Nancy Drew). But the ship that has perhaps gotten me yelled at by my friends, peers, and coworkers the most is probably Arizona and Doctor Peyton. I loved Lauren Boswell. I know it’s deeply rooted in my decades-long love of Hilarie Burton, but that doesn’t make the on-call room thunderstorm makeout session any less sexy. I know it was a bad idea. I also ship Calzona and knew they were endgame. But, like Airzona, I couldn’t resist Lauren’s effortless charm! Arizona was one of my favorite characters in the history of Grey’s, and watching someone smirk at her until she was a human puddle??? Electric. Lauren was a relentless flirt, Arizona was happily married, I should have been mad at this whole situation, but sorry not sorry, I loved every second of it. Dr. Lauren’s stay at Seattle Grace Mercy West Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital for the Disaster-Prone and Critically Horny may have been short-lived, but the sound of that on-call room door locking will echo in my heart forever.

Santana and Dani aka Dantana (Glee)

Drew Burnett Gregory

My hottest ship take is that Joey and Rachel were better together than Ross and Rachel, but since we’re specifically doing gay ships I’ll save that argument for another day. And yet my official answer also breaks up another beloved endgame. I understand why Gleeks everywhere shipped Santana and Brittany — I did too during the high school seasons! But Ryan Murphy’s obsession with pairing off gay high school sweethearts into early marriage like some sort of assimilationist mad scientist is one of many reasons “the college years” of Glee fell so flat.

There are real-world exceptions, of course, but I think one of the greatest things about our high school loves is they help us develop into ourselves and then those relationships… end. And there’s a brief moment where Glee went this route and it led to the most interesting late-season moments: Santana breaking up with Brittany singing “Mine,” Blaine’s sad “Teenage Dream” reprise, and, of course, Santana singing “Here Comes the Sun” with her hot coworker Dani played by Demi Lovato. Unfortunately, this is a brief moment. Soon enough, Santana and all the main characters are being pulled back into the orbit of their high school and Dani is written off with little fanfare. But this moment and this chemistry promised an alternate late-season Glee — one more committed to growth and new connections than empty happy endings.

Kate and Juliet aka Jate (I’m borrowing this from the Jack/Kate shippers, sorry bout it)(Lost)

Nic

There was a time when Lost was my entire personality. Next to the WWE, it was one of the first properties I actively sought out online content about, but there never seemed to be a huge queer fandom associated with the show. Which tracks, I suppose, since they started sowing the seeds of the Jack/Kate/Sawyer love triangle in the literal pilot.

So when Juliet showed up in season three, I knew I found my crackship. Everyone was busy taking sides in the great Kate vs. Juliet fight for Jack’s heart (BORING!), meanwhile I just wanted the two of them to keep snarking at each other while staring deeply into the other’s (lol iykyk) eyes. The chemistry between those two?! Whew! Now that I think about it, this might be where my “Fight! Fight! Fight! Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!” affinity was born. The two of them have been handcuffed together, pointed guns at one another, and even mud wrestled/fought during the aforementioned handcuffing! If that’s not the makings of a perfect crackship, I don’t know what is. In fact, Juliet is the one who handcuffed herself to Kate because she hoped that maybe, just maybe, if Kate thought it was the two of them against the world that Juliet wouldn’t get left behind by yet another person she cares about. And I truly believe they both cared for each other; what most people saw as competition over a man, I saw as two women fighting against what was expected of them. And look, if there’s one thing ya girl is going to do, it’s ship a blonde and a brunette on a show that refuses to acknowledge the chemistry between them (lookin’ at you Criminal Minds…).

Raven and Abby aka Doctor Mechanic (The 100)

Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

It honestly has been so long since I watched The 100 that I have no idea if this ship holds up, but I remember being positively feral for it back in the day, despite the fact that it’s so niche that even some fans of The 100 don’t know it? To be FAIR it is not exactly a romantic ship canonically (non-canon ships tend to be my favs) and in fact, if you look at the official The 100 wiki, it lists their relationship as “close friends” and even “surrogate mother and daughter.” Furthermore, during the events of seasons one through four, Raven is apparently 19 and Abby is 40. No comment! There’s chemistry there! Let me live!!!!!!

Tammy Gregorio and Eva Azarova AKA Teva? (NCIS: New Orleans)

Natalie

Before Kate and Lucy stole our hearts on NCIS: Hawai’i, there was Tammy Gregorio: the New York transplant with enviable lesbian swagger who made her way to New Orleans to investigate and then join the NCIS team. She seems almost impenetrable at first — a consequence of being blindsided by her lying ex-husband — but, eventually, she starts to soften and finds a chosen family. What she doesn’t find, though, is a girlfriend…or, at least not one that’s afforded the screentime to make their relationship feel like something substantive.

But there is Eva Azarova, a Russian sleeper agent who Gregorio first encounters during an undercover assignment. Eva’s history with the NCIS team predates her meeting with Tammy. The team that’s listening to their encounter knows exactly who Eva is and exactly what she’s capable of, but something about Gregorio undoes the typically unflappable sleeper agent. Their chemistry is electric from the start and what is supposed to be a tense undercover investigation ends up sounding very much like a first date.

“Hey, Gregorio, you think you might bring up the Playbook anytime soon, or is that like a second date type of question?” her co-worker quips. “Honestly…how long are we gonna go on with the foreplay?”

They head upstairs to Eva’s place and the mood shifts. Eva knows that Tammy isn’t who she’s pretending to be and a fight breaks out…and even that is hella sexy. It feels less like “we’re trying to hurt each other” and more like an extension of the sexual tension that’s been building between them. It’s like a mini Out of Sight but gay. I love it so much.

It’s the start of just two episodes that Eva and Tammy share and, yet, it lives in my head rent free for the rest of the series. Everytime the show introduces someone who’s supposed to be Tammy’s love interest, I find myself comparing them to the dynamic between Tammy and Eva…and they always come up short.

Ida B. and Hattie aka Hattie B. (Twenties)

Carmen

Recently, Autostraddle published a list (that you should read!) of 12 Pretty Good Lesbian Shows We’re Pretty Sure You Haven’t Seen Yet and while coming up with television shows to include, I once again suggested Lena Waithe’s Twenties. Promptly I was reminded that it’s less that Autostraddle readers “didn’t know about Twenties” — after all, in addition to its inclusion on multiple TV lists, it also had full recaps for the second season, and a feature length interview with Lena Waithe herself — it’s that, for whatever the reason may be, they were not interested. And maybe that’s a fair point! Maybe I will always be one of a small group of the half-hour comedy’s fan club. Maybe most of the other members of this fan club are my fellow Autostraddle writers who I have bullied into submission. Who is to say?? But I am here once again to beat my drum.

It would have been impossible for me not to love Hattie (Jonica T. Gibbs), Twenties’ protagonist, because she’s cut from the same cloth of pretty much every woman I’ve ever loved and every mistake I’ve ever made. Smart, creative, proud of her Blackness, fine as all hell but also — indecisive, impulsive, immature. Undoubtedly, Hattie’s constant screw ups are what give Twenties its plot of the week. But it’s her former boss, Ida B. (Sophina Brown) who really elevated this messy ass, problematic, uneven power dynamic, workplace romance into the secret guilty pleasure of my heart. If Hattie is every woman I fell for (ironically in my twenties), then Ida B. was every woman I’ve grown up to erotically fear. An ice queen who wears red lipstick like its the blood of her enemies and high heels like they are a dagger. Ida B. is the kind of woman who makes you shiver and then apologize for it. And sure, I could take my attraction to that particular archetype to my therapist, but I’d rather watch her make out with Hattie instead.

Hattie and Ida B. are a Black lesbian couple who, for their many other faults, were never boring. That is rare on television, where the fleetingly few times that Black women are in relationships with each other — they are most often relegated to being side characters or the writers behind them are so scared of “bad representation” that they write time into cardboard cutouts instead. I’ve suffered through both horrors too may times to count. Perhaps no one watched Twenties, perhaps I am standing alone in this ship, but I do not care because I will pick Black women who know how to be both messy and still melt the camera every time.

Honorable Mentions: Bette and Pippa from The L Word: Generation Q, who I almost went with for a lot of the same reasons I selected Hattie and Ida B.! Bette being the frigid ice queen in this scenario, and Pippa being the Black artist with dimples that don’t quit. But they felt just a smidge too popular for me to be alone in the ship.

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What are your favorite unconventional ships?

The 100 Best Lesbian, Bisexual and Queer Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV Shows of All Time

• The show had a character on Carmen and Natalie‘s Top 100 Queer and Trans Women of Color Television Characters in TV History
• I could find an out queer and/or trans actor or writer with a reasonable amount of research
• The show being critically acclaimed by mainstream critics
• And the show being critically acclaimed by queerstream critics.

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The 100 Best Lesbian+ Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV Shows of All Time

100. Torchwood (2006 – 2011)

99. The Power (2023)

98. American Horror Stories (2021 – Present)

97. Firefly (2002 – 2003)

96. Twisted Metal (2023 – present)

95. The Midnight Club (2022)

94. Dracula (2013 – 2014)

93. Vagrant Queen (2020)

92. Counterpart (2017 – 2019)

91. The Librarians (2014 – 2018)

90. Vampire Academy (2022)

89. I Am Not Okay With This (2020)

88. Roswell, New Mexico (2019 – 2022)

87. Silo (2023 – Present)

86. The Sandman (2022 – Present)

85. Defiance (2012 – 2015)

84. Fantasy Island (2021 to 2023)

83. Caprica (2009 – 2011)

82. The Big Door Prize (2023 – present)

81. The Walking Dead (2010 – 2022)

80. The Shannara Chronicles (2015 – 2017)

79. Midnight Mass (2021)

78. Naomi (2022)

77. Heroes (2006 – 2010)

76. Utopia Falls (2020)

75. American Horror Story (2011 – Present)

74. Arrow (2012 – 2020)

73. Lucifer (2015 – 2021)

72. Doom Patrol (2019 – 2023)

71. Peacemaker (2022 – Present)

70. Legacies (2018 – 2022)

69. American Gods (2017 – 2021)

68. Santa Clarita Diet (2017 – 2019)

67. Mr. Robot (2015 – 2019)

66. Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (2014 – 2020)

65. Stitchers (2015 – 2017)

64. Siren (2018 – 2020)

63. Into the Badlands (2015 – 2019)

62. Andor (2022 – Present)

61. The Vampire Diaries (2009 – 2017)

60. The Way Home (2023 – present)

59. The Imperfects (2022)

58. Game of Thrones (2011 – 2019)

57. For All Mankind (2019 – Present)

56. The 100 (2014 – 2020)

55. The Originals (2013 – 2018)

54. Quantum Leap (2022 – 2024)

53. Gen V (2023 – present)

52. Doctor Who (1963 – 1985; 2005 – Present)

51. The Magicians (2015 – 2020)

These Fictional Straight Women Should Divorce Their Husbands (And Marry Me)

Here at Autostraddle, we try to keep our thirsting after straight women to a minimum. But since it’s Divorce Week, we felt like it was the right time to make an exception. After all, any married straight woman is just a divorce and fling away from being queer.

That’s why the Autostraddle TV Team has gathered to say which fictional straight women we think should divorce their husbands and marry us. Or, you know, at least have a life-changing affair.

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C.J Cregg (The West Wing)

Riese

Obviously I love a writer and the goldfish bit was ace and I’m glad C.J. found someone who could match her witty banter (although on an Aaron Sorkin show, witty banter is a universally inborn trait, so it’s not that special) but I just am not sure that Danny Concannon would be a better husband for C.J Cregg than, say, Abby Bartlett or even Donna Moss; or perhaps, to venture out of world, Diane Lockhart or Kalinda Sharma or Sara Ramirez’s character in Madam Secretary. Or Kerri Russell in The Diplomat! C.J Cregg is just very tall, you know, and very smart, and she does great work at that podium and in the White House, and she wears great suits, and she needs some rest overall because I worry about her sleep schedule in general, but that aside, I mean, come on, this is a woman’s woman!

J.J. Jareau (Criminal Minds)

Valerie Anne

This was a hard question to answer, but not for the usual reasons roundtables are hard to answer. This one was hard to answer because most of the married TV characters I could think of that I loved and wanted to marry were either already divorced/widowed, married to women, and/or not canonically straight. Even some of the straight married women I thought of had decent enough relationships that I didn’t want to interfere. So instead of thinking through the countless women I’ve loved over the years, I decided to instead think of husbands I hate, and that did the trick.

Immediately I thought of my least favorite (non-abusive) husband in all of television, and more importantly his perfect wife: J.J. Jareau. Sure, in the canon universe of Criminal Minds, the truth is, J.J. should leave her husband for Emily; they are a genuinely ideal pairing and it makes no sense the show has never gone there. BUT if we’re opening this world to include me, Emily had her chance, it’s my turn now. I love J.J. so much; she’s smart and she’s tough and when she was the family liaison, she was always so cool-headed and comforting. I just know my general anxiety would go down by at least 50% if we were married, just because her presence is so calming to me. Also her husband, Detective Potato Head, is awful. He’s boring and has a bad fake accent and he’s intimidated by J.J.’s badassery and tries to keep her down from becoming the best she can be and it simply couldn’t be me. J.J. deserves better!

Iris West-Allen (The Flash)

Nic

Earlier this year I told Valerie that one of my TV goals for 2024 is to watch more gay shit, but joke’s on me I guess, because it was harder than I thought to come up with a female character who’s canonically straight AND who’s married AND who would also be better off married to me. After running through such iconic characters as Claire Huxtable, Harriett Winslow (because ACAB), dark-skinned Aunt Viv, and Maggie Pierce from like three Grey’s seasons ago, it hit me. Iris. West. Allen.

