15 TV shows LGBTQ people should binge in 2018

Ugly Betty (Hulu)

Even though it only lasted four seasons, Ugly Betty is definitely required viewing for the LGBTQ community, and really anyone who ever felt like an outsider. Tackling topics like immigration, bullying, coming out, and transphobia, the show was ahead of its time and didn’t get the proper recognition.

Back when it debuted in 2006, Ugly Betty was one of the most progressive, diverse shows on a major network. The show featured Betty Suarez, an ambitious Latina woman who fights her way to the top in the shallow world of fashion. There’s also Wilhelmina Slater, an unapologetic black woman in a position of power. Plus of course, a handful of LGBTQ characters with inspiring storylines.

First, there’s Marc St. James, the catty, unapologetically gay assistant of Wilhelmina. He seems to be just another sassy, shallow employee of Mode, but when we meet his mother, we find out he’s actually still hiding his true self from her. When he finally comes out to her, she disowns him, but then he realizes who his true family are.

Marc also acts as a mentor to Betty’s young nephew, Justin. We watch him develop through the years from a young boy who loves fashion and Broadway, to a teenager struggling with his sexuality and bullies.

You couldn’t discuss diversity on Ugly Betty without talking about Alexis Meade. Formerly Alex Meade, Alexis faked her own death so that she could transition from male to female, then come back and seek her revenge on her unsupportive father.

She was one of the first fully-realized trans characters on network television, and they often showed her struggles as a trans woman trying to date, excel in her career, and deal with a narrow-minded father. Though the character was played by cisgender actress Rebecca Romijn and was often the butt of “tranny” jokes back in the mid-2000s, it was still groundbreaking.