Nearly Every Major TV Show Had A Queer Girl In It This Year And Here Are The Receipts To Prove It
I'm 100% here for it!
Is it just me, or have TV and movies this year been flooded with gay/bi/queer girls? I mean, not only did we get our first ever mainstream LGBTQ Christmas rom-com in the shape of Happiest Season, all year round queer female characters have been popping up in all manner of shows and movies!
To me it felt like whenever I was watching something, it was only a matter of time before one of the female cast turned out to be queer – and I loved it!
It's basically been a terrible year with one silver lining – more lesbian and bi characters on screen! Not convinced? Well, let me take you through all the TV and movie characters from 2020 that lowkey made it the wonderful year of queer it was!
(I'm only including shows that hit our screens this year, or continuing series with female characters who came out/experienced a same-sex relationship for the first time this year).
🚨Warning: MASSIVE spoilers ahead!🚨
Feel free to scroll past as appropriate!
1. Dani and Jamie in The Haunting of Bly Manor.
Played by: Victoria Pedretti and Amelia Eve/Carla Gugino
Where to watch: Netflix
The compelling second season of The Haunting saga follows Dani, a young American au pair who moves into an Essex mansion with a creepy past. There she meets gardener Jamie, and the pair gradually fall for each other over the course of the series and it's sooooo cuuuuute.
2. Vanya Hargreeves in The Umbrella Academy.
Played by: Elliot Page
Where to watch: Netflix
This addictive series follows a famous family of supernaturally able siblings. In the second season, all seven of them travel through time and get stuck in 1960s Dallas. There, Vanya befriends and eventually develops romantic feelings for her kind-hearted rescuer, Sissy.
3. Fabiola Torres in Never Have I Ever.
Played by: Lee Rodriguez
Where to watch: Netflix
This amazing show revolves around the daily life of Devi Vishwakumar – an Indian-American high-schooler living in California – as well as her family and friends. Fabiola is Devi's super smart best friend, who spends much of the first season coming to terms with her sexuality.
4. Sydney and Dina in I Am Not Okay with This.
Played by: Sofia Bryant and Sophia Lillis
Where to watch: Netflix
Sydney Novak hasn't felt quite right since her father passed away, and things are about to get worse. Slowly she realises she might have telekinetic abilities that frankly scare the hell out of her! She might also be gay, or at least, in love with her best friend Dina.
5. Mildred and Gwendolyn in Ratched.
Played by: Sarah Paulson
Where to watch: Netflix
A prequel to the events of the 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, this thriller series focuses on the early nursing career of Mildred Ratched, an enterprising middle-aged woman who's coming to terms with the fact that she's a lesbian within an unforgiving mid-century American society.
6. Abby and Harper in Happiest Season.
Played by: Mackenzie Davis and Kristen Stewart
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
The first mainstream rom-com of its kind, this film follows orphan Abby and her girlfriend Harper whose family they both end up visiting for Christmas. But Harper isn't out... Oh dear, what a farce! This dramedy about self-acceptance and queer love may have divided audiences, but I'm here for the representation.
7. Riley in Happiest Season.
Played by: Aubrey Plaza
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Riley is Harper's ex in the movie who ends up fraternizing a lot with Abby while Harper is off living the good ol' heteronormative life. It's cruel really, because queen Aubrey and Kristen have off-the-charts chemistry, but it's Harper and Abby who the film itself is focused on.
8. Mia Warren in Little Fires Everywhere.
Played by: Kerry Washington
Where to watch: Hulu
This series, based on a 2017 novel by Celeste Ng, follows two mums from very different social and economic backgrounds living in Ohio in the late '90s. Enigmatic single mother Mia is bisexual, and it's revealed in episode six that she once had a relationship with her art professor Pauline, played by Anika Noni Rose.
9. Izzy Richardson in Little Fires Everywhere.
Played by: Megan Stott
Where to watch: Hulu
Izzy is the daughter of Reese Witherspoon's character, Elena Richardson – the polar opposite of Mia in that she has the "perfect" nuclear family. Izzy could be considered the black sheep of the family, and her secret questioning of her sexuality intensifies when she becomes interested in her friend, April.