How did The Flash fail both Iris and Candice Patton, you ask?? Let’s first pretend that Iris and Barry weren’t essentially adopted siblings (they were); even then, their first wedding was interrupted by literal Nazis, and Oliver and Felicity were on their Kurt and Blaine shit and decided to make it a double wedding because audacity. I would NEVER have let that stand; Iris deserves the spotlight! Sure WestAllen eventually got a vow renewal, but imo, there’s no coming back from Nazis. Time and time again, Iris proved to be the smartest in the room but did anyone listen?! I bet if they had, Barry wouldn’t have broken the timeline fifty-leven times. Plus, remember when Iris was replaced by a doppelgänger and it took Barry forever to realize she wasn’t herself? Couldn’t be me, sir. Imagine being the emotional center of Team Flash, incredibly smart, AND having a face card that never declines?! Yet somehow you’re often reduced to just “Barry’s lightning rod”?! No ma’am. Iris, girl, in the magical universe I’ve created where I’m already friends with Ryan and Sophie over in Gotham, you and I could live a beautiful life filled with mutual respect, dance parties, and monthly queer brunches with the Supergirl and Batwoman crews. In the words of the great Dove Cameron, I can be a better boyfriend (husband) than him!

Athena Grant-Nash (9-1-1)

Natalie

Athena Grant lost her first fiancé to gun violence and his death would haunt her for many years. She’d marry eventually — for 14 years to Michael — but they’d divorce when he came out as gay. It is understandable, after such a tumultuous relationship history, that she’d retreat to someone safe. It’s understandable that she’d seek someone who understood her commitment to public service and that romance would take a backseat to companionship. She found what she needed in that moment in Bobby Nash. But what should’ve been a path towards building a supportive ride or die friendship — similar to what Hen and Chimney have — became a marriage that has persisted, even in the complete absence of any romantic chemistry.

Case and point: early in 9-1-1‘s second season, a massive earthquake strikes Los Angeles and, of course, Athena and Bobby are called to respond. After their harrowing day, Bobby insists on seeing Athena and shows up outside her home. It’s almost romantic — the desperation in his voice as he asks Athena to step outside so he can see her — but then she comes outside and he just hugs her. A hug?! That lack of intimacy has been the hallmark of their relationship from the beginning and Athena just deserves so much more.

(That said, I almost prefer the lack of intimacy to the moments where they try. It always feels so forced, not like two people in love.)

Athena deserves someone who understands her, someone who will be the Cagney to her Lacey, but what she deserves, above all else, is an understanding that she can have those things and also (!!) have intimacy in her life. She doesn’t have to settle for milquetoast kisses, she deserves to experience true passion. She should have someone who worships her for the queen she is and who spends every possible moment letting her know how much she’s loved. And yes, she’s older, but she’s never stopped being smart and sexy and it’s time she had a partner who made her feel that way.

I humbly volunteer to do what Bobby Nash clearly cannot. Maybe we can break out those handcuffs again. Would I have that all-consuming chemistry with Athena Grant that you want from a great ‘ship? Maybe, maybe not…but I’m hard pressed to imagine it being any worse than what she’s stuck in now. Give that lady a divorce!

Marianne (Scenes from a Marriage)

Drew

Ingmar Bergman’s landmark 1973 series is arguably the masterpiece of divorce art. But during its final episode we learn Marianne has remarried to another man — even as she returns for another dalliance with ex-husband Johan. Instead of jumping back and forth between terrible men, has she considered the magical world of lesbianism? The worse-than-mediocre remake with Jessica Chastain (poorly) dabbled in bisexuality, but it’s the original leading lady who needed to be rescued by queerness.

Okay, fine, maybe I just want to marry Liv Ullman and, since Marianne and Johan are based on her and Bergman, this would be close. But I also think Marianne would be happier in a non-monogamous relationship. She could even hook up with Johan every once in a while if she really wanted to. But my guess? Once introduced to the world of queer non-monogamy, she wouldn’t have time for that jerk. (Sorry Ingmar.)

Tami Taylor (Friday Night Lights)

Carmen

There was a different editor on our staff (I won’t name names) who said, “Oh I want to pick Tami Taylor, but her husband is one of the few men on television I actually liked” and to that I say — sorry to this man.

Honestly, I was never a Coach Taylor fan to begin with, which makes this particularly easy for me. Sure dude was a just fine mentor to the Dillon Panthers or my personal favorite, the East Dillon Lions. I won’t lie and say that I never shed a tear or two! But that is quite simply not the same as being the partner that his wife needs. And you might be thinking to yourself, okay but Coach Taylor famously learned and grew as the show evolved. He became what Tami’s equal. He even ends the show by moving to follow her career ambitions, after years of her following his! And you know what? I don’t care!

Tami Taylor put on those aviator sunglasses and I was like, girl you need me. She flipped her hair to the side and I was like, girl you need me. Her y’all drawl? Girl. You. Need. Me.

All I’m saying is if Tami Taylor just so happened to divorce Coach, she wouldn’t have to use up her one and precious life having to convince her partner that her career was important and worthwhile. She wouldn’t ever have to pull together a last minute “team dinner” for 30 teenage boys with stomachs the size of refrigerators after a long day of work and with less than 24 hours notice. We deserve more than to spend our time having to sell others (especially those that love us most!) on our inherent goodness and worthiness. We shouldn’t have to explain why we refuse to make ourselves smaller just so that others can feel big, not when that should already be a given.

Instead Tami Taylor could live out the rest of her mommi life in nothing less than the immaculate peace she deserves. Because she would have me.

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What fictional married straight woman do you want to marry?

Divorce Week is a celebration of taking a life-changing step, of coming out the other side of devastating trauma and being all the better for it. It’s co-edited and curated by Nico Hall and Carmen Phillips. Remember, you may be divorced, but you’re not alone.

Presenting the Winners of the 6th Annual Autostraddle TV Awards!

It’s easy to dismiss awards. Mainstream awards, especially, can often feel bought, dismissing the best for what the major networks and streaming services decide to push. But, at their best, awards provide an opportunity to celebrate the work that connects with us and our culture. No, they’re never fair. Yes, they’re often influenced by the bigotries that govern our entire world. They still have a place in our arts landscape to get great work to a wider audience.

For the past six years, Autostraddle has sought to fill in the gaps left by the Emmys. If at their worst awards are bigoted and at their best awards are celebrations, why can’t we look beyond the mainstream and celebrate more of the work ourselves? Well, that’s exactly what we’ve done. The Emmys might acknowledge a fraction of the great queer TV that gets made — we acknowledge that and all the rest.

This is even more important now that our shows are frequently getting canceled and fewer are getting made. Even if these artists deserved more time to tell their stories, we can celebrate the television that was created against all odds.

And with that, here are the winners of the 6th annual Autostraddle TV Awards.

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Outstanding Drama Series

A League of Their Own (Prime Video)

I’ve been waiting a long time to write this tribute.

First, A League of Their Own’s 2022 late summer release meant that it didn’t qualify for that year’s TV Awards. Then the fall 2023 TV Awards landed in the middle of an incredibly necessary, and historic, labor strike in Hollywood. Which means that here we are, in the early weeks of 2024 before I could finally, officially, give A League of Their Own their well-earned and proper due.

It’s almost ironic then that 18 months later, I am still at a loss how to even put A League of Their Own into words. That time we all spent together, that first crack of a bat hitting a ball, the first whiff of fresh cut grass off the dugout? It felt like magic. That confident quirk of a smile when Greta flicked her eyes at Carson? Magic. The soft, steady hands of Uncle Bert on Max’s shoulder before their kitchen haircut? Magic. Jo stepping up the to plate like Babe Ruth? Bev pulling Jess aside to promise, “we have to take care of our own”? Lupe’s… well, everything? Magic magic magic.

Watching Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson’s sublimely queer remounting of A League of Their Own was a television moment unlike any other. And thanks to Prime Video’s decision to unceremoniously cancel the beloved series, we won’t be able to experience it again. But even if the powers at be only let them do it once, I’m so grateful they stole this base. — Carmen

Outstanding Comedy Series

Sort Of (Max)

“It’s what I want, with everybody, not just my romantic relationships but like family and friends, with all the loves I have. Just, I want that uncomplicated Rachel McAdams love. That’s doable, right?” Sabi wonders early in Sort Of‘s second season. But every time that “uncomplicated Rachel McAdams love” feels like it’s within Sabi’s grasp, the ground beneath them shifts and the hope of achieving it slips further aways. Sabi finds comfort and understanding in the arms of Olympia and then, the ground shifts, and they’re introduced to Olympia’s husband. They find a refuge in Bar Buk but then the ground shifts, it closes, and Sabi and their friends are forced to imagine something new. Sabi starts to build an understanding with her mother but then the ground shifts and their abusive father returns. And then, just as Sabi’s building some semblance of a connection with their father, he dies. The ground is always shifting beneath our feet.

Sort Of succeeds in making a very specific story feel relatable and universal. If season one of Sort Of is about discovery, then season two is about confronting a new reality, tethered to the truth and not to expectations or assumptions. Sabi, of course, takes center stage — chasing that “uncomplicated Rachel McAdams love” with a full sense of who they are and what compromises they will and won’t make — but the challenge extends to the entire cast. Paul reunites with his wife — Bessy, who spent most of the first season comatose — and has to nurse her back to health, with a full understanding of their estrangement. Violet grapples with her mother’s return and how to reconcile that with the person she’s grown into in her mother’s absence. Even Sabi’s mother, Raffo, long constrained by beliefs foisted upon her, gets to revel in her newly found independence. Sort Of remains the story about how all of us — cis, trans, queer, straight, young, old — are always evolving in our own way. — Natalie

Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

The Last of Us (HBO)

When I think about The Last of Us, I am often thinking about how much I love it and how much my friends love it. I can sometimes forget how important it is that this sweeping, post-apocalyptic, high-budget, well-advertised, hugely popular, mainstream show stars a non-binary actor who plays a queer teenage girl. And yes, everyone always talk about the Bill and Fred episode, but the “Left Behind” episode was such a beautiful display of first love, and first heartbreak. With both episodes, queer love was centered and celebrated, even in such a dark world. At the end of the day, that’s what the show is about: the humanity and love that can be found, even at the end of the world. We’ve seen so much de-gaying of source material for decades — even as recently as 2020 — so it’s refreshing to see an adaptation lean so confidently into the beautiful queerness of its story. — Valerie

Outstanding Animated Series

Harley Quinn (Max)

Harley Quinn is a great example of why adult animation is so fun and important. Not being directly attached to the DCU, and not having to worry about special effects like a live-action show, this series is able to pull from the most obscure and wacky pages of DC comics. They can really run with it without having to worry as much about the big studio execs demanding ‘universal appeal’ or whatever crap makes it so that in the live-action DCU movies, Harley Quinn’s bisexuality is just briefly a hint. In this show, she is queer and proud and in love with Ivy and their relationship is the emotional arc of the entire show. This season they are solidly in love and trying to find a work/life balance, centering their relationship while trying to girlboss their various organizations. It’s fun, it’s wacky, it’s so, so gay. — Valerie

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Jasmin Savoy-Brown, Yellowjackets

Jasmin Savoy Brown really brought the fear factor to season two of Yellowjackets, portraying teen Taissa’s further descent into sleepwalking chaos and instability with chilling details. Tai was really put through the ringer this season, and she also embraced cannibalism with gusto (but apparently has no memory of it), and Brown really sells it all while also bringing dynamics to what could easily be one-note drama. The best horror performances are unsettling and alluring in equal measure, and Brown definitely delivers. — Kayla

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Lea Robinson, A League of Their Own

For me, it was always Uncle Bert. There is a world where A League of Their Own made a different choice. Where they settled for Greta and Carson’s storyline alone and considered it to be “enough.” People of color, trans people, we hear that a lot: Next time. Your turn will be next. Especially for a series set in the 1940s, it would have been so easy to hide behind the lies of what too many people assume to be “historically accurate,” instead of push for the honesty of what’s more.

But this is not about representation for representation’s sake. In Lea Robinson’s hands Uncle Bertie felt real, warm, loving. The specter of Bertie haunts the first few episodes of A League of Their Own, brought to life only in the hushed whispers of Max’s parents, worried that their daughter might turn out “that way.” When Max leaves her parents house, Bertie’s is the first place she runs.

It’s in Bert that Max finds queer family. And they are already blood relation, yes — but blood isn’t what makes our family our own. It’s Bertie who cuts Max’s hair in the kitchen, who takes her out bowling, who encourages her to flirt with girls, and who sews Max her first suit. When Max shuns Bert in public — it’s Bert who pushes back. This is not, and was not, Max’s story alone. Bert is just as deserving of a family who sees them on their own terms.

In fact, Bertie’s final scene doesn’t include Max at all. Bert confronts their sister, at last allowed to release a specter of their own. You see for some people “playing it safe” suffocates rather than frees. And by living their life out loud, Bertie gets to live in abundance. — Carmen

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series

Bilal Baig, Sort Of

Because they are also the co-writer and co-creator, Bilal Baig has received more praise as a storyteller than as an actor. This praise is deserved — season two built on the promise of season one and became one of the best shows on TV — but their achievement in their show as an actor should not go unmentioned.

Sabi responds to the world with a defense mechanism of remove. They’re deadpan in their humor, detached in their emotion. Baig showed the cracks in this exterior in the first season and in season two reveals even more as Sabi challenges themself to be more open. Whether in their fraught relationship with their dad or their desires in two very different romances, Sabi is trying to let their walls down while still not getting hurt. Baig plays all of this perfectly, a grounded performance that will have you laughing one moment and crying the next. It’s subtle work and subtle work this accomplished deserves all the recognition. — Drew

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Amanda Cordner, Sort Of

The “funny friend” is a trope for a reason. While the protagonist is experiencing the dramas of life, the funny friend is there for comic relief. They provide support for the protagonist and provide jokes for the audience. But lighter doesn’t mean easier. For this role to succeed, an actor needs to create a real person even with less time and focus for development.

Since season one, Amanda Cordner has been an absolute joy as 7even. She has quickness and an energy that provides a perfect foil to Bilal Baig’s more deadpan Sabi. But in season two, 7even’s character was deepened as we spent more time with her mom. While still providing comic relief, Cordner was allowed to dig into the complexities behind 7even’s outward persona. It’s the kind of thing that’s possible in a second season, but also the kind of thing only possible when a performer already established a clear and full character. — Drew

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

It’s not easy to carry a show like this on your shoulders, but Bella Ramsey did just that. While there is definitely an amazing ensemble cast in the show, when it comes down to it, the story is about Ellie and Joel. Ramsey had the challenge of making Ellie sarcastic and funny in a way that covers a layer of fear and trauma, in a way that evolves as the show goes on, and they excelled at it. At any given moment, their face is portraying fear, hurt, bravery, hope. And, in addition to being such a talented performer, it’s really special to have the lead of such a huge show openly talk about being non-binary, and being queer (or, as they sometimes put it, “not straight, a little bit wavy.”) — Valerie

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Storm Reid, The Last of Us

I remember being nervous for the episode, “Left Behind” when the TV adaptation for The Last of Us was announced. Whoever played Riley would need to get us to fall in love with the character over the course of one episode, so that when her fate was revealed, the importance of that relationship to Ellie and how it affects her would be felt. Well, Storm Reid gave all of that and more.

