Queer representation in media has improved quite a lot over the last few years, and while it's so exciting to see so many LGBTQ+ characters on screen now, it wasn't always this way.
There were decades and decades where the queer community had little to no representation on screen; however, there were some characters that seemed like they were maybe...not so straight.
So, with that in mind, I recently asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell me which TV/movie characters they think should have been written queer, and I honestly can't disagree with a single one.
Here's what people had to say:
1. "Chessy and Martin from The Parent Trap. There’s no way those two are straight."
2. "Benedict Bridgerton."
3. "Chandler and Phoebe on Friends both have bi vibes."
4. "Billy and Stu from Scream. They were so close with each other, and the way Stu was looking at Billy in the reveal...like, come on."
5. "Robin (who is queer) and Nancy from Stranger Things. Robin literally got on her knees for Nancy. Also, the whole library scene! Both Natalia Dyer and Maya Hawke have expressed that they’d love to see it."
6. "Every character on SpongeBob is gay. No, I will not explain. If you get it, you get it."
7. "Paris Geller from Gilmore Girls was in love with Rory. I will take no questions."
8. Elaine Benes and George Costanza from Seinfeld.
9. "Jughead Jones from Riverdale should have been aromantic and asexual. He's aro/ace in the comics, and it does underrepresented aro/ace folks a disservice to erase that in the show! We're starving for representation, and he could've been game-changing."
10. "Gwen from That '90s Show. Watched it with my mom when it came out, and we thought for sure there was sexual tension between Gwen and Leia before Leia met the other friends. It could still happen, I’m sure."
11. "Finn and Poe! I def think this needs to be mentioned in the Rey movie, and I’m hoping it’s more than just some throwaway line, but I’d even take that at this point."
12. "Kim Do-Ki from Taxi Driver!!!!! He is clearly bisexual AND either genderfluid/nonbinary."
13. "Niles Crane from Frasier should've been gay. But I think that the show creator/writers were afraid of Niles's gayness taking the focus off of Frasier."
14. "Azula and Ty Lee from Avatar: The Last Airbender. Azula should have gotten a better treatment/ending, too. They treated her like an irredeemable monster."
15. Sheldon and Raj from The Big Bang Theory.
16. "Trubel from Grimm."
17. "Raya and Namaari had undeniable sexual tension from the first moment they met in Raya and the Last Dragon."
18. "Had to come here to cite Stucky (Steve Rogers/Bucky Barnes)."
19. "Supercorp! Lena Luthor and Kara Danvers from Supergirl."
20. "Clark and Lex from Smallville. The subtext was bananas, especially the first couple of seasons."
21. "Xena and Gabrielle. While their romantic relationship was *clearly* implied, it was never made explicit. I wish they'd openly and unequivocally made them a real couple."
22. "Jan Brady."
23. "I think Jake Peralta from Brooklyn Nine-Nine should have been canonically bi."
24. "Jade West from Victorious. If you have watched the show, then enough said. She definitely gives off the energy."
25. "Jane Rizzoli and Maura Isles from Rizzoli & Isles, they had such good chemistry."
26. "General Hux — the man is fruity as fuck. Your typical queer coded Disney villain that never got to leave the closet."
27. "Elsa from Frozen should've been asexual! She never has a love interest, she never has a moment of physical attraction to anyone, and she never seems to want that anyway."
Looking for more ways to get involved? Check out all of BuzzFeed's posts celebrating Pride 2023.
