25 reasons Queer as Folk is essential LGBTQIA+ viewing today

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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Queer as Folk (2000-2005). Photo Credit: Showtime

Unrequited love for friends

Oh, but who has never experienced this one? Unrequited love is an experience that can happen to anyone, regardless of sexual orientation, but it’s something that happens far too often to people in the queer community. The reason for that is probably because of the fact that they tend to hang out with members of the same sex, who they are attracted to.

A gay man, for example, may have many gay male friends, so there’s a higher chance of them falling for one of their friends. It’s the reason why people always claim that straight male-female friendships never work, because someone always gets feelings for the other. While this isn’t the case for everyone, it definitely does happen, and it rarely ends well. On Queer as Folk, nobody experienced it as intensely as poor Michael.

Michael and Brian had been best friends since they were kids. They grew up together, experimented with each other, and stayed friends after so many years, through countless hookups, boyfriends, and nights at Babylon. It’s also common knowledge to pretty much everyone that Michael is madly in love with Brian, and is just waiting for the day that he chooses him, and Brian — the raging narcissist — loves to drag him along, keeping him just close enough so that he never loses him.

Michael and Brian’s relationship is sometimes painful to watch in the series. Michael is always at Brian’s beck and call, even when he treats him terribly. You can always tell how jealous he is of Brian’s many conquests, and Brian hurts him time and time again by being self-absorbed and heartless.