June is Pride Month and this year marks the 50th anniversary of annual LGBTQ+ Pride traditions. The first Pride march was held in New York City on June 28th, 1970, marking the one year anniversary of the Stonewall Uprising. The Library of Congress has some great information on the Stonewall Uprising if you aren’t familiar or want to refresh your memory.
The Stonewall Uprising marked a turning point in the history of LGBTQ+ culture. Slowly and painfully queer culture worked its way into the mainstream as the general populace became more accepting. By the 1990s views on homosexuality had evolved to the point that Ellen, starring Ellen Degeneres, became the first television show with a gay main character. The success of Ellen resulted in the proliferation of tv shows with regular or recurring gay characters, such as Will & Grace, Dawson’s Creek, Spin City, ER, and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Since 2005 GLAAD (an LGBTQ+ advocacy group) has tracked the representation of gay characters on television. That year there were 10 (less than 2%) LGB regular characters (no trans representation) on broadcast primetime shows. In 2019 the number of LGTBQ characters on broadcast primetime programming was 90 (10.2%). We’ve come a long way since the days of the Hollywood Production Code (1930-1968) and the Code of Practices for Television Broadcasters (1952-1983), both of which indirectly prohibited positive depictions of LGTBQ characters.
I’ve compiled a list of ten television shows, classic and current, which have well-developed LGBTQIA characters. Check them out below and click on a title to see where it is available to stream. Where possible I’ve linked to a library resource but most are on either Netflix or Hulu. Once we start circulating items again look for them on DVD or Blu-Ray in the Catalog.