With new lockdown measures coming into place this month, we thought we'd put together a list of our favourite queer and LGBT+ inclusive TV shows on Netflix right now. All of these shows are available in the UK right now and range from chilling lesbian horror to charming British humour, visually stunning cartoons to binge-worthy reality TV.
1. RATCHED (2020 - present)
Ratched is an American psychological thriller developed by Ryan Murphy based on Ken Kesey's 1962 novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. The series follows Nurse Rached (Sarah Paulson) as she seeks employment at a top psychiatric hospital where new and disturbing experiments have begun. An unsettling and often shocking thriller, not for the faint-hearted.
IMDb Rating: 7.3
Starring: Sarah Paulson, Finn Wittrock, Cynthia Nixon
Creators: Ryan Murphy, Evan Romansky
Rating: 18
Episode Length: 60 minutes
2. SENSE8 (2015 - 2018)
Critically acclaimed sci-fi drama Sense8 is the story of 8 strangers from across the world who discover they are emotionally and mentally linked by a greater power. The show explores issues related to identity, sexuality, gender, and politics that its creators (The Wachowskis) felt had been rarely addressed on television. It's also super queer.
IMDb Rating: 8.3
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Starring: Bae Doona, Jamie Clayton, Tina Desai
Creators: J. Michael Straczynski, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 60 minutes
3. SPECIAL (2019 – present)
Special is a charming and humourous series following Ryan, a gay man with mild cerebral palsy as he navigates the world of work, love and relationships in modern-day LA. The series is based on the memoir I'm Special: And Other Lies We Tell Ourselves (2015) by Ryan O'Connel, who also stars, writes, and executive produces the series.
IMDb Rating: 7.6
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Ryan O'Connell, Jessica Hecht, Punam Patel
Creators: Ryan O'Connell
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 15 minutes
4. THE POLITICIAN (2019 - present)
Payton Hobart (Ben Platt) has known since age seven that he's going to be President of the United States and he's running for student body president. However popular jock River Barkley (David Corenswet) has the same idea. Get ready for politics, satire and some super super gay vibes.... and also some heavy phycological scenes.
IMDb Rating: 7.5
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Ben Platt, Zoey Deutch, Lucy Boynton
Creators: Ian Brennan, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 45 minutes
5. BIG MOUTH (2017 - present)
Big Mouth released its fourth season last month. The coming-of-age cringeworthy comedy addresses the horrors of puberty. With a diverse cast and musical numbers throughout, Big Mouth is a funny and often dark reflection of what it's like questioning yourself though your early teen years and the troubles that come with puberty.
IMDb Rating: 8.0
Genre: Animation, Comedy, Romance
Starring: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney, Jessi Klein
Creators: Jennifer Flackett, Andrew Goldberg, Nick Kroll
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 30 minutes
6. SHE-RA AND THE PRINCESSES OF POWER (2018 - 2020)
From Noelle Stevenson comes a modern adaptation of 80s classic She-Ra - a fresh and hyper-queer reconstruction of the source material. The cast is familiar (if a little more diverse) and the colourful, magical backdrop lends itself well to this younger and more energetic take on the original. With five seasons to binge, it's a clever, heartfelt and gripping retelling of the original series with some very gay undertones.
IMDb Rating: 7.8
Starring: Aimee Carrero, Marcus Scribner, Karen Fukuhara
Creator: Noelle Stevenson
Rating: PG
Episode Length: 30 minutes
7. TALES OF THE CITY (2019)
Adapted from the critically acclaimed Tales of the City novels by Armistead Maupin, this miniseries is a beautiful and charming TV adaptation that will get you wanting to re-read the original books. This 2019 series views San Francisco through rose-tinted glasses, where anything goes, everyone is queer and everyone is welcome.
IMDb Rating: 7.4
Genre: Drama
Starring: Laura Linney, Elliot Page, Paul Gross
Creator: Lauren Morelli
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 60 minutes
8. QUEER EYE (2018 - present)
If you haven't been watching Queer Eye in recent years, where have you been? This re-imagination of Bravo's early 2000s classic Queer Eye For The Straight Guy comprises of an entirely fresh cast ready to makeover the lives of those in need. It's reality TV done right with heart and soul - plus there are multiple spin-off seasons to binge. We laughed, we cried, we learnt about avocados and you should too.
IMDb Rating: 8.5
Genre: Reality-TV
Starring: Bobby Berk, Karamo Brown, Tan France, Antoni Porowski, Jonathan Van Ness
Rating: 12
Episode Length: 45 minutes
9. POSE (2018 - present)
Set in 1980s New York at the height of the ballroom scene, Pose is a beautiful and heartfelt drama focusing on nightlife, family and ballroom. A breakout series from Ryan Murphy and critically acclaimed for it's accurate and inclusive storytelling, Pose is a love letter to the underground ballroom scene and an homage to the generations that paved the way for so much queer culture we enjoy today.
IMDb Rating: 8.6
Genre: Drama
Starring: Mj Rodriguez, Dominique Jackson, Indya Moore
Creators: Steven Canals, Brad Falchuk, Ryan Murphy
Rating: G
Episode Length: 60 minutes
10. SEX EDUCATION (2019 - present)
A heartwarming and relatable highschool comedy-drama, Sex Education is a fresh and inclusive show following Otis (Asa Butterfield) as he teams with highschool classmates to set up an underground sex therapy clinic at school. Great casting, fantastic writing and gripping storylines, this diverse and sex-positive show has something for everyone. You'll laugh, you'll cringe and you may even learn something new along the way.