Riley and Ellie’s relationship has long been a fan favorite in part because of the queer undertones between them in the game. Storm managed to give Riley confidence and vulnerability with a dash of playfulness that made it easy to see why Ellie had a crush on her best friend. One of my favorite scenes from the game is when Riley and Ellie take pictures in an old photo booth, and somehow Bella and Storm punched up what was already an adorable scene. For me, the heart of Storm’s performance comes near the end of the episode, after Riley and Ellie have their fun, after they kiss, after they get bit. They’re sitting together deciding what to do now that they’re infected, and Riley says “Whether it’s two minutes or two days, we don’t give that up. I don’t want to give that up,” and she holds her best friend and cries while repeating “I’m sorry” over and over again. As far as she knows, this is the end for the two of them and all she wants to do is hold her best friend.

Not only did Storm give this performance exactly what it needed to give, but she also understands just how special this story is and what it means especially to queer Black women. After her recent Emmy win, she said, “…I think my role in The Last of Us really reinforced my love and passion to be able to tell meaningful stories and to be a representation for young women, young Black women, young, queer Black women.” — Nic

Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role

Melanie Lynskey, Yellowjackets

Three months ago, when we were in very early stages of planning this year’s Autostraddle TV Awards, regarding the groundbreaking category of Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role, I wrote: My campaign for Melanie Lynskey starts now. Well friends, we did it. Celebrating her brilliant work as Shauna in season two of Yellowjackets, we’re here today because we’re gay — even if she is not.

In all seriousness, Lynskey really is a standout of a very stacked array of performances in this recent season of Yellowjackets. (Her monologue with a gun one of the best moments the series has delivered so far.) I think regardless of how she does or does not identify, we can all agree that Melanie Lynskey is for the gays. — Kayla

Outstanding Cis Male Character

Pedro Pascal as Joel, The Last of Us

No matter how amazing Bella Ramsey was at portraying Ellie, The Last of Us wouldn’t have worked if the Ellie and Joel relationship hadn’t worked. The thing about Ellie and Joel is that it has to be a bit of a slow process; they don’t trust each other at first, and they have to warm up to one another. The chemistry of that can be hard, because Joel can’t be so cruel to Ellie in the beginning that you never forgive him, and the energy must always be paternal. It’s not an easy feat, and yet Bella Ramsey and Pedro Pascal make it look easy. Pedro himself has been a fierce ally, constantly praising Bella in interviews with their correct pronouns. Considering his sister, who is trans, has spoken about how immensely supportive Pedro has always been of her, this isn’t a surprise. But it’s still refreshing to see from a cis man who has amassed such a huge fandom from shows like Game of Thrones, The Mandalorian, and Narcos. — Valerie

Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character

Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

When I think about the Santana Lopez Legacy award, I think about characters who affect us queer adults, and, more importantly, characters who can impact actual teens seeing themselves represented for the first time. As a kid, I always struggled to fit in with the girls, because I was considered a “tomboy” and wasn’t into a lot of the things girls were “supposed” to be into. I also didn’t fit in with the boys (nor did I, personally, have any interest in it.) But something I’ve learned as I got older is that gender isn’t as black and white (or blue and pink) as we were raised to believe.

It would have been easy for a show like Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies to do hand wavy “it was the 50s” and not address some of the topics they explore on the show. Surely people in the 50’s were dealing with these things, but media rarely shows it. Not Pink Ladies. Instead they gave us Cynthia, portrayed by the immensely talented nonbinary actor Ari Notartomaso. Cynthia is a teen girl who wants to be one of the boys but who isn’t treated well or accepted by them. And instead of changing herself to fit in with the boys OR the girls, she finds a group of friends who accept her as she is, gender nonconformity, queerness, and all. I don’t know if the series went on if Cynthia would have ended up feeling more trans, but as she stands, she’s a queer girl who presents in “masculine” ways, and I think it’s so important to see teens accepting a butch girl as one of their own. Teens need to see that words like “girl” don’t always have a hard and fast definition. Anyone can be a Pink Lady. Even Cynthia. — Valerie

Best Episode with LGBTQ+ Themes

A League of Their Own, ep. 106: “Stealing Home”

One of my least favorite arguments is that period pieces about people who aren’t white and straight will always be about trauma. It’s used as an explanation from some for their dislike and for others to ask period pieces to disengage from the reality of when they’re set. But this argument itself is ahistorical. It’s disrespectful to our ancestors who not only fought but played, who not only suffered but celebrated, who not only died but lived.

As an entire show, A League of Their Own finds an inspired balance between history and joy. Period pieces and reboots have struggled immensely in recent years in their aspiration for inclusivity — this show does it with grace. And episode six of the show’s single season is its ultimate achievement. I’m in awe of how much queer history is told in this one episode and how well-balanced it is between joy and pain. Contrasting the Peaches’ time at the underground lesbian bar with Max’s time at her uncle’s party is inspired. Even when the former faces the harsh reality of a police raid, the latter is allowed to be a story of happiness and discovery.

I’m not as attached as some audiences to queer stories that lean toward joy. But I do care about clear perspective and tone and this episode is a masterclass in both. Anyone wanting to tell stories about queer history should study this show and this episode. We don’t have to choose between fun and reality. The reality is queer people have always found fun, have always found community, have always found ourselves. — Drew

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Drama

Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs

Early in Reservation Dogs‘ run, Elora and her crew — Bear, Cheese, and Willie Jack — are gathered at their hideout when Bear laments all the crimes they’ve committed and all the people they’ve (however unintentionally) hurt. Elora refuses to feel even a second of regret: They stole that money “fair and fuckin’ square,” she notes. He insists they give the money back but Elora is unmoved.
“This place is shit. Fuck this town, Bear, you don’t owe anyone anything. Fuck the village, fuck the people in it,” she spits. It was this place — this town — that killed their friend, Daniel, and she won’t allow this place to do the same thing to her. She’s getting out, with or without them.

But the first time Elora gets out — when she absconds to California with Jackie — she returns, remembering that she owes at least one person something: her grandmother, the woman that raised her after her mother’s death. Mabel’s sick and Elora returns to watch her community usher her grandmother into the next realm. Elora’s no stranger to loss but this is different. She witnesses a death that feels like its part of the natural order of things…there’s food, there’s community, there’s prayer, there’s singing, there are even jokes. Death doesn’t have to be traumatic, Elora realizes; she’s finally able to let go of the grief she’s been holding.

The beauty of that realization doesn’t happen without Devery Jacobs, who shoulders Elora’s emotional load. It feels like too much for the character but also it feels like too much for an actor…to embody all that hurt, to carry all that pain. Jacobs does it with aplomb. She carries the weight of Elora’s grief and sadness — in her words, her eyes, and her posture — and releases it all when she greets her grandmother as a spirit (“Crazy, ennit?”). In a just world, Jacobs would be among the nominees — for her acting and her writing — at the major awards but no one need tell the Rez Dogs that this world is unjust. — Natalie

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Comedy

Ayo Edebiri, The Bear

Ayo Edebiri’s Sydney Adamu arrives at The Beef with a pedigree that feels inconsistent to the position she’s being offered. She attended the Culinary Institute of America and she’s worked at Chicago hotspots Alinea, Avec, and Smoque. So what, her prospective boss, Carmy, wonders, is she doing here? Or, as he puts it succinctly later, “your resume is excellent and this place is not.” Sydney makes excuses but, ultimately, she’s here to learn and rebuild her confidence. Except instead of easing into a space where Sydney can rebuild her confidence, she’s tossed into a pressure cooker with a staff the resents her presence and a boss who insists on system that won’t work.

“So, like, because I’m the sous, right? Like, I just, uh, follow orders, even if it leads to tension and, uh, chaos and resentment and ultimately doesn’t work,” she tentatively explains after Carmy announces the new system.

Sydney is asked to do too much and Edebiri delivers each and every time. You see the quick wit and dexterity on full display — honed by Edebiri’s years on small comedy stages — when she exchanges quips with Richie. Edibiri volleys from eagerness to impatience to arrogance, sometimes within the space of one episode, and it is a marvel to watch. In less skillful hands, Sydney would feel like too much — too strident for the family atmosphere, too green for her Michelin-star ambitions — but Edebiri imbues her with so much light that it becomes impossible not to cheer for the young sous. — Natalie

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show

Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

What can I say about Bella Ramsey that I haven’t already said on this very website? Welp, challenge: accepted. This tiny dynamo burst onto the scene as Lyanna Mormont on Game of Thrones, and even then it was clear that they were something special. When they were cast in the role of Ellie in The Last of Us, I was cautiously excited. I knew Bella was good, but were they “embody the murder daughter I would protect with my life” good? The joke was on me because they somehow exceeded my expectations!

Ellie Williams might only be 14 years old, but in her short life she’s experienced more than most of us ever will. She was born into a global pandemic (okay I guess we can relate on one thing) caused by a cordyceps virus that turned anyone infected into a walking fungal nightmare. Her mother died after giving birth to her, she was raised in a government-run school, she watched her best friend turn into one of the aforementioned fungal nightmares, and because of that last thing, she learned that she was immune to the virus, having survived the same attack that claimed Riley. It makes sense that she’d have a bit of a chip on her shoulder.

Bella gave Ellie that “take no shit” attitude that we expected, and added in a dose of vulnerability always reminding us that despite all she’s been through, Ellie is still just a kid. A kid who’s been forced to grow up quickly in a violent and unforgiving world, but a kid all the same. So much of TV Ellie’s impact is in what she doesn’t say; it’s the uncertainty in her face after she kisses Riley and the relief when her friend kisses her back; it’s the flicker of understanding in her eyes when Tess gets infected. Bella breathed new life into a character I thought I knew because of Ashley Johnson’s video game portrayal. One of the most heartbreaking lines in the game is when Joel accuses Ellie of not understanding loss and she says “Everyone I have cared for has either died or left me… so don’t tell me I would be safer with someone else, because the truth is I would just be more scared.” It makes me cry every time I play, and when Bella said the same words in the show, they hit differently but just as hard. That’s the beauty of their performance; they made Ellie their own, while maintaining the spirit of a character so many people know and love. Congrats Bella, I can’t wait to see how you manage to emotionally devastate me in season two. — Nic

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director/Writer/Showrunner

Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, A League of Their Own

A League of Their Own was a love story. I’m not talking about Greta and Carson, or Max and Esther, or even Jess and Lupe (brothers for life) — I’m talking about the immense love poured into the series, from its very inception, by Will Graham and Abbi Jacobson.

Remounting a 30 year old property was never going to be an “easy” task. We often talk about the deluge of reboots and remakes in Hollywood, but the majority of those are adrenaline pumping, action-based IPs or comedies that long ago went stale — not quiet and emotional stories of sisterhood and sports kept alive for three decades on the backs of (it’s time to finally be honest here) largely queer fans. Those type of brands do not get revived every day.

And even still, Penny Marshall’s A League of Their Own was not a perfect film. It had gaps around race and sexuality, some of which are tied to its 1992 release. Lesser creators would have glazed over those insufficiencies. Instead, Graham and Jacobson faced them head-on.

When A League of Their Own finally aired, there were no greater champions than Abbi Jacobson pushing hard at every red carpet and Will Graham in the trenches with the fans on social. When rumors began that Prime Video was considering cancelling the series after its first time at bat, Will Graham was there once again telling fans to reach for #MoreThanFour. They loved this series. And I mean, really, truly loved it. Right to the very end.

This homage I’m paying is small, but I hope this Thank You is mighty. — Carmen

Most Groundbreaking Representation

A League of Their Own

Our Community’s reaction to the mind-boggling volume of queer characters in A League Of Their Own was so intense that NBC wrote a whole article about it, in which they noted that the conversation around ALOTO “reached a fever pitch” after its debut weekend, with some calling it the greatest queer show of all time. I told NBC and I’m telling you now that in one mere season, ALOTO delivered more lead queer women characters than any other show not explicitly about queer women (e.g., The L Word, Lip Service), and it even gives those shows a run for their money. A League Of Their Own, much to the chagrin of so many haters, broke from its source material by daring to portray the league as it really was: full of lesbians, even though it was indeed the 1940s.

From players exploring the rich underground gay bar culture of the era to the queer Black community Max discovers through her Uncle Bertie to the casual butch fashion sported by Lupe and Jess; A League of Their Own broke ground by daring to say that yes, most of the girls on that field were gay as fuck. — Riese

Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character

Max Chapman (played by Chanté Adams, styled by Mary Ann Valdes), A League of Their Own

It’s rare for me to quote… well, myself. Especially during an awards moment like this. But there really is no other way that I can think to talk about this moment:

“Max sits in Bertie and Gracie’s warm yellow kitchen on a stool. Three Black queer people, across two generations, creating a new family other their own, rooted in our oldest traditions. The kitchen hair salon goes back as far as Black folks. It’s on purpose that it’s here. Bertie asks if Max is sure about this.

Max inhales and licks her bottom lip before letting her teeth graze across it. Miss Toni said that Max’s hair was one of the things she liked most about her, so yes, this is the first step to Max figuring out who she is on her own. She’s sure.”

It was in Max’s queer haircut that she first got to be in her own skin, on her own terms. It was in Bert’s kitchen that Max finally gave way from what she once was in order to become who she’ll grow into. I think that when we think of Max, when we think of that haircut, those are all the things we think of first. But I’d like to point out something different.

