15 TV shows LGBTQ people should binge in 2018

Queer As Folk (US) (Netflix)

It goes without saying that Queer As Folk is essential LGBTQ viewing. The show basically revolutionized queer television, and while it wasn’t exactly diverse, it still marked a generation of gay viewers.

An adaptation of the original British version of the show, when it first aired in 2000, it was definitely risqué. It wasn’t so much because the show revolved around the lives of gay men and lesbian women that caused controversy, but rather because of how it portrayed them.

The show was unapologetically sexual. There was frontal male and female nudity. There were realistic sex scenes between gay and lesbian characters. The first episode was actually the first simulated gay sex scene on American television.

It was unlike other shows that were airing at the time, and thankfully it found its home on Showtime, where it wasn’t censored.

Of course, at the time, the show was plagued by homophobia since the beginning. Many agents refused to send their clients to read for parts, out of fear they’d be labeled gay and blacklisted from future work.

While it was groundbreaking because of the sexual content, it also tackled issues like living with (and dying from) HIV, gay bashing and homophobia, and the struggles of gay parenting. You’ll quickly realize how well rounded and complex the characters are, which will no doubt pull on your heart strings when you have to watch the struggles they endure.

Queer as Folk was often seen as promoting a negative image of homosexuality, because of the characters’ shallow, promiscuous, party lifestyles. They did drugs, had wild one night stands, and spent their days working out at the gym, because forbid any of them get fat. But with all that in mind, the show was still groundbreaking and deserves to be enjoyed by all generations of LGBTQ individuals.