10. Rob Brooks in High Fidelity.
Played by: Zoë Kravitz
Where to watch: Hulu
We follow Robyn "Rob", an unlucky-in-love music fan who owns her own record store in Brooklyn, New York. Rob dates men and women, and as the series goes on, tries to figure out what went wrong in all of her previous relationships. Interestingly, Zoë's mum Lisa Bonet appears in the 2000 film version!
11. Danielle and Rahne in The New Mutants.
Played by: Maisie Williams and Blu Hunt
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
This newest instalment in the X-Men film franchise sees Dani, the sole survivor of a terrible tornado that destroyed the reservation she grew up on, confined to a school for young superheroes. There she meets a Rahne, a diffident fellow mutant with whom she develops a really sweet romance.
12. Beth Harmon in The Queen's Gambit.
Played by: Anya Taylor-Joy
Where to watch: Netflix
Set in '50s and '60s America, Beth is a tenacious chess prodigy who wants to be the world's greatest player. Mid-way through the series she begins using drugs and alcohol, and during this hazy period in her life, she hooks up with an alluring French model named Cleo.
13. Naomi Jones in I Hate Suzie.
Played by: Leila Farzad
Where to watch: NOW TV
I Hate Suzie focuses on the life of a famous actor whose world is turned upside down when her nudes are leaked. Naomi is her no-nonsense childhood friend turned manager who identifies as bi. Her sexual conquests happen perfectly organically, and it's never made a big deal of whether they're male or female.
14. Nadine in The Broken Hearts Gallery.
Played by: Phillipa Soo
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
This super uplifting film follows a young New York gallerist, Lucy, who specialises in collecting stuff from her past relationships. Everyone in this movie is great, and Lucy's best friends Amanda and Nadine are no exception. The latter is just this tall, beautiful, powerful, lesbian queen and it's so great to see!
15. Leah Mandelbaum in Unorthodox.
Played by: Alex Reid
Where to watch: Netflix
This enthralling series follows a young Jewish woman who escapes the ultra-Orthodox Williamsburg community she grew up in and runs off to Berlin where her mother, Leah, lives. As it turns out, Leah also fled Williamsburg to live a non-religious life in Germany with her lesbian life partner!
16. Mary and Charlotte in Ammonite.
Played by: Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
This movie adopts the lesbians without electricity trend that Portrait of a Lady on Fire helped create last year! We follow Mary, an acclaimed palaeontologist struggling to look after her ailing mother. When a wealthy tourist and his wife Charlotte arrive in town, Mary is hired to accompany Charlotte, who she soon develops feelings for.
17. Ellie and Aster in The Half of It.
Played by: Leah Lewis and Alexxis Lemire
Where to watch: Netflix
This coming-of-age dramedy charts the complicated trajectory of Ellie Chu, a young queer girl who ends up assisting a high school jock in getting with a girl who she secretly also fancies. Things become even more confusing when the three are embroiled in a love triangle in which no one seems to be winning!
18. Hattie McDaniel in Hollywood.
Played by: Queen Latifah
Where to watch: Netflix
Legendary silver-screen actor Hattie McDaniel, the first ever black person to win an Academy Award, pops up several times in Hollywood – Ryan Murphy's sentimental and revisionist ode to the Golden Age of Movies. It's suggested that she was in a relationship with fellow actor Tallulah Bankhead, a rumour that persisted IRL for years.
19. Bess and Jinju in Snowpiercer.
Played by: Mickey Sumner and Susan Park
Where to watch: Netflix, TNTDrama in the US and HBO Max from Jan 1.
So the whole world has frozen over and the only survivors live aboard a highly segregated high-speed train that goes round in a circle. Third-class security officer Bess in is in a secret relationship with second-class chef Jinju. They long to be together, but the feudal politics that govern the train don't make things easy for them.