When Bertie cuts Max’s hair, they begin humming. Max — who until that point has had her shoulders tensed up near her ears — finally takes a stuttered, but deep breath. Her mom used to hum that song. Bert smiles “Well, maybe you came here to find a piece of home.” — Carmen

Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters

A League of Their Own (costume design: Nancy Steiner, Trayce Gigi Fields)

Costume designer Trayce Gigi Field’s resume is stacked with sharpy stylized shows and movies like Poker Face, The After Party, Barb & Star Go To Vista Del Mar and Now Apocalypse. Her work on A League of Their Own was remarkable; nailing the specifics of the period and the confines of wartime clothing regulation while also dressing characters who regularly morphed in and out of properly “gendered” apparel depending on context. From factory boilersuits to Max’s self-reflection around wearing her first tailored suit to high femme jock Greta’s elevated house dresses to Jess’s scrappy workwear, Field hit it out of the park every time.

As reported by Fashionista, Field did loads of research on the era to nail every character’s socio-economic statuses and backgrounds, mixing custom pieces with sourced 1940s vintagewear. Even the classic Peaches uniform (and that of their competitors) got a light refresh, one echoed by everybody ever for Halloween 2022. (For a special treat, check out Trayce’s online portfolio from the series, which features behind-the-scenes photos and also her full-color sketches for each baseball team’s unique look and some of the lead character’s most memorable costumes.) — Riese

Fan Favorite Categories

Fan Favorite Couple: Maya and Carina, Station 19

Fan Favorite Character: Sister Beatrice, Warrior Nun

Fan Favorite Out Actor: Bella Ramsey, The Last of Us

Vote Now in the 6th Annual Autostraddle TV Awards!

It has not been a normal year for television. For one, the Emmys are happening in January. With dual SAG/WGA strikes lasting from May to October, release dates, production schedules, and awards seasons were shifted as creatives fought for just a small portion of what they deserve.

The strikes might be over but the reckoning in Hollywood continues. Studios and tech companies that own studios continue to chase profits to appease boards with little attention to the television itself. The streaming bubble is bursting and the boom of queer television we’ve witnessed over the last decade has started to subside. But while these trends occur, the artists themselves continue to make incredible work. When the Autostraddle TV Awards were first started as the “Gay Emmys,” the intention was to honor the queer media that the mainstream often ignores. That’s more important than ever as we fight not to lose the progress we’ve gained.

Even though many of these shows have been canceled and not given the proper recognition from the people who financed them, they deserve recognition from us. Queer TV will never be about the shareholders — it will always be about the artists and the audiences who connect with their work.

How it Works: For the past few weeks, the knowledgeable and passionate queer critics who make up our TV Team have collaborated on a lengthy process to determine the year’s nominees in each of our Autostraddle TV Awards categories. We have 21 whole categories, and while there is some overlap with the Emmys, we also feature our own original categories that celebrate LGBTQ+ achievements — including awards specifically for out performers — as well as awards for other parts of the television landscape that don’t often get love from mainstream awards systems, like genre television. We took a massive list of potential nominees and voted to narrow that down to just six nominees per category — except in cases where there were ties and there are seven nominees… and, in one case, eight.

Now, it’s your turn to help us pick the winners. Individual Autostraddle readers can vote once in each category. Your votes will be combined with the TV Team’s final votes to choose the winners.

There are also three fan-favorite categories that YOU get to decide completely yourselves! Those categories are Fan Favorite Couples, Fan Favorite Character, and Fan Favorite Out Queer Actor.

We follow the same rules as the Emmys as far as timeline, which means the shows must have aired between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023 in order to be eligible. While the show’s full season does not need to have aired during that range, most of its episodes must have aired. We also follow Emmy submissions in determining what counts as a drama vs. a comedy.

Here is your official ballot!

Voting is now open and will close on Monday, January 8 at 5p.m. EST. The winners will be announced on January 12.

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AND THE NOMINEES FOR THE 6TH ANNUAL AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS ARE…

Outstanding Drama Series

A League of Their Own (Prime Video)
High School (Freevee)
P-Valley, Season 2 (Starz)
Yellowjackets, Season 2 (Showtime)
Dead Ringers (Prime Video)
Bad Sisters (Apple TV+)

Outstanding Comedy Series

Sort Of, Season 2 (HBO Max)
Poker Face (Peacock)
XO Kitty (Netflix)
A Black Lady Sketch Show, Season 4 (HBO Max)
Reservation Dogs, Season 2 (FX)
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+)

Outstanding Sci-Fi/Fantasy Series

The Last of Us (HBO Max)
Paper Girls (Prime Video)
Willow (Disney+)
Motherland: Fort Salem, Season 3 (Freeform)
First Kill (Netflix)
Warrior Nun (Netflix)

Outstanding Animated Series

The Owl House, Season 3 (Disney Channel)
Pinecone & Pony, Season 2 (Apple TV)
Harley Quinn, Season 3 (Max)
Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 3 (Paramount+)
Big Mouth, Season 6 (Netflix)
The Legend of Vox Machina, Season 2 (Prime Video)

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Jasmin Savoy Brown as Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets
Rachel Weisz as Beverly, Dead Ringers
Abbi Jacobson as Carson Shaw, A League of Their Own
Chante Adams as Max Chapman, A League of Their Own
D’Arcy Carden as Greta Gill, A League of Their Own
Rosanny Zayas as Sophie Suarez, The L Word: Generation Q
Jesse James Keitel as Ruthie, Queer as Folk
Dominique Fishback as Dre, Swarm

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Drama Series

Lea Robinson as Bertie, A League of Their Own
E.R. Fightmaster as Kai, Grey’s Anatomy
Nabiyah Be as Simone Jackson, Daisy Jones and the Six
Roberta Colindrez as Lupe, A League of Their Own
Sabrina Impacciatore as Valentina, The White Lotus
Rosie O’Donnell as Carrie, The L Word: Generation Q

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series

Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey, XO Kitty
Renee Rapp as Leighton, The Sex Lives of College Girls
Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Bilal Baig as Sabi, Sort Of
Juno Temple as Keeley Jones, Ted Lasso
Jerrie Johnson as Tye, Harlem

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Comedy Series

Amanda Cordner as 7even, Sort Of
Ashley Park as Naomi, Beef
Jodi Balfour as Jack, Ted Lasso
Gia Kim as Yuri Han, XO Kitty
Maria Bello as Jordan, Beef
Sherry-Lee Watson as Missy, Heartbreak High

Outstanding Lead Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi Series

Bella Ramsey as Ellie, The Last of Us
Imani Lewis as Calliope, First Kill
Sarah Catherine Hook as Juliette, First Kill
Erin Kellyman as Jade Claymore, Willow
Ruby Cruz as Princess Kit Tanthalos, Willow
Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves, The Umbrella Academy

Outstanding Supporting or Guest Actor Playing an LGBTQ+ Character in a Sci-Fi Series

Storm Reid as Riley, The Last of Us
Amalia Holm as Scylla Ramshorn, Motherland: Fort Salem
Mia McKenna-Bruce as Mia Karp, Vampire Academy
Rhian Blundell as Meredith Beckham, Vampire Academy
Daisy Head as Judy Talbot, The Sandman
Madeline Zima as Casey, Doom Patrol
Celina Martin as Hannah Moore, The Imperfects

Outstanding Performance by a Straight Actress in a Straight Role

Sarah Snook as Shiv Roy, Succession
Melanie Lynskey as Shauna, Yellowjackets
Natasha Lyonne as Charlie, Poker Face
Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues, Abbott Elementary
Sharon Horgan as Eva Garvey, Bad Sisters
Sheryl Lee Ralph as Barbara Howard, Abbott Elementary

Outstanding Cis Male Character

Pedro Pascal as Joel, The Last of Us
Jeremy Allen White as Carmy, The Bear
Tyler James Williams as Gregory, Abbott Elementary
Lionel Boyce as Marcus, The Bear
Nick Offerman as Bill, The Last of Us
James Marsden as James Marsden, Jury Duty

Santana Lopez Legacy Award For Outstanding Queer Teen Character

Jordan Hull as Angelica Porter-Kennard, The L Word: Generation Q
Anna Cathcart as Kitty Song Covey, XO Kitty
Bella Ramsey as Ellie, The Last of Us
Ari Notartomaso as Cynthia, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Gia Kim as Turi Han, XO Kitty
Akira Akbar as Ashley Banks, Bel-Air

Best Episode with LGBTQ+ Themes

The Last of Us, episode 107: ”Left Behind”
Queer as Folk, episode 106: ”Bleep”
A League of Their Own, episode 106: “Stealing Home”
A League of Their Own, episode 105: ”Back Footed”
High School, episode 105: “Freedom”
Daisy Jones & The Six, episode 107: ”Track 7: She’s Gone”

Outstanding Performance by an Out LGBTQ+ Actor in a Comedy

Ayo Edebiri as Sydney, The Bear
Jonica Blu Booth as Duke, Rap Sh!t
Renee Rapp as Leighton, The Sex Lives of College Girls
Bilal Baig as Sabi, Sort Of
Wanda Sykes as Lucretia Turner, The Upshaws
Caitlin Stasey as Saskia, Class of ’07

Outstanding Performance by an LGBTQ+ Actor in a Drama

Devery Jacobs as Elora Danan, Reservation Dogs
Jasmin Savoy Brown as Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets
Tawny Cypress as Taissa Turner, Yellowjackets
Aubrey Plaza as Harper, The White Lotus
Roberta Colindrez as Lupe, A League of Their Own
Liv Hewson as Van, Yellowjackets

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Actor in a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Show

Bella Ramsey as Ellie, The Last of Us
Elliot Page as Viktor Hargreeves, The Umbrella Academy
Diane Guerrero as Kay/Jane, Doom Patrol
Rutina Wesley as Maria, The Last of Us
Erin Kellyman as Jade Claymore, Willow
Ruby Cruz as Princess Kit Tanthalos, Willow

Outstanding LGBTQ+ Director / Writer / Showrunner

Abbi Jacobson and Will Graham, A League of Their Own
Devery Jacobs, Reservation Dogs
Brittani Nichols, Abbott Elementary
Annabel Oakes, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies
Clea DuVall and Laura Kittrell, High School
Bilal Baig, Sort Of

Most Groundbreaking Representation

XO, Kitty (Netflix)
Sort Of (Max)
Queer as Folk (Peacock)
P-Valley (Starz)
Reservation Dogs (FX)
A League of Their Own (Prime Video)

Outstanding Hairstyling for an LGBTQ+ Character

E.R. Fightmaster as Dr. Kai Bartley, Grey’s Anatomy (hair department head: Desiree Dizard)
Chanté Adams as Max Chapman, A League of Their Own (hair department head: Mary Ann Valdes)
D’Arcy Carden as Greta Gill, A League of Their Own (hair department head: Mary Ann Valdes)
Diane Guerrero as Kay/Jane, Doom Patrol (hair department head: Melizah Anguiano Wheat)
Carmen LoBue as Dre, The L Word: Generation Q (hair department head: Christine Tagatac)
Roberta Colindrez as Lupe, A League of Their Own (hair department head: Mary Ann Valdes)

Outstanding Costume Design for a Show With LGBTQ+ Characters

The Last of Us (HBO Max) (costume design: Cynthia Ann Summers)
The White Lotus (HBO Max) (costume design: Alex Bovaird)
Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies (Paramount+) (costume design: Samantha Hawkins, Angelina Kekich)
Acapulco (Apple TV+) (costume design: Leticia Palacios)
A League of Their Own(Prime Video) (costume design: Nancy Steiner, Trayce Gigi Fields)
A Black Lady Sketch Show (HBO Max) (costume design: Michelle Page Collins)

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To vote in the above categories as well as the THREE SPECIAL FAN FAVORITE CATEGORIES*, go forth and:

VOTE IN THE AUTOSTRADDLE TV AWARDS!!!

*When voting in the fan favorite categories, please keep the eligibility guidelines in mind and only nominate couples/characters/actors who appeared in shows that aired between June 1, 2022 and May 31, 2023. Otherwise your vote will be wasted!

The 25 Best TV Shows of 2023 with Lesbian, Queer and Trans Characters

I’ve never been more at a loss to describe the year in LGBTQ+ television than I am in 2023. Due in part to the intolerable pay inequity and corporate profit-hoarding that led to lengthy SAG and WGA strikes, many of the year’s television projects were delayed or under-promoted — we had about 40-60 less shows to vote on this year than we typically do, since I began creating this specific iteration of a best-shows end-of-year list in 2019. In fact, the year’s most unifying lesbian television cultural moment isn’t on this list at all, because it was a reality show: Netflix’s The Ultimatum: Queer Love. The other two most widely-watched queer-inclusive shows of this year can be found in the top two of this list.

It was another year of rampant cancellations (including future seasons of community touchstones The L Word: Generation Q and A League of Their Own) and television industry trends overall have made us very jaded about the chances we’ll ever get more than one or two seasons of any gay show. Only seven shows on this list have been renewed for another season at press time, or around 27%. In fact, many of this year’s most buzzy queer-inclusive television events were Limited Series that never aimed for more than a single trip around the sun, like Class of ’09, Dead Ringers, Swarm, The Other Black Girl and Daisy Jones & The Six. 

Still, the breadth of options in terms of genre, identities and storytellers was rich in 2023. We had a few delightful surprises in 2023: the ridiculously queer final season of Riverdale, new quirky queer-focused dramedies like Such Brave Girls and Everything Now, haunting and gay-as-fuck Poe adaptation The Fall of the House of Usher and the surprisingly LGBTQ+ debut of XO Kitty. Video-game adaptation The Last of Us was exactly as good as we’d hoped it would be, and Deadloch came straight from Australia into our hearts. We also said goodbye to Top TV List mainstays like Sex Education, Reservation Dogs and A Black Lady Sketch Show. A lot of the lesbian-inclusive shows we talked about the most in 2023 were shows we mostly complained about; like The Morning Show, And Just Like That and Ted Lasso. Yet we lived to watch another day!

So now, here you have it: the best TV shows with lesbian, queer, bisexual women and/or trans characters of 2023, according to our TV Team of me, Carmen, Kayla, Drew, Nic, Natalie and Valerie.

