LGBTQ+ people make the world a better place in more ways than anyone will ever know. We push and defy and innovate to inspire change, and in recent decades, much of this change has come through media, and TV, especially.
Baby queers isolated in their homes draw strength from the LGBTQ+ characters beamed onto their screens while the straight majority, who might have never knowingly met queer people before, come to discover that we’re just human, too (albeit fabulous and better in every way).
To celebrate Pride Month, I’m shining a spotlight on ten queer characters who changed TV—and therefore our world—for the better. If your favorites didn’t make the cut, it doesn’t mean they’re not important too. It just means we’ve finally reached a point where there are actually too many groundbreaking LGBTQ+ characters on TV to choose from, which can only be a good thing.
So, with that in mind, here, in no particular order, are 10 LGBTQ+ characters who changed TV for the better, pushing, defying, and innovating to inspire change on screen and beyond.
Blanca Rodriguez-Evangelista
Portrayed by: Michaela Jaé Rodriguez
Show:Pose
Pose is one of those rare shows that truly gave us 10s across the board, which means that it’s also one of those rare shows where pretty much anyone from the lead cast could have been given a spot here. But, if forced to choose only one character from Pose, my heart will always go to Blanca. Played with warm tenacity by Michaela Jaé Rodriguez, Blanca dreams big for her children, fighting for them to be seen and heard and loved and accepted in a world that wasn’t built for them. No one knows cruelty like Blanca does, which makes her kindness in the face of adversity that much more inspiring. She’s the embodiment of rising above, of finding strength and dignity through love for yourself and the community around you. Because of all that, Blanca isn’t just the heart of the House of Evangelista. She’s the heart of Pose itself.
Enrique ‘Rickie’ Vasquez
Portrayed by: Wilson Cruz
Show:My So-Called Life
The short-lived series My So-Called Life is a benchmark teen show for more reasons than I have space to list here—and not just because it inadvertently gave us Morbius by launching Jared Leto’s career. But key to the show’s impact was the inclusion of Rickie Vasquez, a fiercely queer teenage character who made history as the first openly gay teen on network TV. For many people watching back in the ‘90s, Rickie was their first exposure to hom*osexuality on screen—or in life in general—and gay actor Wilson Cruz made sure that this introduction was as fabulous and authentic as it could possibly be. Whether you’ve actually watched the show or not, the impact this had on culture at large means our so-called lives are now so much better for having Rickie in them.
Garnet
Portrayed by: Estelle
Show:Steven Universe
Kids are gay. It’s a truth that bigots with child-sized intellects will never understand, just like they’ll never understand how denying queer children the chance to see themselves reflected on screen is nigh on abusive. Because if we can’t see ourselves in the world around us, how are we supposed to see a future for ourselves? Thankfully, an entire generation of queer kids can see that future now thanks to Rebecca Sugar, whose show Steven Universe paved the way for so much more queer storytelling in children’s animation. But it all started with Garnet, Estelle’s effortlessly cool clairvoyant gemstone who was revealed to actually be a fusion of two female characters that had bonded physically and emotionally together into one entity through love. There was no denying the queer connection Ruby and Sapphire made (especially when their nuptials became the first same-sex wedding in animated history), just like there’s no denying that kids are gay and that Garnet helped make the world a better place for them.
Jack McPhee
Portrayed by:Kerr Smith
Show:Dawson’s Creek
In the Season 3 finale of Dawson’s Creek, Jack McPhee professed his love to Ethan Brody in what’s since been dubbed the first “passionate” kiss between two men on US primetime TV. No one loves to see a passionate kiss between two men on screen more than I do. (In fact, three or four men kissing is also extremely welcome.) But what’s special about Jack isn’t just this milestone moment. It’s everything that came before and after, including his struggle to come out and the internalized hom*ophobia he reckoned with in all the seasons that followed. At a time when America was afraid of queerness, it’s admirable that Dawson’s Creek went one step further and explored how gay people themselves can be afraid of their own queerness, something I remember all too well as a teenager in the ‘90s and noughties. While the ways Dawson’s Creek approached all this might feel a tad dated now, Jack’s impact does not.
