30 Characters Showcasing Positive LGBT Representation on TV Right Now

LOS ANGELES, CA – SEPTEMBER 18: Actress Tatiana Maslany, winner of the award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for ‘Orphan Black,’ poses in the press room at the 68th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards at Microsoft Theater on September 18, 2016 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Michael Kovac/Getty Images for AXN)

4. Orphan Black- Cosima Niehaus

Cosima Niehaus, portrayed by the lovely, extraordinary, and amazing (not to mention, Emmy award winning) Tatiana Maslany, is just one of the eight clones in Orphan Black’s “Clone Club,” but to the LGBT community, she’s the most important.

This show is a Canadian science fiction thriller that follows the stories of eight clones, and touches on the themes of human ethics and scientific discovery. It does all of this with queer-colored glasses, spotlighting the relationship between a clone and her lover.

Cosima and Delphine Cormier’s relationship has been far from easy, but fans, titling the two “Cophine,” haven’t given up on them. Delphine, first posing as an immunology student to get closer to Cosima and study her, ended up falling head over heels for her instead. Their feelings for one another were undeniable. When Cosima got sick with an upper respiratory disease, Delphine stood by her side through it all. In the season finale of season four, fans were left hanging off a cliff’s edge, but are clinging on tightly, knowing Orphan Black hasn’t disappointed them yet.

This is important because of all the queer characters on our TVs, Cosima is the one we thought would be killed off, and the one we’d understand why. She is physically dying from her illness, yet episode after episode, the show proves us wrong, and Cosima lives on.