20. Mae and George in Feel Good.
Played by: Mae Martin and Charlotte Ritchie
Where to watch: All4
Canadian stand-up comic Mae meets middle-class straight girl George at a comedy club and they hit it off. Mae is a recovering addict of which George is supportive, but George's reluctance to embrace her queer identity frustrates Mae. Their whirlwind romance will change both of their lives forever.
21. Raffi Musiker in Star Trek: Picard.
Played by: Michelle Hurd
Where to watch: CBS All Access
One of the latest additions to the sprawling and iconic Star Trek franchise, Picard follows retired admiral Jean-Luc Picard and his crew as they deal with the fallout of the 2002 film Star Trek: Nemesis, in which numerous tragedies occurred. Raffi is Picard's former first officer. She is queer and has a dalliance with former Borg drone, Seven.
22. Millie Morris in Hunters.
Played by: Jerrika Hinton
Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video
Hunters is inspired by real events, specifically the activities of several Nazi hunters who lived and operated in New York in the '70s. Jerrika plays Millie, a determined FBI agent and closeted lesbian. Though her personal life is a secret, she leaves no stone unturned when it comes to her investigations.
23. Emma and Alyssa in The Prom.
Played by: Jo Ellen Pellman and Ariana DeBose
Where to watch: Netflix (from 11 December).
Broadway actors Dee Dee and Barry go on the road in search of a project to revive their public images. They discover a PTA in Indiana has banned a high school student from attending prom with her girlfriend, and immediately pledge their support to both girls. This movie promises to deliver a feel-good story about young love and inclusivity.
24. Harley Quinn in Birds of Prey.
Played by: Margot Robbie
Where to watch: YouTube
A follow-up to the 2016 feature Suicide Squad, this movie chronicles the continuing adventures of Harley Quinn and her infamous team, the "Birds of Prey". Harley begins the movie by talking about how unlucky in love she is, and mentions that she has had male and female partners. In the DC comics, Harley Quinn is canonically queer, and has been involved with Poison Ivy.
25. Renee and Ellen in Birds of Prey.
Played by: Ali Wong and Rosie Perez
Where to watch: YouTube
Other queer characters in the movie include Detective Renee Montoya and her ex-girlfriend Gotham City district attorney Ellen Yee. Sadly, though Victor Zsasz and Black Mask have big gay energy, they are not explicitly queer in the movie.
26. Sterling Wesley in Teenage Bounty Hunters.
Played by: Maddie Phillips
Where to watch: Netflix
When they're left a little strapped for cash, high school students and twins Sterling and Blair begin bounty hunting for money. Sterling is bisexual, and while she has a boyfriend in Luke, the simmering gay energy between Sterling and her former BFF turned arch-nemesis April is enough to grab any gay's attention!
27. Margaret Sloan-Hunter and Brenda Feigen in Mrs. America.
Played by: Bria Henderson and Ari Graynor
Where to watch: Hulu
A landmark series about a revolutionary time in politics and society, Mrs. America depicts an ensemble cast of real-life figures all bound together by the fight for women's rights in 1970s America. Margaret is a black lesbian feminist and one of the first editors of Ms. magazine, while Brenda is a queer activist, lawyer, and founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW).
28. Judy Hale in Dead To Me.
Played by: Linda Cardellini
Where to watch: Netflix
The Netflix sensation follows the lives of two women – one whose husband has recently died and one who... well I can't tell you that part without spoiling it! In the second season, Judy, who was previously not out, begins dating Michelle. There's no coming out moment per se, Judy just happens to be dating a woman after having only been linked to men before. In the words of one Sue Sylvester: "outstanding!"
29. And finally a little bonus – we saw the first ever same-sex couple appear on Strictly Come Dancing this year!
Starring: Nicola Adams and Katya Jones
Where to watch: BBC iPlayer (although the pair are no longer in the competition).
Former Olympic boxer Nicola Adams swapped her gloves for tap shoes this year when she was added to the cast for Strictly's eighteenth season. But Britain's most successful female boxer of all time was forced to pull out when her dancing partner Katya contracted COVID-19. Still, it was groundbreaking moment in the show's history!
Have I missed anybody out? Please shout them out below!
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