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25. The Horror of Dolores Roach (tie)

Prime Video // Season One
Cancelled

“We deserve more weird shit on television. And I’m not talking about just anything weird that’s thrown against the way for weirdness sake. No, we deserve finely crafted, well-tuned, thought out big swings — and no one took bigger swings this year than The Horror of Dolores Roach. A barely adjusted adaptation of Sweeney Todd that takes the famed “demon barber of Fleet Street,” known for slicing his client’s throats and baking them into pies, and sets it a story about the prison industrial complex, recidivism, and gentrification.. all centered on a bisexual Puerto Rican woman in Washington Heights? There is no way that should have worked. But if there’s one thing I’ve learned in writing about television, it is to never count Justina Machado out. As Dolores Roach, Machado soars in the madness.

Aaron Mark’s tense, hilarious, stressful, and sometimes manic (said lovingly!) scripts draw parallels between 19th century London and 21st century New York that I never saw coming. And did I mention that queer favorite Michelle Badillo was also in the writers room? Layering on all of these threads, The Horror of Dolores Roach is first and foremost always a Latine story, and the elegant attention to the racial and cultural complexities inherent to that story honestly floored me. What a tremendous swing! It’s too bad that Dolores Roach ended in a blood bath of its own, being cancelled along with two other queer Latine shows (With Love, Shelter) all on the same day.” — Carmen Phillips

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25. Fellow Travelers (tie)

Paramount+ Showtime // Limited Series

“The territory tread by Fellow Travelers is, in pieces, not unfamiliar for those of us who’ve watched every LGBTQ+ historical television program and movie ever, who’ve seen a queer community light candles and light up the night after the death of Harvey Milk countless times, who’ve woven through myriad hospital wards filled with dying men and homophobic nurses, who’ve seen multiple actors take on Roy Cohn in all his disgusting ambition. I tuned in to Fellow Travelers because I’d heard it had a Stormé Delarverie — an iconic butch lesbian performer and civil rights icon who’s a far more rare appearance in the cannon. Unfortunately, her character was woefully underused. Outside of the story of Marcus, a Black journalist played be Jelani Alladin, I’m not sure that Fellow Travelers had many new things to say at all. Yet I stuck around and loved every minute, compelled and drawn in to a series packed with nuanced performances and characters torn between political, personal, spiritual and romantic urges. Fellow Travelers deftly avoids sentimentality, but evoked so much of it, like all the best tortured love stories do. I love our history, and all the flawed, terrible, beautiful struggling people who found themselves in its pages.” — Riese

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24. A Murder at the End of the World

FX/Hulu // Limited Series

“Since her breakout indie Another Earth in 2011, Brit Marling has been excavating genres. She understands what makes the average entry work and then pulls the usual beats to new terrain. Taking on true crime and murder mysteries, Marling and frequent collaborator Zal Batmanglij have made possibly their boldest and most accomplished work in this seven episode series.

With a stellar cast led by Emma Corrin, Harris Dickinson, and Marling herself, the show has all the intrigue of the genre it’s destroying. It works on the surface; works even better underneath. The twists and turns of the story are motivated by character while also questioning the entire charade of a murder mystery. Why are we so attached to tales of individual killing when mass murder is enacted by the powerful every day? Maybe as a society we’re scared of the wrong things and the wrong people.

There’s no way to talk about the brilliance of this show without revealing its many twists. This is a work that understands artists don’t have to choose between exciting storytelling and a sharp eye on our world.” — Drew Gregory

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23. Harley Quinn

Max // Season Four
Renewed
Last Year: #13

“Some shows have a great gay season, pat themselves on the back, then pull back. Not Harley Quinn! This year’s fourth season was as wacky and gay as ever, with Harley joining the Bat Fam and Ivy being the She-EO of The Legion of Doom, the duo has to try to find a work-life balance so they can be their best selves while also keeping their relationship healthy. Things are bonkers all season long but one thing remains true: Harley and Ivy are deeply in love.” — Valerie Anne

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22. Daisy Jones & The Six

Prime Video // Limited Series

“It’s hard to explain why Daisy Jones & The Six works. On paper, perhaps, it shouldn’t. Adapted from a best-selling novel of the same name, Daisy Jones has an almost artificial sheen to it — the equivalent of buying a “vintage style” band shirt from a fast fashion store online instead of an actual vintage one found in the basement of a dusty thrift store. By which I mean, it’s (obviously) fake because it’s a television show, but also it feels fake, which should be breaking a cardinal rule about how historical television should work. And yet!

Tucked underneath that haze is one of the best Black queer loves stories last year. Beneath everything that feels fake, is a beating heartbeat of love and Disco that gives nod to a still under-discussed, but very real, core branch of Black queer history. And that’s worthy of pushing past its faults… because it matters. (Also, Daisy Jones & The Six is a really fun time! There’s a reason those fast fashion t-shirts are so popular.)” — Carmen

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21. Harlan Coben’s Shelter

Prime Video // Season One
Cancelled

“Harlan Coben’s Shelter sadly joined the graveyard of canceled queer TV shows quite literally one week after I finally binge watched the series. I came for the group of offbeat teens I would end up wanting to Protec, and stayed for the surprising queer adult storyline featuring faves Missi Pyle and Constance Zimmer. At times the show’s core mystery of “what the heck is up with the Bat Lady and all these missing kids?” was a bit convoluted and overstuffed, and the side sex trafficking plot was frustratingly weak; but it’s the characters that kept me coming back for more. Ema’s (Abby Corrigan) gay panic over the possibility of her crush Whitney actually reciprocating her feelings felt real and authentic to the high school experience. And over in adult land, we were treated to a rare burgeoning queer relationship between two grown ass women that gave me the same giddy hope as if they were their teenage selves, who we meet via a series of flashbacks. The relationship between Shira and Hannah could have been played for queer shock value, but after their kiss, we instead got to see them peel back the layers of feelings lingering since high school. I don’t know what Prime Video has against the three queer shows they canceled in one fell swoop, but Aunt Shira and Hannah deserved better!” — Nic

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20. Top Boy

Netflix // Season Three
Final Season
Last Year: Didn’t Rank

“Over the course of its three seasons on Netflix, Top Boy had one of the best lesbian slow burns that we’ve seen in ages. Traditionally when we’re discussing “slow burns” in queer television, we are talking about romance. What makes Top Boy stand out from the class — ironically, coming out on “top” — is that Jasmine Jobson’s Jaqueline “Jaq” Lawrence’s character development largely happens away from her romantic entanglements. That’s not to say that her relationship with Becks (Adwoa Aboah) isn’t warm and full, it absolutely is. But it’s Jaq’s relationship with her sister, Lauren (Saffron Hocking), that becomes her most defining. It’s watching Jaq move from a tertiary character in Top Boy’s first season to the key of its unraveling in the third that makes Jobson’s work impossible to turn away from.

Top Boy is one of the best crafted, tightly wound, crime dramas that I’ve seen in easily a decade. It’s nearly a cliche for a television critic to point to a show and say “it’s like The Wire” because we all hold The Wire in such high esteem. So I know how this will sound! But honestly, Top Boy is the closest I’ve come to a show that even breaches The Wire’s airspace. It’s that damn good.” — Carmen

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19. Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

Paramount+ // Season One
Cancelled

“Set in the saddle-shoe-laden, sock-hop-having, shiny musical version of the 50s from the movie Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies employs similar themes of teen drama and relationship angst but with more people of color and queer people. The queer people in question are Cynthia (who wants nothing more than to be a T-Bird) and Lydia (theater queen bee…basically if Sharpay had any chill whatsoever) and they are cute as all heck.” — Valerie

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18. Dead Ringers

Prime Video // Limited Series

“This TV adaptation of one of David Cronenberg’s best films harnesses so much of what makes the original equal parts disturbing, erotic, and delirious but also expands the text to be even more exploratory of reproductive justice and experimental science. But most of all, it acts as a perfect vehicle for the ultra talented and alluring Rachel Weisz, who gets to deliver not one but two great performances as the central twin doctors with a fucked up codependent relationship and a tendency to swap identities. She brings specificity and distinction to each role, charming and unsettling all at once.” — Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

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17. Ginny & Georgia

Netflix // Season Two
Renewed for Season Three

“The second season of Ginny & Georgia is just as stressful and funny and fast-paced and dark and emotional as the first. The show is brilliantly acted, with a cast that pulls out all the stops to explore tumultuous teenage emotions and complicated parent/child relationships. Our resident lesbian Max is a rainbow ball of chaos, fighting with her friends, pining for her ex, and failing to see the cute costume girl flirting with her, being hilariously Max all the while.” — Valerie

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16. The Afterparty

Apple TV+ // Season Two
Cancelled
Last Year: Didn’t Rank

“The Afterparty proved its gimmicky premise isn’t too limiting by delivering a second round of mini parodies parroting various film styles. In fact, season two improves upon the first by leaning less into the copaganda and more into queerness, the Wes Anderson-spoofing episode centering new gay character Hannah easily a standout in the season of silly spoofs. Poppy Liu was a highlight in two very different queer series this year — Dead Ringers and The Afterparty — and their comedic chemistry with weirdo Anna Konkle makes for a surprisingly sweet subplot in a fun murder mystery.” — Kayla

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15. Survival of the Thickest

Netflix // Season One
Not Yet Renewed or Cancelled

“Survival of the Thickest is the kind of show that I quite simply love to love. It’s a pinnacle of what I consider to be “happy place television” — and before you mock me for bringing joy for pure joy’s sake into the conversation, may I remind you that each of us have our own version of happy TV, it’s likely what brought us to loving television in the first place. For some its sci-fi or genre shows, for others its horny bodice-ripping historical dramas, soap operas. The thing that allows you to sit mindlessly at the end of a day with your bra off (if you wear one). I grew up with a steady stream of 00s rom-coms and Carrie Bradshaw teetering on high heels down Madison Avenue, so watching Michelle Buteau create and star in one of the best romantic comedies that I’ve seen on TV in years, a celebration of “big titties and freckles” that seamlessly pulls of being both nostalgic and an entirely fresh take on the genre? With queer talent like E.R. Fightmaster in the writers room and Peppermint on screen?? I wish that Survival of the Thickest had given Tasha Smith’s Marley, Buteau’s bisexual best friend, more screen time. But as a whole it’s hard not to give Michelle Buteau her due, she repped for the big girls this year and I raise my cosmo to her.” — Carmen

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14. Everything Now

Netflix // Season One
Not Yet Renewed or Cancelled

“One of the more complex and empathetic depictions of an eating disorder I’ve seen on television, Everything Now succeeds at making its protagonist Mia neither victim nor villain, complicating her actions at every turn. It’s a show about the way we hurt people we care about, the way we keep showing up for people we care about even when they’ve hurt us. There’s a fun little queer love triangle at its heart, too, but I’m especially interested in the familial dynamics and friend group in this frankly underrated show.” — Kayla

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13. Riverdale

The CW // Season Seven
Final Season
Last Year: Didn’t Rank

“Riverdale is a unique long-running teen soap in the sense that I genuinely believe its best seasons are its first and its last. The series often, especially in its later seasons, blew things up and reinvented itself (sometimes literally, with bombs), but season seven does that most strikingly, sending its characters back in time as well as in age for what at first blush looks like a redo of season one’s simple high school drama dressed up in 50s drag but actually turns out to be a surprisingly of-the-moment exploration of the ways society attempts to stifle teen expression and sexuality. It is, of course, also just full of absurdity, musical numbers, and over-the-top plotting, but it’s pure camp, a bold and borderline experimental show that’s easy to mock but actually quite unlike anything else in its genre.” — Kayla

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12. Heartstopper

Netflix // Season Two
Renewed for Season Three
Last Year: #12

“What can I say about the wholesome splendor of Netflix’s Heartstopper other than “I CAN’T STOP SMILING HOW ARE THEY ALL SO CUTE?!” Season 1 was one of the queerest things I had ever seen in my whole life, and somehow in season 2, they managed to out-queer themselves by spending even more time with the supporting cast, including a beautiful storyline wherein Isaac discovers his asexuality. Our couples are still as happy and in love as they were last season, but with some added relationship growing pains. Charlie is determined to help Nick’s coming out to be less traumatic than his own, while Tara and Darcy grapple with how to verbally express their feelings for one another. And while Elle and Tao finally explore and name their feelings for each other, Elle also finds new comfort in two trans friends at the new art school she’ll be attending. The thing about Heartstopper is that it’s probably too idealistic and sweet and gentle for some people, and that’s okay! Sometimes it’s nice to live in a space where queerness isn’t constantly under attack; where it can be cheesy and saccharine. Plus, if needing Olivia Colman’s gentle and understanding parenting and unconditional love for her child in my life is wrong, I don’t want to be right.” — Nic

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11. A Black Lady Sketch Show

Max // Season Four
Cancelled
Last Year: #5

“A few weeks ago when Adele’s picture from The Hollywood Reporter‘s “Women In Entertainment” issue surfaced on the internet, writer/podcaster/Autostraddle contributor Jon Paul joked, “It’s giving Dr. Haddassah Olayinka Ali-Youngman, Pre-PhD.” A Black Lady Sketch Show star and creator Robin Thede channeled her infamous character and shot back, “SEE, SEE, SEE… the ONLY Adele I recognize is Adele Givens! THIS Adele is just GIVENS us cultural appropriation!” The brief exchange made me double over with laughter and miss ABLSS anew.

The show wrapped up its four season run this year but it remained at its creative peak. It continued to integrate queer characters into sketches, without making their sexuality or gender presentation the point or the punchline. But while I’m remiss that we won’t get another chapter of classic sketches like Courtroom Kiki or the Coral Reefs Gang, the true legacy of ABLSS lies in the number of black women it gave space to…women who will, no doubt, continue to keep us laughing.” — Natalie

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10. Such Brave Girls

Hulu // Season One
Not Yet Renewed or Cancelled

“Gross-out comedy at its finest, Such Brave Girls mines unlikely material for laugh-out-loud comedy. Its characters are all either self-absorbed or self-destructive or a combination of the two, all afflicted with anxiety, obsession, and insecurity. This dysfunctional family of two sisters and a single mother are delightful to watch, even as they’re tearing each other down or making life harder for themselves. Watching it feels like getting punched in the mouth.” — Kayla

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9. Poker Face

Peacock // Season One
Renewed for Season Two

“Charlie Cale has a gift (or a curse, depending on your vantage point): she can tell when someone is lying. But when her gift runs afoul of some gangsters — she implicates them in the murder of her best friend — she’s forced to hit the road in her Plymouth Barracuda, keeping distance between herself and those who want her dead. Along the way, Charlie stops to earn some money or get some food and unwittingly finds herself enmeshed in a local murder mystery. In anyone else’s hands, this show might be another basic procedural with its case of the week, but Rian Johnson reinvents the genre and Natasha Lyonne awes as the enigmatic Charlie.

