Best of the decade: What were the top 10 LGBTQ+ shows of the 2010s?
By Shaun Stacy
As 2020 fast approaches, Culturess takes a look back at the comedies, dramas, and dramedies that gave us the best LGBTQ+ representation of the 2010s.
There’s a lot to be said about what LGBTQ+ individuals have been through during the past ten years. What started out as a landmark decade in equal rights was unfortunately shattered within the past couple of years. Same-sex parents are once again being denied the right to adopt children, trans people are being banned from joining the military, and same-sex marriage is even under assault by the current presidential administration. But here’s the thing about LGBTQ+ people, we are used to adversity. It makes us stronger. It brings us closer together as a community. No matter what politicians may say.
As a countermeasure to the oppression happening in real life, LGBTQ+ representation on television has flourished the past decade. Where we would previously see only one token gay character on a television show, we now have shows that are solely made up of all (or mostly all) LGBTQ+ characters like Pose and The L Word: Generation Q.
Comedies have finally shifted focus from making fun of a character for being gay or trans to treating them as simply characters who are queer. We even have LGBTQ+ superheroes fighting to save the day every week on network television (for DC, at least. Marvel, we still need to talk). There’s even a whole new dialogue going on today in pop culture about orientation and identity that wasn’t even remotely in our lexicon ten years ago.
What does a show need to have for excellent LGBTQ+ representation? Preferably, there needs to be more than one queer series regular character. Their storylines need to revolve around more than just their sexual orientation or gender identity. And, probably most importantly, they aren’t killed, or die, for simply being queer. The whole “bury your gays” trope is so last decade.
While there have been a record number of series featuring LGBTQ+ characters the past ten years, we’ve narrowed our list down to 10 television shows that have become must-see tv for the queer community and their allies.