List Rules Vote up the best shows with LGBT characters that are currently airing new episodes on TV or a streaming service.
Gay characters on TV shows have come a long way since the days of All in the Family when a character named Steve shocked the nation by becoming the first openly gay character on a sitcom. Since then, gay TV shows like Will and Grace and Glee have blazed trails for LGBT characters. Now, scores of shows feature gay characters, sometimes in leading roles and other times as members of the supporting cast. Which gay TV series of 2017-2019 are the best?
Unlike in the past, series like Arrow, Brooklyn Nine-Nine, and plenty of others now feature gay and lesbian characters without focusing overtly on their sexuality. In the past, most gay characters' predominant trait was the fact that they were gay. Now, we have LGBT TV shows with gay characters who are defined by their other traits as well, and they just happen to be gay.
Many people relate the growing presence and positive portrayal of the LGBT community in television to the gradually changing ideals of America. Many television writers have attempted to tackle the issue of gay rights and in doing so, they have helped to change the national narrative.
Thanks to that, we now have gay shows featuring gay characters who are everything from superheroes to prisoners to stay at home dads. Check out this list of gay and lesbian TV shows and vote up the series you think are the best current TV shows with gay characters.
Eliot Waugh The Magicians (Syfy, 2015) is an American fantasy television series created by Sera Gamble and John McNamara, based on the novel by Lev Grossman. Training to be a magician at Brakebills ...more
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voting closed at #26Jane the VirginJane Villanueva, Xiomara Villanueva, Petra Solano
Luisa Alver, Rose Solano Jane the Virgin (The CW, 2014) is an American satirical romantic comedy-drama telenovela developed by Jennie Snyder Urman. A working, religious young Latina virgin (Gina Rodriguez) becomes ...more
Steven Universe is an American animated television series created by Rebecca Sugar, former storyboard artist, writer, and composer for Adventure Time. It is produced by Cartoon Network Studios, ...more
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SupernaturalDean Winchester, Bobby Singer, Sam Winchester
Charlie Bradbury Supernatural (The CW, 2005) is an American fantasy horror television series created by Eric Kripke. Two brothers, Sam (Jared Padalecki) and Dean Winchester (Jensen Ackles), follow their father's ...more
Sara Lance, Nyssa al Ghul, Curtis Holt Arrow (The CW, 2012) is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Marc Guggenheim, and Andrew Kreisberg, based on the DC Comics character. Five years after being ...more
Madame Vastra, Jenny Doctor Who (BBC, 2005) is a British science-fiction television show created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber, and Donald Wilson. The further adventures in time and space of the alien adventurer ...more
Captain David Singh, Hartley Rathaway The Flash (The CW, 2014) is an American superhero television series developed by Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, and Geoff Johns, based on the DC Comics character. CSI Barry Allen (Grant ...more
Jeri Hogarth, Wendy Ross-Hogarth Jessica Jones (Netflix, 2015) is an American web television series created by Melissa Rosenberg, based on the Marvel Comics character. Following the tragic end of her brief superhero career, ...more
Dr. George Huang, Ken Randall Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is an American police procedural, legal, crime drama television series set in New York City, where it is also primarily produced. In the style of the ...more
Titus Andromedon Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt is an American sitcom created by Tina Fey and Robert Carlock and starring Ellie Kemper that has streamed on Netflix since March 6, 2015. Originally set for a 13-episode ...more
Jamal Lyon Empire (Fox, 2015) is an American musical drama television series created by Lee Daniels and Danny Strong. The life of hip hop mogul, and CEO of Empire Entertainment Lucious Lyon (Terrence ...more
Joey Gutierrez Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., or simply Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., is an American television series created for ABC by Joss Whedon, Jed Whedon, and Maurissa Tancharoen, based on the Marvel ...more
Black Lightning (The CW, 2018) is an American superhero drama based on the DC comics character of the same name. Jefferson Pierce (Cress Williams), who retired from his superhero persona Black ...more
Los Espookys (HBO, 2019) is an American comedy television series. The show follows a group of friends as their turn their love of horror into a business, in a dreamy, strange version of Mexico
Audrey Jenson, Rachel Murray Scream (MTV, 2015) is an American anthology slasher television series developed by Jill Blotevogel, Dan Dworkin and Jay Beattie, based on the film series. After a cyber-bullying incident serves ...more
Gideon Goddard, Tyrell Wellick, Whiterose Mr. Robot (USA Network, 2015) is an American drama–thriller television series created by Sam Esmail. Elliot (Rami Malek), a cybersecurity engineer and hacker who suffers from social anxiety ...more
Swamp Thing (DC Universe, 2019) is an American superhero horror drama web television series based on the DC Comics character. Abby Arcane (Crystal Reed) returns home to Houma, Louisiana to ...more
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Tom Islava added South ParkEric Cartman, Kenny McCormick, Kyle Broflovski
Mr. Slave, Mr. Garrison, Tweek Tweak, Craig Tucker, Ms. Cartman,Big Gay Al, Sparky the Dog
South Park (Comedy Central, 1997) is an American adult animated sitcom created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. In the small town of South Park, four boys get caught up in all sorts of bizarre ...more
Mort/Maura Pfefferman, Sarah Pfefferman, Tammy Cashman, Syd Feldman Transparent is an American comedy-drama television series produced by Picrow for Amazon Studios that debuted on February 6, 2014. The series was created and directed by Jill Soloway. The story ...more
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Chicago FireKelly Severide, Matthew Casey, Leslie Shay
Leslie Shay, Clarice Carthage Chicago Fire is an American television drama series that airs on NBC and was created by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas with Dick Wolf serving as an executive producer. The series originally ...more
Mateo Superstore (NBC, 2015) is an American single-camera sitcom television series about a group of employees working at Cloud 9, a fictional big-box store in St. Louis, Missouri. The ensemble cast ...more
The Good Fight (CBS All Access, 2017) is a legal and political drama television series, a spin-off of the 2009 series The Good Wife. A year after the finale of The Good Wife, an enormous ...more
Bethany Mayfair Blindspot (NBC, 2015) is an American drama television series created by Martin Gero. When a mysterious tattooed woman (Jaimie Alexander) is found naked inside a travel bag with no recollection ...more
Younger (TV Land, 2015) is an American television comedy-drama series based on the Pamela Redmond Satran novel of the same name. New divorcee Liza Miller (Sutton Foster) finds life difficult at ...more
Denise Master of None (Netflix, 2015) is an American comedy-drama web television series created by Aziz Ansari and Alan Yang. The personal and professional life of Dev (Aziz Ansari), a 30-year-old ...more
