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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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Not shying away from sex or nudity, from either gender

Here’s something that we’ve mentioned a few times already, but bears repeating. The main thing that made Queer as Folk stand out from the rest was its blatant disregard for modesty. On other shows at the time, gay characters had to be quiet, sexless characters who only spoke when it was convenient. They rarely got interesting, well-developed plots, especially not ones that involved a sexual relationship with anyone.

Even on HBO’s Sex and The City, which was extremely sex-positive, Stanford Blatch was rarely seen as a sexual being, apart from maybe the one episode where he goes to an underwear party to meet up with a guy he spoke to on the internet. But Queer as Folk went hard — no pun intended — right out the gate.

Less than five minutes into the premiere, we witness Brian getting a blowjob from a guy at Babylon, surrounded by others in similar positions. Within less than 10 minutes, we see Michael, Emmett, and Ted talking openly (and graphically) about sex, and by the 10 minute mark, Brian had already brought Justin home and strips naked before the two have a very realistic romp, featuring real, deep kissing, realistic looking anal sex, and more (but we don’t want to get too graphic).

This set the stage for the rest of the series, which didn’t shy away from those types of scenes, both with the men and even with lesbian couple Lindsay and Melanie. If shows like Sex and the City put their straight female characters into wild sex scenes, why couldn’t Queer as Folk get the same treatment?

In fact, Hal Sparks (who played Michael) told OUT about why it was so important for them to portray sex scenes differently: “I was the one who said that I really wanted my sex scenes to have meaning. I wanted gay couples and gay individuals who were watching the show, were told by everyone around them that their sexuality was a lifestyle choice or just physical, to see the love in the sex. To see the physical connection compounded by love.”

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