10 Best LGBTQ Shows To Stream On Netflix

The vast majority of TV shows still feature predominately heterosexual couples, but as the world slowly changes and becomes more accepting, the list of LGBTQ-friendly shows continues to get longer and longer. Some shows on Netflix, like Queer Eye, very openly feature gay men and same sex relationships, while some are a little more subtle about it. Either way, the LGBTQ community is finally getting some air time in almost every genre, so get ready to stream your little heart out. Here are the ten best LGBTQ shows on Netflix (as of February, 2019).

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10 Queer Eye

Netflix’s Queer Eye is a reboot of the popular Bravo series Queer Eye for the StraightGuy, which ran from 2003 to 2007. The show’s premise features a team of five gay men (The Fab Five) who set out to “makeover” a straight man by revamping his wardrobe, home decor, grooming habits, and lifestyle choices. Yes, the show relies heavily on gay stereotypes, but the Fab Five is made up of true professionals and the show is unexpectedly heartwarming, emotional and uplifting.

9 The L Word

The L Word is a TV drama series that portrays the lives of a fashionable group of lesbians and their friends, family, and lovers in West Hollywood, California. It’s more than a bunch of beautiful women, however; there are more than enough love triangles, betrayals, heartbreaks, and unexpected flings to keep you hooked.

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The show is a refreshing portrayal of queer women (they don’t all wear flannel) living life, laughing, loving, and making mistakes along the way. Showtime has confirmed that a sequel to The L Word will be coming in late 2019.

8 Lost Girl

Lost Girl is a Canadian sci-fi series that follows the life of a bisexual succubus named Bo (Anna Silk), who learns to control her supernatural powers in an effort to help those in need, solve crimes involving supernatural creatures, and delve into the truth of her own dubious origins. Bo, accompanied by her best friend Kenzi, stumbles upon a “Fae World” filled with shapeshifters, Valkyries, and other dark forces requiring her to pick a side. In addition to the otherworldly drama, Bo finds herself in the middle of a love triangle involving Dyson, a Light Fae world shapeshifter, and Lauren, a human doctor, and scientist. Choices, choices.

7 The Fosters

The Fosters is a fantastic show that’s can be described as the LGBTQ version of This is Us, but with a lot more kids. This family drama series follows the lives of the Fosters, a lesbian-led blended family full of biological, adopted and foster children, all from different socio-economic/ethnic backgrounds.

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The show is a brutally honest look into the lives of LGBTQ families, trans issues, foster care, parenting, and adoption, and has won two GLAAD Media Awards and one Teen Choice Award.

6 Orange Is The New Black

Orange is the New Black was originally based on Piper Kerman’s memoir, Orange Is the New Black: My Year in a Women’s Prison (2010), and has become Netflix’s most-watched original series. In the TV adaptation, Piper Chapman is sentenced to a year and a half behind bars after transporting drug money to her ex-girlfriend a decade earlier. The show follows Piper’s difficult adjustment to prison life and features a heavily female cast packed full of queer characters, racial diversity, and world-weary inmates just trying to keep their head above water in a deeply flawed prison system.

5 Sense8

Sense8 is a science fiction drama TV series with cultural diversity, pansexual characters, and transgender/interracial relationships, so if you’re interested in an LGBTQ-friendly show, you really can’t go wrong with this one. The series revolves around the lives of eight strangers from every corner of the globe who suddenly become “sensates,” or human beings who are somehow mentally and emotionally linked with one another.

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The show includes a transgender female character, two lesbians, and a gay male couple, which is why it was widely lauded for its representation of LGBTQ characters and themes.

4 Everything Sucks!

Everything Sucks! is a coming-of-age show set in the mid-nineties, so prepare yourself for some serious nostalgia. The show is centered around a bunch of awkward teens trying to find their niche, particularly Kate, a young “tomboy” who struggles to come to terms with her sexuality in a world that’s much less accepting than it is today. Sadly, despite its representation of LGBTQ issues and general awesomeness, the show is not getting renewed for a second season.

3 Gypsy

Although it was canceled after only one season, Gypsy was a psychological thriller starring Naomi Watts as Jean Holloway, a bisexual psychologist who secretly infiltrates the lives of her patients and begins stalking a young woman with whom she shares a mutual attraction.

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The first and only season is comprised of ten episodes, so this is one that you can easily binge-watch over the weekend.

2 Wynonna Earp

There aren’t many “supernatural Western horror” TV shows out there in the first place, much less ones with LGBTQ themes, but Wynonna Earp is definitely one-of-a-kind. Wyonna is the great-great-granddaughter of the legendary Wyatt Earp and a certified bad-ass who battles “revenants,” or the reincarnated outlaws of the old Wild West. Eventually, Wyonna is joined by her gay sister, Waverly, and Nicole Haught, Waverly’s girlfriend, in the endless fight to keep supernatural beings at bay.

1 Skins

In case you haven’t heard of it, Skins is a highly controversial British teen comedy-drama that follows the lives of a group of teenagers through the two years of sixth form. This show is a refreshingly honest, but often disturbing, look into the “real issues” facing teenagers today. Unlike more sanitized teen shows, the script doesn’t tiptoe around hard topics such as homophobia, mental illness, gender, sexuality, eating disorders, bullying, or substance abuse. For LGBTQ youth, the series presents a multitude of bicurious and queer characters that they can potentially relate to.

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