But what makes Poker Face truly special are the rotating cast of guest stars. From Hong Chau as a queer long-haul trucker to Cherry Jones as a movie producer turned serial killer, it’s a veritable Murderers’ Row of talent. Each episode is tightly crafted, never allowing the case of the week ensembles to distract from Charlie’s quest to unspool the lies she’s been told.” — Natalie

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8. XO Kitty

Netflix // Season One
Renewed for Season Two

“XO, Kitty is a story about a girl who travels across the world, in part, for a boy. She — that is, the titular Kitty Song Covey — is seeking the fairytale ending to her “against all odds” love story with the boy she met while on vacation. You’re forgiven if you by-passed XO, Kitty thinking it was all about the straights.

But what Kitty actually finds in Korea isn’t an affirmation of love as she’s always known it: she finds that love can just as easily be the thing you never, ever expected. Yuri starts off as the show’s antagonist, the person standing between Kitty that that fairytale ending that she imagined. But slowly, Yuri’s character deepens and Kitty’s feelings for her grow along with it. The crush is unanticipated and overwhelming, in the way that first crushes always are, and it is a delight to watch.” — Natalie

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7. Minx

Starz // Season Two
Not Yet Renewed or Cancelled
Last Year: #17

“Thank the lord that Starz rescued the second season of this smart show about a second-wave feminist go-getter’s adventure into making a porn mag for women, because the sophomore season is when everyone in the ensemble can get their time to shine. Minx is just so sexy and funny and so is Shelly, who’s grappling with what she really wants, sexually and career-wise and with her family, as she reaches a mid-life crossroads at a very different place than she anticipated. Jessica Lowe’s Bambi remains one of television’s sharpest uncut gems, and her friendship with gay photographer Richie is so real and heartwarming. A magazine’s founder might have a vision but she’s nothing without the big personalities who sign on for the ride, in reality or in the stories we tell about it.” — Riese

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6. Deadloch

Prime Video // Season One
Not Yet Renewed or Cancelled

“Stories that showcase queer community in all its messy fullness — the rocky marriages and the idealized ones, the exes, the old hurts and the shared joys, the weird little group activities — tend to take place in prison, in high school or in a major queer urban hub (Los Angeles, New York, London). But Deadloch is just a small, sleepy town on the coast of Tasmania where everybody knows everybody else and, for no particular reason, there are so many lesbians. So there’s that, but there’s also a genuinely intriguing murder mystery tearing through the town, delightful, self-referential, smart humor and characters that worm their way right into your heart. One of the year’s most delightful surprises.” — Riese

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5. Sex Education

Netflix // Season Four
FInal Season
Last Year: #6

“To me, the loveliest aspect of television as a medium is how an audience can grow alongside a work. Each season, checking back in with characters and a world with new personal change.

When the first season of Sex Education came out, I was two years into transitioning, going through a breakup, and exploring my queer and feminine sexuality for the first time. Laurie Nunn’s artful, tender show acted as a guide, a reminder that sex was important and a reassurance that it wasn’t. There’s no judgment in her world, just characters working to be better and working to better understand their bodies and desires.

It’s now almost five years later and the show’s final season was a worthy end. As I grew into myself, so did the show, pushing itself to be even more inclusive and to take more formal risks. Sex isn’t about perfection — it’s about experimentation, pleasure, and connection. The show’s final — admittedly a tad overstuffed — season encapsulates this truth. Season one may have been perfect, but season four lets itself be imperfect. That’s an even greater achievement for a show. It’s an even greater achievement for any of us.” — Drew

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4. Reservation Dogs

FX/Hulu // Season Three
Final Season
Last Year: #6

“In its final season, Reservation Dogs pivots from being a story primarily about four indigenuous teenagers to one about the community in which they inhabit. The show recalls the past that haunts them — episode three’s focus on the horror of Native boarding schools is a standout — and begins to imagine a future with Elora, Bear, Willie Jack and Cheese carrying on the traditions. As it has for its entire run, Reservation Dogs volleys between happiness and sadness, grief and gratitude, and seriousness and humor to outstanding effect.

For my money, it’ll go down as one of the greatest shows, not just of 2023, but of all time.” — Natalie

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3. The Last Of Us

HBO Max // Season One
Renewed For Season Two
Last Year: Didn’t Air

“When you’re lost in the darkness, look for the light.” It’s a phrase used by the Fireflies, a resistance organization in the post-apocalyptic world of The Last of Us, to recruit others to their cause. In a weird way, it also happens to represent how I made it through 2023. “The light” can be so many things; literal brightness, people who make us feel safe, or even media that reminds us that we’re not alone. For me, this show will always be that last thing.

I’ve written many many words on this here website about  TLOU, and it’s no secret that the combination of the video game and TV series results in one of my favorite stories of all time. It’s one of hope, family, love, and at times…desperation. Sure, it’s also about a zombie apocalypse, but that almost feels secondary to the humanness of it all. And at the core is the relationship between Joel and Ellie, and their journey from essentially co-workers to family (in a good way, not the way corporations say it). The first season of the show also gave us the beautiful sweeping love story of Bill and Frank, a couple whose depth was impossible to portray in the video game, that changed strawberries for me forever (IYKYK). Throughout Joel and Ellie’s journey we learn about the people and circumstances that informed who they are as individuals; including Ellie’s best friend and crush, Riley, in a flashback episode that makes me cry every single time I watch it.

To be able to exist at the same time as this story is told feels like a dream and a privilege. And knowing what I know about Part II of the game, season 2 is about to get a whole lot gayer.” — Nic

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2. The Fall of the House of Usher

Netflix // Limited Series

“The latest Mike Flanagan joint is like if Edgar Allen Poe wrote Succession, with writing like poetry and acting to blow your socks off and so. many. queer. characters. It’s almost like Mike Flanagan is trying to one-up his own self with how many queer characters he can add to his shows. We’ve got queer people making mistakes, queer people behaving badly, queer people being mysterious, just, all the queer people, and all the feelings.” — Valerie

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1. Yellowjackets

Showtime // Season Two
Renewed For Season Three
Last Year: Didn’t Air

“It was a tough feat to follow up its near perfect first season that had everyone buzzing, but Yellowjackets managed to avoid a sophomore slump, even if its second season was a bit more divisive among fans than its first. As someone doing super detailed recaps and close readings of the show every week, I found it just as meaty :wink: this year, and some aspects of the show even grew in surprising ways. In season two, the performances from the younger, lesser known actors were truly just as strong as those of the more experienced talent, with Sophie Nélisse in particular becoming a highlight of the incredibly stacked cast. Meeting Adult Van was a highly anticipated moment that did not disappoint, and the series continued to prove the most compelling mysteries are the ones that can’t really be solved.” — Kayla

The Best Queer Movie Scenes of 2023

Sex scenes, fight scenes, a fanfic-worthy cameo. The best queer movie scenes of 2023 are as varied as the films that contain them. Listed below are cinematic moments that announce their greatness with the volume all the way up and smaller moments that land simply because of the way two actors look at each other.

For a long time, queer films were thought to follow certain tropes. But these films show the potential when queerness is the basis of — or sneaks into — horror movies, broad comedies, comic book adaptations, and indescribable arthouse fantasias. These moments are proof that it was a great year to be queer at the movies.

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Death of a Party, All of Us Strangers

I’m always going to love a gay club scene and this is one of the best. At this point in the film, only four actors have appeared on-screen, always in quiet solitude. But now Adam and Harry are going out in public and what follows is a drug-fueled mix of pleasure and terror. Set to Blur’s “Death of a Party,” this sequence is transcendent, finding a way to continue the film’s liminal solitude even in a space pulsing with other people. It emphasizes the power of the queer club, as well as its limits in keeping out grief. — Drew

Fran Sees Ghosts, Bad Things

I already wrote about this scene in the annual update of Autostraddle’s Scariest Movie Moments list, but it’s just so good so I have to shout it out here. I was tempting to choose something from the very end of the movie, which is a veritable bloodbath, but as much as I do enjoy the descent into mayhem at film’s end, this slightly quieter moment when Fran sees ghosts eating breakfast at the hotel has stayed with me much longer. — Kayla

The Big Game, Bottoms

Look, I could try to intellectualize this, but here’s what it comes down to: Sometimes I just like to see people knock the sit out of each other? Not in real life, obviously! Of course! But a beautifully crafted fight choreography on screen? The adrenaline rush of watching from your seat, the fluidity of the bodies, the perfectly executed sound engineering behind a knuckle crack? I’m a simple girl. Call me basic. But sometimes it just doesn’t get better than that, and Bottoms had one of the best fights I’ve seen in a long time.

That’s probably already a given, since the entire premise of Bottoms is Fight Club, set in the tone of Jennifer’s Body meets a Natasha Lyonne comedy, starring horny teen lesbians — but the fighting in Bottoms is so good. It’s equal parts absurdist and grotesque, exhilarating and hilarious, it nearly hits all its beats exactly as you’d hope it would land (I swear the “hitting” pun is not intended, this just writes itself). But the extended final sequence, set during a football game against a rival school, is an extended, pummeling, dive of one special effect after another. Squish sounds and blood everywhere and bodies thrown into the air with something that approaches gleeful abandon.

I am so far from violent in my actual life, and maybe that’s why the release of violence on screen often calls to me, but I have seen a lot of fights in movies over the course of my life. Bottoms a teen comedy made for a primarily queer audience, is not the kind of place where you expect to see some of the greats in the genre. But I would put it up against any other action film this year (and hell, probably last year too). It kicks ass.— Carmen

Everything about Bottoms was absolutely absurd but the way they really went for it in that final fight scene on the football scene was absolutely transcendent. I have never in my life laughed like that for something like that before. — Riese

Honestly, yes, this scene, SO MUCH. INSPIRED. — Nic

It took all of my self control to not actually stand up in the movie theater during this scene and CLAP. — Kayla

The Boat, The Cow Who Sang a Song Into the Future

For trans people distant from their biological family, there can be a different sort of connection to ancestors. If queer people have always been around then somebody in our family’s history would have understood us — or even were us. Transfeminine Tomás is feeling disconnected from her family when she stumbles upon the ghost of her grandmother. They end up on a docked boat together and talking leads to tears, tears to laughter. It’s a beautiful moment of intergenerational connection and proof of the power of magical realism on-screen. — Drew

Theo and Alisha Embrace Before Parting Ways, How To Blow Up a Pipeline

I love that this is an unflinching political movie with a tremendous amount of heart. It really does harness the energy, care, and complexity of so many of the activists I know in my actual life. They feel real, and their politics feel rooted in both the personal and the communal. In this film in particular, I love how we get to see them all be just normal young adults: getting drunk, hooking up, teasing, laughing. One of those moments demonstrates just how queer love/care can sit inside of activism. Theo and Alisha share a genuinely romantic moment mid-scheme, and even though it’s fraught — one of them seriously injured, the other dying but also probably about to take the brunt of the fall for what they’ve just done as a group — it’s such a triumphant and human moment. Alisha didn’t even want to get involved initially, but her love for Theo and understanding of why this work is important to the person she loves convinces her to throw her all into it. I love that we get a quiet but burning queer love story nestled in this film. — Kayla

The Turn, Jagged Mind

There’s a moment about 30 minutes into The Jagged Mind when suddenly, juuust before the official reveal, you realize exactly what’s going on. I really don’t want to spoil this movie for you so I can’t explain it more than that, but just know that Maisie Richardson-Sellers and Shannon Woodward act the hell out of this whole movie, but there’s a shift in this scene in particular that changes the whole movie and the way we see their whole dynamic and it’s very fun to watch. — Valerie Anne

Captain Valkyrie, The Marvels

When Marvel Studios released the final trailer for The Marvels, and I spotted .3 seconds of Tessa Thompson, oh the gasp that I gasped! What would her role be? Would we finally get canon on-screen confirmation of a Carol and Valkyrie relationship? Would she swagger in wearing the hell out of that suit and decide to join the titular Marvels in vanquishing the BBEG? Well, I guess technically neither of those technically happened, but there is absolutely no way to convince me that their interaction was purely platonic. Tessa and Brie have publicly hinted at a Valkyrie and Carol relationship, even going so far as to enter Ace Comic Con and immediately say they’re there to “ship”! Plus, we recently learned that Marvel allegedly cut a scene that would have confirmed their relationship.