Omar Little
Portrayed by:Michael K. Williams
Show:The Wire
There had never been a character like Omar Little before. Here was a man who carried a gun while he took his grandma to church, and a man whose queerness didn’t define him, yet was integral to his character nonetheless. Baltimore’s resident Robin Hood was sensitive but dangerous, funny but formidable, and the way he casually shrugged off tropes and cliches should be studied even now, 20 years later. Omar’s impact on viewers was anything but little, and it’s safe to say that there might never be a character quite like him ever again.
Shane McCutcheon
Portrayed by: Katherine Moennig
Show:The L Word
The L Word remains the defining sapphic show for many. Out of everyone in its considerable and iconic cast, it’s Shane McCutcheon who stood out most though, and not just because her unapologetic horniness was the gay awakening for an entire generation of women. Yes, she was insanely hot, but it’s the pride Shane took in her sexuality that makes her so memorable. Because there’s nothing inherently wrong with wanting to sleep with lots of people and enjoying your sexuality, just as there’s nothing wrong with queerness itself. What the show did so well in that regard was to flesh Shane out beyond this “player” persona into someone with far more depth than another show would have ever given her credit for. As a result, Shane was the woman that queer women simultaneously wanted to be and be with, too.
Sophia Burset
Portrayed by: Laverne Cox
Show:Orange Is the New Black
10 years ago, Laverne Cox became the first trans person to ever appear on the cover of TIME Magazine, and that’s just one of a billion firsts that Cox has accomplished throughout her incredible career. But what contributed most to this “Transgender Tipping Point,” as TIME put it, was likely Cox’s role as Sophia Burset in Orange is the New Black, which helped land her the first ever Emmy nomination given to a trans person. This wouldn’t have happened if Cox hadn’t brought so much warmth and drive to a character who could have been a cliche, but ended up tipping an entire industry in favor of authentic, heartfelt transgender storytelling.
Taylor Mason
Portrayed by:Asia Kate Dillon
Show:Billions
There weren’t exactly millions of non-binary characters on TV when Showtime’s Billions arrived in 2016, but for Season 2, that started to change thanks to the arrival of Asia Kate Dillon, who became the first non-binary actor to star in a US TV show. Taylor’s inclusion gave voice to people across the LGBTQ+ community whose identity is gender non-comforming, yet Taylor themself was never defined solely by that aspect, and other characters accepted them wholeheartedly with little fuss. The result was a landmark moment that opened the door for countless more gender non-conforming characters, many of whom we haven’t even met yet.
Willow Rosenberg
Portrayed by: Alyson Hannigan
Show:Buffy the Vampire Slayer
Willow always had us under her spell since the very first day we met her at Sunnydale High, but it wasn’t until Tara fell under her spell too that Buffy gave us one of the earliest examples of a queer love story on mainstream TV that felt real and earnest. There was no punchline or cruel stereotyping—although the way their relationship ended certainly felt like a punch to the stomach. But regardless of what happened to Tara, Willow’s journey into queerness was magic still in a way that changed lives for the better. Because sure, every generation has a chosen one like Buffy, but the same is absolutely true for all the queer people watching back home who saw something of themselves in Willow.
Will Truman
Portrayed by: Eric McCormack
Show:Will and Grace
It was the year 1998. Ellen had just been canceled for being “too gay” and America was still 17 years away from marriage equality. Enter Will & Grace, a bold (for its time) sitcom that led with a successful gay lawyer who dared show that trauma didn’t define us, even then. Much was made of (Just) Jack stealing the show away from Will, just as Karen did from Grace, but looking back now, Will’s stuffy, somewhat neurotic lead was just as subversive in his own way, appealing to countless viewers beyond the show’s guaranteed queer demographic. Sometimes, it’s just as revolutionary to play it safe and become your grandma’s favorite gay as it is to boldly defy societal norms.
David Opie is a freelance entertainment journalist. To hear his ramblings on queer film and TV, you can follow him @DavidOpie.
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