IMDb Rating: 8.3
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Asa Butterfield, Gillian Anderson, Ncuti Gatwa
Creators: Laurie Nunn
Rating: 18
Episode Length: 45 minutes
11. SCHITT'S CREEK (2015 - 2020)
Schitt's Creek had it's finale last year, so you'll be able to binge it from beginning to end. It's you're classic 'rich-family-loses-everything-and-moves-to-a-small-town' trope, but it's done with heart and love and acceptance. The show focuses on connection, family and loving people unconditionally for who they are and though the character development is at times slow, the pay off is well worth it.
IMDb Rating: 8.5
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Dan Levy, Annie Murphy
Creators: Dan Levy, Eugene Levy
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 25 minutes
12. KIPO AND THE AGE OF THE WONDERBEAST (2020)
Probably one of the best cartoons to come out last year, Kipo (Karen Fukuhara) is a burrow girl exploring a post-apocalyptic surface world where animals talk and monsters rule the land. From the vibrant colour to the killer soundtrack, the largely BAME cast to the queer undertones running throughout, Kipo And The Age Of The Wonderbeasts is a real treat for all ages. I can not stress this enough THIS SHOW IS SO DAMN GOOD.
IMDb Rating: 8.4
Genre: Animation, Action, Adventure, Comedy
Starring: Karen Fukuhara, Sydney Mikayla, Coy Stewart
Creators: Radford Sechrist, Bill Wolkoff
Rating: PG
Episode Length: 25 minutes
13. YOU ME HER (2016 - present)
You Me Her centres around a three-way romantic relationship involving a loving suburban married couple and another woman. A look into one take on polyamory with focus on the joys and struggles that come with dating multiple people. Smartly written and well directed, this cult favourite is still going strong after 5 seasons.
IMDb Rating: 7.0
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance
Starring: Greg Poehler, Rachel Blanchard, Priscilla Faia
Creators: John Scott Shepherd
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 30 minutes
14. BONDING (2018 - present)
Pete (Brendan Scannell) feels lost in the big city, that is until his BFF Tiff (Zoe Levin) - a New York City grad student moonlighting as a dominatrix - enlists him to be her assistant. Bonding is often lighthearted, tongue-in-cheek and at times straight-up ridiculous, however, it's also VERY gay and with each episode around 15 minutes long it's an easy one to binge and season two is set to be released later this month.
IMDb Rating: 7.2
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Starring: Zoe Levin, Brendan Scannell, Micah Stock
Creators: Rightor Doyle
Rating: 18
Episode Length: 15 minutes
15. CRASHING (2016)
This British comedy series from the fantastic min of Phoebe Waller-Bridge follows the lives of six 20- and 30-somethings living together as property guardians of a large, disused hospital. The show focuses on love, relationships and annoying roommates, with more depth and character development than your average sitcom. Crashing is expertly written and brilliantly cast with a very sweet queer storyline running throughout, it's just a shame that they only made one season.
IMDb Rating: 7.7
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Jonathan Bailey, Julie Dray
Creators: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 30 minutes
16. THE HAUNTING OF BLY MANOR (2020)
Though some would class The Haunting Of Bly Manor as a horror, I'd be more inclined to say its a love story with plenty of ghosts thrown in. After an au pair’s tragic death, a young American nanny is hired to care for two orphaned children. As creepy as this mini-series is, it's also beautiful and incredibly well-acted and the lesbian love story feels authentic and sweet.
IMDb Rating: 7.4
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Amelia Eve
Creators: Mike Flanagan
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 60 minutes
17. STAR TREK: DISCOVERY (2017 - present)
It's a new queer world and it's beautiful. Ten years before Kirk, Spock, and the Enterprise, the USS Discovery discovers new worlds and lifeforms as one Starfleet officer learns to understand all things alien. Star Trek: Discovery is a current favourite amongst queer sci-fi geeks and with good reason - the LGBT+ representation in this show is second to none.
IMDb Rating: 7.4
Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama
Starring: Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Anthony Rapp
Creators: Bryan Fuller, Alex Kurtzman
Rating: 12
Episode Length: 60 minutes
18. BROOKLYN NINE-NINE (2013 - present)
Brooklyn Nine-Nine is an American sitcom following detective Jake Peralta (Andy Samberg) and his colleagues as they police the NYPD's 99th Precinct. The show's cast is diverse and lovable, with strong character development and growth throughout the seasons. It's rare to find a sitcom where a character's sexuality doesn't become their whole identity, but Brooklyn Nine-Nine does it perfectly - with several queer protagonists, sexuality is rarely a plot point - it's simply famed as another part of who they are. The show is about to enter it's 8th season, so there's plenty to binge.
IMDb Rating: 8.4
Genre: Comedy, Crime
Starring: Andy Samberg, Stephanie Beatriz, Terry Crews, Andre Braugher
Creators: Dan Goor, Michael Schur
Rating: 12
Episode Length: 20 minutes
19. RUPAUL'S DRAG RACE (2009 - present)
With 13 seasons of RuPaul's Drag Race, 2 seasons of All-Stars, 2 seasons of Untucked and a 40-minute Holi-Slay Spectacular available on Netflix, there's more than enough to keep you entertained. Join RuPaul Charles as he puts 13 queens through their paces to find America's next drag superstar. Drag Race has a bit of a cult following these days and if you haven't watched it yet, now is a perfect time to sit down and plough your way through (we'd recommend starting at season 4).
IMDb Rating: 8.5
Genre: Game-show, Reality-TV
Starring: RuPaul, Michelle Visage
Creators: RuPaul, Nick Murray
Rating: 15
Episode Length: 45 minutes
That's it, that's all 19.
Have we missed your favourite queer Netflix show? Let us know in the comments below:
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