When Carol mentions to Monica and Kamala that she called a friend for help, even the tone of her voice changes; it’s softer, sweeter, and reminiscent. And then Valkyrie shows up, the two embrace in a way that reeks of “we dated, the timing was off, we broke up, but we still have incredible chemistry”, and I swear I may have bruised poor Valerie Anne’s arm in the theater with how hard I smacked her. Their eye contact, the kiss on the cheek, the way they touched each other’s arms! Whew! Is it hot in here? It is? Okay great. I’m really gonna need Marvel to stop playing in our faces one of these days, but for now, you can catch me playing that scene on repeat in my head and on the inside of my eyelids. — Nic

Gosh I know it was just a few seconds but it was the gayest few seconds we’ve gotten in a Marvel movie. The slow kiss on the cheek, the lingering hand hold. You cannot tell me these two weren’t friends with benefits who tried to date and decided actually they’re better as friends because one has a kingdom to rule and the other has a universe to save. I also hadn’t watched any of the trailers before I saw the movie so I forgot Valkyrie was even going to in this movie so I SQUEALED. Nic says she bruised my arm but I bruised her right back. We were… NOT chill. Like the way that scene was filmed I wouldn’t be surprised if they filmed a take with a full mouth kiss in case they were allowed to get away with it and whichever Marvel exec hates lesbians and has a stick up his ass was like “absoLUTEly not, I gave you a rainbow pin in the Wandaverse movie SHUT UP ABOUT YOUR GAY STUFF” and didn’t let them keep it. But Brie and Tessa know exactly what they’re doing and for that, I will always thank them. Well that and the “‘How do I top lesbians?’ ‘I’m sure the lesbians could show you.'” panel moment that lives rent free in my head. — Valerie Anne

Baby’s First Heartbreak, Nimona

All through the movie Nimona, you see little cracks in her shell, you see fear beneath the bravado, you know Something Happened to her, but it isn’t until a flashback toward the end of the movie that we get to see it. Where we see a montage of Nimona not fitting in anywhere until finally she finds someone who accepts her for who she is, and everything is so cute and sweet and perfect…until it isn’t. Until we see why Nimona is the way she is, why she’s guarded, why she keeps mostly to herself. It’s a beautiful scene and I just rewatched it to get this screenshot and I’m CRYING AGAIN DAMN IT. — Valerie Anne

The Last Leg, NYAD

I don’t think I’ve ever seen a lesbian friendship portrayed onscreen like we had the pleasure of seeing in Nyad, and Jodie Foster is just so good in her bandana and her cargo shorts and her Diet Coke, and she gets into the water to be with Diana because this time she’s gotta be the one to push her even though it’s usually Diana doing the pushing. I cried for real when Diana limped onshore and Jodie Foster is like “GIMME UR ANKLES” and then Diana collapses into Jodie Foster’s arms for this big lesbian hug???!!!! And all the Olivia lesbians are waiting for her onshore??? CINEMA —- Riese

Stéphane Slams Head on Wall as Distraction, Origin of Evil

It’s giving Gone Girl tbh! This fun and twisty thriller is understated for much of its run, but when our protagonist improvises in order to keep her own scam going by literally SLAMMING HER HEAD AGAINST A WALL, I knew we were cooking. — Kayla

The Bathtub Drain, Saltburn

I could write an essay about the meme-ification of film criticism — in fact, I probably will! — and often I feel frustrated with the way movies get reduced to a buzzy moment, image, or, even, release date. But this is not one of those times! Sometimes the internet latches onto something for a reason and it’s very fun! For me, Barry Keoghan licking Jacob Elordi’s cum water is the perfect moment for internet film criticism. Finally, we’re done debating whether there should be sex scenes and instead celebrating a moment of bodily fluids that puts the Call Me By Your Name peach to shame. It’s a sign of the character’s desperate obsession and an encapsulation of the movie’s pathetic sexuality. Whether you loved the movie or hated it, you have to admit this scene WORKED.

My only complaint is the water could’ve been thicker.

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What are your picks for the best queer movie scenes of 2023?

The Best Queer TV Scenes of 2023

What makes a great TV scene? Is it the payoff of seasons-long romantic tension? Is it the perfect needle drop in a climactic moment? Or is it just a quiet moment where great acting and great writing achieve a rare alchemy? The answer, of course, is all three — and so much more.

This year, in lieu of best episodes, the Autostraddle TV Team has gathered to share what we think are the best queer TV scenes of 2023. There’s a wide range of genres, shows, and moments, together showing the vast possibilities of queer television.

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The Deadloch Choir, Deadloch

I can’t really get into any details of these scenes without spoiling the entirety of the series, but there is a cover of “All The Things She Said” and a cover of “We Belong” by the legendary local Deadloch choir (a town of lesbians) in the final episode of Deadloch that were just so fucking perfect. — Riese

Doom Duet, Doom Patrol

I am a sucker for a musical episode, and the Doom Patrol musical episode did not disappoint. The whole episode was so fun, but I was especially excited to see that I was not misreading the vibes and that Jane and Casey were actually into each other, as revealed by a sweet duet. Casey sings about feeling butterflies – a new sensation for someone who just popped off a comic book page – and Jane sings about feeling conflicted but feeling the same way. They even make what I have to assume is a Carol reference and say they were “flung from the timestream” and it’s all very cute and gay. — Valerie Anne

Victorine’s Death Scene, The Fall of the House of Usher

There are so many scenes I love from The Fall of the House of Usher, but of all the over-the-top death scenes, Victorine has the best, largely in part due to queer actor T’Nia Miller’s performance, which takes on an almost stage-like quality here. The red light, her pleading delusions, and her father’s rare display of genuine pain makes it all so urgent and gutting even as we know exactly what is about to happen. That’s often the fun of this show, which uses aesthetics and a mixture of humor and horror to thrill without over-relying on a puzzlebox structure. It doesn’t matter that you know what’s going to happen; it’s still a delight to watch. — Kayla

Yasuda Asks Helm Out (Finally), Grey’s Anatomy

If there’s one thing ya girl loves, it’s a nerdy and awkward queer who finally musters up the courage to ask their crush out after seemingly ENDLESS flirting. Bonus points if that same queer isn’t exactly sure if what’s happening is actually flirting. I’ve been Team Yasuda since she joined the latest crop of Lexie Grey Memorial Hospital of Every Malady and Disaster Ever interns. And Taryn Helm? She has somehow managed to get the shit end of the stick until she took a page out of the Simone Biles book of mental health and gave herself a break. I wish we got more Yasuda and Helm nuggets this season, but at least what we did get included the most adorable flirting, culminating in Yasuda finally ambling into the bar and word vomiting an invite to fellow intern Simone’s wedding. All while Helm just stood there, smirking, waiting for her girl to finish so she could say yes. Ugh! The cutest! I loved it. — Nic

Alice and Tasha’s Last Dance, The L Word: Generation Q

On the list of things so exciting to me that I will forgive all of said thing’s surrounding circumstances is Alice and Tasha having, at last, a sweet and romantic moment on the dance floor at Bette and Tina’s wedding. As a person who spent a lot of time in walk-in fridges at my various serving jobs, “call a firefighter” wouldn’t be my first move upon finding my pals locked into a walk-in fridge, but again — anything for Talice. ANYTHING. They had a sweet little moment about grief and Alice apologized and Tasha laughed TASHA LAUGHED and I cried and laughed too. — Riese

There is a lot that I will go down arguing that The L Word: Generation Q got wrong, especially in the wind down episodes of its final season. But this is not one of them. Tasha and Alice are magic. That was true when I was 20 years old, and Tasha laughed in her husky way when Alice asked if she liked “girly girls.” It was true when I watched “I’m a soldier for love” countless times on my laptop (if you were there, you get it, what’s known does not have to be said). That remains true now.

I just do not know what my imaginations of queer romance on television would look like without them. It’s that simple. For better or for worse, Tasha and Alice will always exist in the simplest and purest part of my heart. And if Gen Q was going to end in a tribute to nostalgic romances of the original series, I’m glad that this one scene — seemingly picked right from my own brain cells or the discarded drafts of my fan fiction — I’m glad that this one made the cut. — Carmen

“I Got You Babe”, The Last of Us

Surprise, surprise, I’m back with more TLOU feelings. After Riley spent who knows how long setting up one last adventure for her best friend before leaving on a Firefly mission, she introduces Ellie to the final Wonder of the Mall: a Halloween store. Ellie’s still reeling from the news that her bestie is leaving, and even after Riley shares that part of the reason is because she hasn’t felt chosen until the Fireflies, Ellie still puts on a brave face and tries to enjoy their last moments together. They don a pair of full Halloween masks and awkwardly dance and laugh to “I Got You Babe.”

Maybe it’s the silly dancing, maybe it’s the heightened emotions, but when Ellie takes off her mask and asks Riley to stay, she says “yes.” And Ellie is so surprised and relieved that she kisses Riley because maybe, just maybe everything will be okay. She apologizes immediately, and when Riley confirms her feelings with a “for what?” the two laugh in that way where you can’t believe how long you’ve held something in for fear of rejection, and then find out that your crush feels the exact same way. It’s innocent and sweet and heartbreaking, especially considering what comes next. — Nic

Losing Our Minds Together, The Last of Us

It was actually very hard to narrow down this episode to one scene, because “Left Behind” is easily my favorite episode of the season (sorry to everyone else’s favorite episode, “Long, Long Time,” I like you fine too) and it’s just all so, so good. The way they seamlessly wove what was extra content in the video games into the main story was brilliant, and I loved every second. But this is about scenes not episodes so since Nic has the happy stuff covered, I’m here to talk about one of the last scenes of the episode, and the most heartbreaking one.

After the best date ever has turned into the worst date ever, Ellie and Riley find themselves both bitten after a fight with an Infected. At first, Ellie is mad, smashing things and screaming. But eventually she slumps next to Riley and they realize they have to decide what to do next: they could take the easy way out, or they could lose their minds together…it’ll be poetic. Riley decides they shouldn’t quit, and that she doesn’t want to give up what little time they have left together, whether it’s minutes, hours, or days. It reminds me of a baby gay version of Dani and Jamie from Bly Manor. Enjoying every moment in case it’s the inevitable last. Riley and Ellie hold hands and cry and hold each other and love each other as much as they can for as long as they can. Bella Ramsey and Storm Reid acted the hell out of this episode, and especially this scene. — Valerie Anne

The Pantry Scene, Minx

Bambi and Shelly are having tea at Shelly’s house, and they’re speaking in heavy-handed metaphors, Shelly worrying at the placemat to avoid reaching out for Bambi. Using her coded language, she essentially tells Bambi that they can never be together again, and Bambi is bummed, but is willing to respect Shelly’s wishes…and then Shelly can’t resist anymore and kisses her anyway. Bambi checks in and makes sure that Shelly is sure, but Shelly is done denying herself this, at least for now. They kiss and kiss and end up in the pantry, which is convenient both for privacy and for post-coital snacking. It’s all very sweet and sexy. — Valerie Anne

The Bathtub, A Murder at the End of the World

A Murder at the End of the World begins with its main character, queer hacker Darby Hart, reading from her true crime book. Its early episodes suggest a show like any number of other crime shows where a detective — amateur or law enforcement — uses clues to catch a serial killer or two. But throughout the series, the genre itself is questioned and subverted. This is stated most explicitly in a scene during the penultimate episode during a flashback between Darby and her boyfriend Bill as they take a bath together after a traumatic experience. Darby wants to discuss the minutiae of the killer, but Bill pushes back. Who cares about the killer? He’s not interesting. He’s just the product of a broken world.

Emma Corrin and Harris Dickinson are both so good in this scene and the dynamic between Darby and Bill is a great example of realistically portraying queer people in “straight” relationships. Darby’s queerness is a part of her no matter who she’s dating and here that manifests in her being the more traditionally male partner — analytical, unemotional — and her cis male partner being more traditionally female — tender, emotional.

In terms of character and in terms of politics this is an excellent moment that encapsulates the great achievement of this unique mystery. — Drew

End of Year Wrap-Up, Riverdale

“Admittedly my allegiance to this program has wavered over the years, but when Kayla tipped us off to its even-more-overwhelmingly-gay vibe, I hopped right back on the train and rode it through a delightful gay fever dream. I didn’t even care about the absolutely bananas premise (in part because I already knew it’d give us gay returns before I started watching it). Because at the end of the series we were given a little montage about how all the whackadoodle storylines of their time warp season wrapped up with Kevin saying to Betty, “don’t tell me you suddenly forgotten that you, Archie, Veronica and Jughead have been in a quad this entire last year.’ I FOR ONE WILL NEVER FORGET” — Riese

Kiss Test, Scott Pilgrim Takes Off

I really love what this show did with Roxie, giving her more character and depth than the movie. We get to see exactly what happened between Roxie and Ramona, and we get some real vulnerable moments between them amidst the cartoony chaos. But my favorite scene between them is in episode 103, after they make up, when Roxie asks her if they should kiss. Ramona politely declines but says she wants to be friends (no benefits), so Roxie decides to shoot her shot with Kim instead. Kim decides to give it a go, but after a kiss complete with Cruel-Intentions-esque spittle, they decide there are no sparks. It’s a funny, endearing scene between the three girls, and a lovely little queer moment. — Valerie Anne

First Queer Party, Sex Education

One of the best parts of the new season of Sex Education was its celebration of queer community. Of course, the show was very queer from the beginning, but, like many queer teens, our main characters were isolated by themselves or in small groups. This season, at a new progressive school, queerness was collective. Eric is excited to go to his first queer party — not counting his dalliance in Nigeria — and it’s a treat to witness his exuberance among his new friends. But the best part of this sequence is the scene between Cal and Roman. Their conversation about surgery and other gender health treatment is proof that trans characters can discuss transness without it being tropey. A less experienced trans person learning from a more experienced trans person is much different than a trans character explaining their medical history to a cis character. Especially during a time when trans youth are under attack, this moment states the necessity for them to access healthcare and shows the importance of community — Drew

Black Lady Therapy Scene (Purposefully Sung in the Tune A Black Lady Sketch Show’s “Black Lady Courtroom“), Survival of the Thickest

When we decided to gently move away from honoring “Best Episodes” to “Best Scenes” as a part of this year’s End Of Year Culture Lists package, I should have thought of Survival of the Thickest earlier. As a television show, Thickest was one of my favorite watches last year, but its queer plots did not quite stick the landing. Even as a singular episode, “Are You Crying, B…?” is not necessarily a standout its queer beats. But this one scene? This captured moment in time?

It is spectacular.

As Marley, bisexual sidekick to the series protagonist Mavis (Mavis Beaumont), Tasha Smith is a model of business suits, power, and control. There is not a moment in her life that is not accounted and planned for, filed away, and placed into a neat box (you know the type). She’s the kind of friend who always thinks that she knows best, especially in comparison to Beaumont’s Mavis, whose life is currently in shambles. But then a fling with her trainer leads to Marley hooking up with that trainer’s girlfriend and Marley realizes that — for the first time in her life — she’s had sex with a woman without a man present to “make it OK.” Her next stop? Her therapist’s office.

We realize that Marley isn’t scared of her bisexuality. She’s had decades of history sleeping with women. But this time felt different, Marley reflects, “it felt good, like free in a way that I didn’t expect.”

Her therapist, who’s also a Black woman, listens closely to what’s not said in between. Marley is a Black woman in her forties, “there may be aspects of your identity worth exploring that were out of reach to you because you weren’t given the vocabulary to access them.”

