You got everything for binge-watching TV shows on the weekend: crisps, Coke and beer. The question is what to watch? I used to think there was no show with a lesbian* storyline which I haven’t seen, or googled the storylines and watched only the clips on YouTube. But the World has changed since I have a Netflix account and we are in 20gayteen (twentygay(eight)teen).
While I’m scrolling on my social media feeds I accidentally come across gifs and scenes, and for my biggest surprise I have no idea where they are from. I have to dig a little on Tumblr to figure out which show they belong to and then I realize maybe it is worth to watch the whole show itself. This is how I stumbled into the following series:
Wynonna Earp
The showrunner is Emily Andras - yes, she has Hungarian roots - and this is her second fantasy show. When Wynonna Earp turns 27, she becomes “the Heir” and inherits her great-great-grandfather’s (the one and only Wyatt Earp) curse, so she needs to kill the 77 Revenants in the Ghost River Triangle. For all this she gets Wyatt’s gun, the Peacemaker, which is the only gun that can send the Revenants back to Hell. However, Wynonna doesn’t start chasing the Revenants alone: her sister Waverly (see more here), the Black Badge agent Dolls, Doc, and the rookie police Nicole are there to help her.
Each and every character is loveable and Wynonna is the most badass woman in a TV show I haven’t seen in a long time. Waverly’s coming out and her relationship with Nicole is just the perfect amount in the story not to take the amazing daemonhunt out of the focus and to give great fanservice.
One Day at a Time
This is a remake of a sitcom from 1975-1984. It is a Netflix original, a single mom raising two teenage kids in LA with the help of her abuelita (grandma). The show not only touches upon LGBTQ+ topics but also deals with the Latinx minority and veteran PTSD in a clever way. The first season focuses on Elena’s coming out and the second one gives us non-binary representation, too. Although the style of the sitcom is not what we know today, the topics and the jokes are reflecting to the now. My 16 year-old self would have loved a show like this.
Supergirl
Since I was talking about my 16 year-old self, she would have loved Supergirl back then. A strong, female superhero who saves the city every day and aces her job. She would have been my idol. Supergirl fights villains in the DC universe with the D.E.O. (Department of Extra-Normal Operation) and her adoptive sister, Alex Danvers. Kara Danvers, Supergirl’s alter ego, works as Cat Grant’s personal assistant at CatCo Worldwide Media, and later she gets promoted. Besides the importance of family, fighting villains and American politics; there is time for LGBTQ+ romance too (see more here). Alex, who is nearly thirty, has one of the best written coming outs in television history. The characters in the show are smart, badass, diverse and they save the world every day.
You Me Her
Polyamorous romance from Netflix. Jack and Emma Trakarsky’s marriage reaches the point of having a baby. As it turns out, not everything is perfect in their relationship. To start with, Jack hires an escort girl behind Emma’s back. The escort girl, Izzy, studies psychology at the local university and after the first shock and fights this relationship turns the couple into a throuple. Of course, suburbian Portland has an opinion about this, not entirely a positive one. The topic is not average and the chemistry is just extraordinary between the actors. Polyamorous relationships do not belong to the mainstream, so it is refreshing to see that Netflix is taking the bold choice of representing them. The third season is coming soon.
I do not agree with the statement: every LGBTQ+ representation should be celebrated because we deserve quality and real representation. The shows above are not perfect, but they show human lives and they haven’t killed any LGBTQ+ character for the plot twist yet, so they deserve to be in this article.
