Best of the decade: What were the top 10 LGBTQ+ shows of the 2010s?

The Bold Type (Freeform, 2017-present)

The Bold Type is one of those shows that sneaks up on you, like a sweet alcoholic beverage. It goes down easy at first, but then it takes hold of your very soul. The series is a comedy-drama that is inspired by the ladies in charge of Cosmopolitan magazine and follows the lives of three millennial women as they navigate love and life in New York City while working at a hip global publication. While this premise doesn’t sound much different than a lot of shows we’ve seen before, there are two things that help make this show stand out from its competition: the writing and the casting.

The series stars Katie Stevens as Jane Sloan, Aisha Dee as Kat Edison, and Meghann Fahy as Sutton Brady, along with Melora Hardin as Jacqueline Carlyle, the women’s mentor, editor-in-chief and all-around badass boss. While Kat originally starts out as a heterosexual, she quickly falls for Muslim lesbian photographer Adena El-Amin (played by Nikohl Boosheri), which lends itself to great storytelling as Kat explores her newfound sexuality along with the tribulations that said exploration includes. Kat’s besties Jane and Sutton are super supportive of her relationship with Adena and provide a safe support system for Kat as she deals with being a biracial bisexual, eventually building up the courage to come out to her parents and in the workplace. The list of LGBTQ+ characters on the show also includes Stephen Conrad Moore’s Oliver Grayson, as the head of the fashion department who takes Sutton under his wing, and Adam Copriolo’s Andrew, Jacqueline’s assistant.

On the surface, the show is about three young women who find excitement living in New York City while working for a trendy magazine publication, but it has so many more layers than that. The show also tackles topics such as racial discrimination, immigration, sexual assault, workplace harassment, politics, and identity. However, the heart of the series is built around the sisterhood of Jane, Sutton, and Kat and the unconditional love they have for each other. The writing is some of the best you will ever see on any young adult television series, with nuanced performances by each and every one of the show’s leading ladies.