At that Marley, who shares Tasha Smith’s comic timing and has never met a joke she couldn’t knock out the park, sits quiet. Her therapist presses on, “what does your queerness look like when men are removed from the equation?”

Notably, there’s no judgment in her challenge. The light wraps both women in warmth, there’s a crinkle of kindness in their eyes as they meet each other. I’ve said it before, there are rarely “neat” coming out stories for Black women over a certain age. Compulsory heterosexuality, Black family values, and politics of respectability have not left a lot of room for Black women to find ourselves on our own terms. But Marley is safe here. Here she can breathe. She can be pushed, not be asked to make herself smaller, and find comfort in the gentleness of a Black woman who looks like her, understands her.

Do you see what I mean? A perfect scene, in an otherwise imperfect series. And so worthy of this list. — Carmen

One Last Kiss, Yellowjackets

I was genuinely torn between this scene and the scene from later in this same episode (207, “Burial”) when the Adult Yellowjackets are dancing and laughing together around the campfire but it’s intercut with Teen Shauna beating the shit out of Teen Lottie, so instead I’ll go with the gayer scene.

After a day of playing along with Lottie’s cult chores, Adult Van is hiding out with a bottle of Tequila, where Adult Taissa finds her. They talk for a moment, and then the chemistry they’ve both been resisting since the moment they were reunited reaches its breaking point and they smash together like two magnets that got too close. They kiss with such want, such need, such hunger that it threatens to consume them both. Taissa is the one to pull away first, apologizing and saying she wants this, she does, but she needs time. And time is something Van doesn’t have. She drops the C word on Tai and they both sit there with the years of lost time trailing behind them with no path back and before they can express regret or fear or really much at all besides Taissa’s shocked exclamations and Van’s resigned sighs, they’re interrupted. It’s a beautiful scene, acted brilliantly by Tawny Cypress and Lauren Ambrose, and you can see them channel Jasmin Savoy-Brown and Liv Hewson’s teen versions of their characters as they do. It’s a moment that makes me feel 900 different feelings in a short burst of time and I love it very much. — Valerie Anne

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What are your picks for the best queer TV scenes of 2023?

Autostraddle’s Favorite Lesbian, Bisexual, and Queer TV Couples of 2023

Every year the TV Team lists our favorite queer TV couples and every year we reveal a little about ourselves. Because to announce what fictional love we’re shipping says as much about each of us as it does the state of queer TV. Some of us swoon over an “enemies to lovers,” some of us crave a fleeting one-night stand, and some of us long for the exuberance of young love.

This list has all that and more! And, yes, by more, I mean the four-person polycule from Riverdale.

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Simone and Bernie, Daisy Jones and the Six

This almost feels like a cheat. Daisy Jones and the Six, adapted from the bestselling book of the same name, was a one-off series that’s spawned its own fandom despite mixed-reviews from critics. Within an already limited miniseries, Simone and Bernie’s love story largely takes place in a single standalone episode. Can one hour of television really hold its own against couples that have years to build nuances of their intimacy?

When Simone (Nabiyah Be), a closeted singer trying to break into the music industry in the early 1970s, first meets Bernie (Ayesha Harris) at a party in Los Angeles, she blushes. Bernie flirts, “did I read you wrong?” Simone inhales, surprised to have been seen so clearly in her desire. The space between them is charged, cackling with unspoken heat that doesn’t have an outlet. Bernie hands Simone a card, an address and phone number in New York. A club scene, an entire country away, that is more accepting of people like them.

What happens when Simone finds her way to New York is wrapped up in Black queer histories of disco and dance floors that remains one of my favorite parts from this television year. An ephemeral, perfect bubble — so delicate that breathing the wrong way might risk it to pop or float away — of Black love and afros and soft lighting cascading across uptown apartments. I loved watching Simone become a fictional queer Donna Summer of her own making, I loved watching Bernie lead the crowd from her turntables as if they were the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

To me, they were the story. — Carmen

Cynthia and Lydia, Grease: Rise of the Pink Ladies

I know I’ve talked a big game about liking mature, long-standing romances but the teenage dream trope is so prevalent for a reason; it’s a good one! Plus, I’m a sucker for a musical, and specifically was obsessed with Grease at arguably far too young an age, this show felt like someone was pandering directly to me and I loved it. Cynthia went from wanting to be one of the T-Birds to finding her place in the Pink Ladies and realizing that she didn’t have to change who she was to fit into either group. As she settled into realizing who she was she also realized she was head over heels for bratty thespian Lydia. Ice Queen Melts is another one of my favorite tropes, and watching these two find (and sing to) each other was a showstopper to me. I am hopelessly devoted to these musical teens. (Also, bonus, both Ari Notartomaso and Niamh Wilson are queer IRL!) — Valerie Anne

Frankly, I’m shocked “Merely Players” didn’t make the top of my Spotify Wrapped, because I listened to it A LOT this year. Maybe it’s because I mostly listened while watching the clip itself on YouTube, unable to miss out on the choreography, the outfits, and Ari Notartomaso and Niamh Wilson’s chemistry. In a show filled with stellar musical numbers, this was one of its best. And there must be something about musicals because I hadn’t shipped a couple this hard since Brittana. I love the way Cynthia and Lydia evoke butch/femme dynamics of the 50’s while still bringing their unique experiences of sexuality, gender, and presentation to each other. I also think the show does a great job honoring the reality of the time period without getting tropey or losing its joy. I’m so sad we didn’t get several more seasons of these two!! — Drew

Shira and Hannah, Harlan Corben’s Shelter

I didn’t realize how badly I was craving adult queer new romances until I watched this show. We see so many teen new romances and so many adult established romances but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen two adults start up something so… charming. The L Word: Gen Q showed plenty of older women being sexy as hell, but there was a… sweetness and realism to Shira and Hannah that the Gen Q babes didn’t quite nail for me. And don’t get me wrong, I loved Ema’s baby gay storyline, but something about Shira and Hannah really did it for me. The miscommunication of their high school fling, the rekindling of their very much still alive chemistry, the general humor and heart Constance Zimmer and Missy Pyle brought to their scenes… I’m normally team Love is a Lie but something about watching these two 50-year-old women flirt and make out like teenagers set my heart aflutter. They gave me a little kernel of hope I didn’t know I was looking for. — Valerie Anne

Harley and Ivy, Harley Quinn

So often in shows, we see the flirting and lead up and finally, finally, our favorite couple gets together. But far too often either they immediately die, their show gets cancelled, or they run into relationship-threatening drama and we don’t actually get to enjoy them as a couple. But not Harley and Ivy! Their drama isn’t about them fighting with each other, it’s about two booked and busy ladies trying to balance their high-power jobs and also their relationship at the same time. Especially in the context of a comic book show where things are quite literally blowing up left and right, it’s nice to see two women who love each other just being girlfriends amidst the chaos. — Valerie Anne

Anne Bonny & Mary Read, Our Flag Means Death

I did not have “Minnie Fucking Driver” as Anne Bonny on my 2023 TV bingo card, and honestly, I’m glad I didn’t because what an incredible surprise when she and Rachel House appeared as Anne Bonny and her gal pal Mary Read. These two oozed chaotic energy, selling antiques by day and engaging in some light poisoning of each other by night. They’ve been together for a long time and when you’re used to a life at sea, retiring to the ‘burbs can get mundane; so naturally they stab each other for funsies sometimes. And somehow, in spite of (or maybe because of) their chaos, they managed to help Stede and Ed begin to repair their own relationship. Anne and Mary are IRL pirate royalty and — besides even more screen time — their portrayal was everything I could have asked for. — Nic

Luz & Amity, The Owl House

Not to be all “back in my day”, but sometimes I wonder if my coming out journey would have been different if I had seen couples like Luz and Amity in the cartoons I watched growing up. Or if I had a show like The Owl House that never hid its queerness and instead thrust it front and center. Throughout the show’s run, we got to see an actual fleshed out enemies-to-lovers relationship between two main animated characters; and it was sweet and innocent and perfectly captured the uncertain feelings of a crush. I miss those two crazy kids so much! — Nic

Betty and Veronica and Archie and Jughead, Riverdale

Whomst among us could have ever predicted the core four characters of television’s most unruly show Riverdale would end up in a four-way relationship with each other at series’ end? Certainly not I, and I consider myself one of the world’s preeminent Riverdale scholars. Much like Betty Cooper was one of my favorite television characters this year, this quad managed to thwart my expectations and delight me in the most wondrous ways, a thing Riverdale accomplished intermittently throughout its chaotic run. Why make specific hetero pairings endgame when you can just make everyone date each other all at once? — Kayla Kumari Upadhyaya

Abbi and Roman, Sex Education

Throughout its four season run, Sex Education was always pushing the boundaries of how sex was discussed and what sex we saw on-screen. It’s fitting that the final sex scene on the show was between a transmasc/transfemme couple. But Abbi and Roman were more than a late-series addition for inclusivity. While they start out as the popular perfect couple at the progressive new school, their complexities are revealed through the season. I love that they’re framed as sweet and aspirational while still having the imperfections of any teen couple. At a time when trans youth are under attack, seeing a teen t4t couple handled with such a casual touch was a gift. I’m really going to miss this show and I’m so happy it expanded its cast to include these two complicated trans characters. — Drew

Carina DeLuca and Maya Bishop, Station 19

I’ve always loved Carina and Maya. I loved them when they first met in Joe’s Bar, back when Carina was still a recurring guest star on Station 19, still looking to find her footing post-break up with Shondaland gay legend Dr. Arizona Robbins and Maya and Station 19 were looking to find their footing at all. That was nearly four years ago. I couldn’t have known how time would fly.

As Carina DeLuca and Maya Bishop, Stefania Spampinato and Danielle Savre have never lacked for chemistry. I once joked that their early relationship could be defined as “a lot of sex, and lasagna.” Equally impressive, Spampinato and Savre are natural screen partners, and in their hands the dramatic moments of Maya and Carina’s relationship have soared. There have been times when I’ve admittedly worried about the writing behind Maya and Carina’s ups-and-downs, but I’ve never doubted the actors at the helm of their portrayal. That faith was deeply rewarded in Station 19’s seventh season, which saw Maya and Carina through depths of darkness that I never expected and through to the other side, finding their light once again in each other.

Maya has always strived for perfection, a drive that leads to a mental break that felt both impossible to watch and look away from. After begging her wife to get help, Carina ultimately has to protect Maya from herself, something that risked ripping them both apart for good. But instead, we watched as they sewed themselves back together — each individually at first, and then as once again as wives. It’s sticky, messy, and real. It’s far from a classic soap opera fairy tale, full of swooping kisses and swelling music. But doesn’t that make it all worthwhile?

(Plus, as the shower scene can attest, they eventually find their way back to that very Hot Sex.) — Carmen

Kit & Jade, Willow

A knight and her princess! A KNIGHT AND HER PRINCESS. And what’s more, a princess who wants to be a knight! Sword-fighting, adventuring, stolen kisses in the night! Willow as a show is everything I love about fantasy, and Princess Kit and Jade are the kind of story I want to see play out over and over and over. We’ve got best friends to lovers, we’ve got (sort of) forbidden romance, we’ve got adventuring party, and protection and gosh I just wish we got to see more of their story, but instead I’ll just have to imagine their happily ever after. (Bonus: Ruby Cruz is queer and Erin Kellyman is a lesbian; I don’t need my queer characters played by queer actors but it sure is extra nice.) — Valerie Anne

There are few things I love more than a pair of queer sword-wielding dummies who refuse to see that they’re in love with each other. Especially when Such is the case with Kit and Jade. They are stubborn in their own ways, both choosing to focus on their respective missions rather than address the very large feelings in the room. The whole thing screamed “fan fiction.” I mean, Boorman literally says, “you two have the hots for each other!” and they couldn’t deny the accusation fast enough. So when they (okay, let’s be real, Kit) finally admit their feelings for each other, both Kit and Jade feel a massive weight lifted. They saved themselves, they saved each other, they saved the kingdom, and they even smooched in between sword fights. — Nic

Taissa and Van (Teen and Adult), Yellowjackets

I could have listed Teen Taissa, Teen Van, Adult Taissa, and Adult Van as four separate characters in our list of best characters of the year, but instead I decided to smoosh them all together, because while I do love both characters as portrayed by all four actors, the truth is that I love Taissa and Van together. Whether they’re teen gal pals finding love in a hopeless place, going on dates with wolves and foregoing romantic dinners for a dash of cannibalism, or two adults who have drifted away from each other over time but collide again when the past they were running away from catches up to them. I love the dynamics of both pairings; I say both because even though they’re the same people, they’re also really not. Time and tragedy changed them, for better or worse, but what’s really fun is that when Adult Tai and Adult Van finally reconnect after a long separation, you can feel the comfort under the layer of awkwardness. You can tell Taissa is more comfortable with Van than she is in most other parts of her life, and you can watch in real time as they both start to devolve into their teen selves, down to the mannerisms. It’s a wonder to behold. Also I don’t care how ill-advised it is and I am sorry to Taissa’s wife but I still ship them, and hope those crazy kids work it out in the end. — Valerie Anne

Obviously my good sis Adult Tai and her perfect curls were going through it during this last season of Yellowjackets. The attempted vehicular manslaughter of HER OWN WIFE was barely scratching the surface of her drama. And while I won’t forget Yellowjackets for leaving Simone on an ICU bed with no updates on her whereabouts (or who is watching Simone and Tai’s son, Sammy? Was this explained? Have I just forgotten it in the fog of the last year?) — it is hard to deny the heat of Tai and Van, even all of these years later.

I cannot tell you why I loved them. On paper, I am a Tai and Simone type of woman. I love power dykes in power suits and Black love and raising an adorable sweet Black child. In fact it was a GIF of Simone and Tai that got me to watch Yellowjackets in the first place! And I hope against hope that Tai gets the help she’s clearly begging for and is able to make it work out with Simone in her future. But for now? Tai needs Van. She needed her when they were sixteen and alone in the woods. The part of her that is still sixteen, that is still lost in those same woods, she needs her now. I keep trying to intellectualize it, to rationalize something that is probably just feral at its core. But when Tai walked into Van’s video store, my heart skipped a beat. And it hasn’t come back down yet. — Carmen

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Who were your favorite queer couples on TV in 2023?