We're living in the so-called "golden age of television" - a creative renaissance inspired, in part, by a revolution in the way we're watching TV. With a seemingly unending list of quality original series being produced by the likes of Netflix, Amazon, Showtime, and Hulu, members of the LGBTIQ+ community are enjoying a greater and more nuanced representation in TV characters than ever before.
Still, it's one thing to have a character whose very plot-line hinges on their sexuality entirely. It's quite another to enjoy relatable, fleshed-out characters who just so happen to be queer. These characters mightn't get the same amount of press, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable.
Here is a list of LGBTIQ+ characters who we feel have been underrated by audiences - or simply deserve another moment in the spotlight.
1. Elliot Goss (John Early) in Search Party
Source: TBS
“He’s not seduced by purity,” Early says of Goss. “He understands to move through the world, you have to play a little dirty.”
2. David Rose (Dan Levy) in Schitt’s Creek
Source: CBC Television
“It was who he was,” Levy tells Vulture. “The pansexuality just felt like something that was so him and so part of his world.”
“To me, as a gay person, our relationships get very caricatured on television,” Levy says, adding that he hopes “to teach someone at home a lesson about what it is for two men to fall in love.”
He continues: “For us it was just important to tell a hopefully sweet love story for these two that was not aware of itself, but just unfolded over the course of the season.”
3. Moira (Samira Wiley) in Handmaid’s Tale
Source: Hulu
Speaking to Hollywood Reporter about her role, Wiley insists that Moira’s sexuality is just one small part of who she is — not a defining character trait.
“When I think about Moira and the kind of person she is, her sexual identity is not something that comes up immediately,” Wiley says. “I think about her being a strong woman, being this badass character that stands up for herself and for all the women who cannot stand up for themselves.”
4. Maia Rindell (Christine Baranski) in The Good Fight
Source: CBS
A "cynical, fast-paced" look at the world of Chicago law firms, The Good Fight sees popular TGW character Diane Lockhart, played by Christine Baranski, return to her law firm after a close friend loses her retirement savings to a ponzi scheme. While some fans questioned why there wasn't a bigger focus on Maia's relationship with her girlfriend Amy (played by Helene Yorke), others appreciated that despite her personal life being closely tied to the plot, she wasn't defined by her queerness.
5. Lionel Higgins (DeRon Horton) in Dear White People
Source: Dear White People
Based on the 2014 film by Justin Simien, Netflix's Dear White People series allows audiences a closer, more intimate look at a diverse cross-section of characters - including Lionel Higgins. Higgins, played by DeRon Horton, is an earnest, socially awkward, deeply relatable and brave character with a talent for journalism. By sharing his experience of what it means to be a gay black man, Lionel enriches the on-screen representation of queer men of colour.
Speaking to BuzzFeed, Dear White People creator Justin Simien admits that he wishes he had characters like Lionel to look to while growing up.
“Lionel is queer but he doesn’t really fit any of the gay, black, male projections out there and that was my struggle too…" He said.
"I didn’t see myself anywhere in the culture.”
6. Taylor Mason (Asia Kate Dillon) in Billions
Source: Billions
Speaking to Variety, Dillon says: "Taylor was always a non-binary character, even before they auditioned or cast any actor to play the part. I was given basic, broad-stroke information on the character in the casting breakdown."
Following their much-loved performance as the sharp-tongued intern for hedge-fun genius Bobby Axelrod, Showtime approached Dillon about submitting them for an Emmy nomination.
"I found myself in the unique position, as a non-binary performer, of actually wanting to know more before I could make that decision," Dillon recalls. "I reached out to the Academy and just asked them: What do these words mean to you?"
Dillon ended up selecting the "actor" category, as it was a "non-gendered, non-sexed word from the late 1500s referring to performers in plays, specifically."
7. Ilana (Ilana Glazer) in Broad City
Source: Comedy Central
While Glazer says that her loosely autobiographical character wouldn't necessarily label herself as bisexual or pansexual ("the definition is so futile"), Broad City's Illana certainly has no qualms enjoying casual sex with both men and women.
In actual fact, she does label her sexuality - albeit in passing - during season two of the popular Comedy Central series, declaring to her long-term partner, Lincoln: “We are open sex friends, we are poly, we are bi.”
