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25 reasons Queer as Folk is essential LGBTQIA+ viewing today

By Marco Saveriano

MIAMI - MARCH 26: (L-R) Actors Randy Harrison, Scott Lowell, Michelle Clunie, Hal Sparks, Robert Gant, Sharon Gless and Thea Gill pose for a photo at the "Queer As Folk" fourth season premiere at the Delano Hotel March 26, 2004 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images)
MIAMI - MARCH 26: (L-R) Actors Randy Harrison, Scott Lowell, Michelle Clunie, Hal Sparks, Robert Gant, Sharon Gless and Thea Gill pose for a photo at the "Queer As Folk" fourth season premiere at the Delano Hotel March 26, 2004 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Frank Micelotta/Getty Images) /
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It’s been nearly two decades since the groundbreaking television show Queer as Folk broke down barriers and made TV history. Let’s look back at why it was so important, and why it should still be enjoyed today.

18 years ago, the world was very different. The year was 2000. Bill Clinton was still in the White House. The world had survived the new millennium without their computers blowing up, and the pinnacle of gay representation on TV was Will & Grace. While the beloved NBC sitcom was groundbreaking and contributed to the changing opinions of gay people in popular culture, there was still something missing. That is until Queer as Folk arrived on the scene.

Queer as Folk premiered on Showtime on Dec. 3, 2000 and it was unlike anything ever seen on television before. The show followed the lives of a group of gay men and women living in Pittsburgh, but it wasn’t a family-friendly sitcom. Its slot on a premium cable network allowed Queer as Folk‘s cast to push the envelope, and they definitely did that and more. For the first time, television viewers were treated to realistic, raunchy sex scenes between two men and two women, featuring nudity, intense kissing, and simulated sex acts. No quick pecks or side hugs here!

Before Queer as Folk hit the airwaves, most gay characters were afterthoughts, thrown in for comedic effect or to get diversity points. But on Queer as Folk, the gay characters — and their struggles — were front and center. And they didn’t shy away from anything.

Even though Will & Grace gets most of the credit for welcoming queer characters onto the world’s stage, Queer as Folk was tackling problems that NBC wouldn’t have touched with a ten-foot pole. They featured openly gay actors playing gay characters and also dealt with subjects such as hate crimes, terrorist acts against the LGBTQIA+ community, gay marriage and parenting struggles, realistic representations of supportive and unsupportive families, drug use in the gay community, living with (and dying from) HIV, and so much more.

This show’s willingness to go where other shows never went before makes Queer as Folk required viewing for a generation of LGBTQIA+ individuals. Nearly two decades later, the show deserves to be cherished by future generations too.

Here are 25 of the daring, groundbreaking moments on Queer as Folk that make it required viewing201. Be warned, there are a lot of spoilers!

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