The Top 50 Best Lesbian+ Sci-Fi and Fantasy TV Shows of All Time

50. From (2019 – present)

Starring: Chloe Van Landschoot, Hannah Cheramy, Kaelen Ohm, Harold Perrineau
Watch on MGM+

Debuting on this list right smack dab in the middle is the poorly named but brilliantly executed From, which is about a family who finds themselves unable to leave a mysterious town with things that quite literally go bump in the night. Among the residents of this town, all of whom have also come to be stuck here for one reason or another, are nurse Kirstie and her girlfriend Mari. The town has to work together to figure out how to get home, and, more importantly, how to survive long enough to do it.

49. Good Omens (2019 – present)

Starring: Michael Sheen, David Tennant, Nina Sosanya, Maggie Service, Frances McDormand
Watch on Amazon

Based on the Neil Gaimen book of the same name, Good Omens is about a demon named Crowley and an angel named Aziraphale who have decided to take up residence on Earth and work together to stave off a war between Heaven and Hell. Along the way, they meet Maggie and Nina, who they decide to play matchmaker with, perhaps to distract themselves from the chemistry they themselves have.

48. Impulse (2018 – 2019)

Starring: Maddie Hasson, Sarah Desjardins, Enuka Okuma, Missi Pyle, Daniel Maslany
Watch on YouTube

Impulse is about a teenage girl named Henry who discovers her ability to “jump” aka teleport while experiencing the trauma of sexual assault. The show takes us through her journey of PTSD and healing, all while trying to figure out what these new powers are all about. Key in supporting her during all this is Jenna, her mother’s boyfriend’s daughter who becomes a sister to her, whether she likes it or not. Jenna is smart and kind and on a figuring-out journey of her own, trying to solve the mystery of her sexuality while trying to help Henry solve the mystery of her powers. Jenna’s journey is sweet and slow and very grounded in reality despite the sci-fi nature of the show.

47. What We Do in the Shadows (2019 – Present)

Starring: Kayvan Novak, Matt Berry, Natasia Demetriou, Beanie Feldstein, Kristen Schaal
Watch on Hulu

All vampires are queer, this we know. We’ve learned it from watching vampire content from the dawn of time, with sucking someone’s blood being very sensual, turning someone into a vampire being very metaphorical, and with most vampires not having a preference for gender when they select whose necks to suck. What We Do in the Shadows continues this long tradition of queer vampires, including but not limited to the pansexual vampire Nadja, and even has some queer actors in the mix like Beanie Feldstein, who plays Nadja’s protégé vampire, Jenna. It’s like when a gay elder takes a baby gay under their wing. Very precious. As a comedy horror mockumentary, it is one ridiculous scenario after another, and it’s always a damn good time.

46. Nancy Drew (2019 – 2023)

Starring: Kennedy McMann, Leah Lewis, Maddison Jaizani, Tunji Kasim, Alex Saxon
Watch on The CW

Nancy Drew is a fresh, ghostly take on the classic YA novels about a girl detective and her band of misfit friends who help her solve mysteries. A lot of us read the books as kids and shipped Nancy and George before we knew what shipping was, but in this iteration however, I found myself accidentally shipping Nancy and Bess even when Bess had a girlfriend named Lisbeth. And then when she fell in love with the ghost possessing her best friend. And then again when she started dating the new girl in town, Addy. I love Bess, is what I’m saying. Bess is a sweet, airheaded-but-not-dumb girl and the optimistic believer to Nancy’s pessimistic skeptic, and a vital part of the team, and I love to see a queer girl in the spotlight.

45. Humans (2015 – 2018)

Starring: Gemma Chan, Emily Berrington, Bella Dayne, Katherine Parkinson, Carrie-Anne Moss
Buy on Prime Video

For a while I thought maybe Riese and I were the only ones watching this show, which was truly a shame, because it was a deeply thoughtful and haunting-but-in-a-good-way exploration of humanity by way of synthetic humans aka synths who were considered “broken” because they had free will. What makes a person human, is it their body, their brain, their heart? Their ability to fall in love? Because fall in love they do, specifically the usually-stoic-and-hard synth Niska who softens for her human girlfriend Astrid.

44. Westworld (2016 – 2022)

Starring: Evan Rachel Wood, Thandiwe Newton, Shannon Woodward, Tessa Thompson, Jeffery Wright
Buy on Prime Video

Elsie Hughes isn’t the BEST representation we’ve ever had, as a community, but Westworld has been walking the line between queer and not ever since Evan Rachel Wood Bisexual made her first appearance as Dolores. While all the hosts are defaulted to a sort of pansexual situation to accommodate any guests, there is at least one guest who does prefer the company of women. In the final season, Tessa Thompson brings her Big Queer Energy to the screen, and queer couple Frankie “C” and Odina kick some ass and take some names. Canon queers aside, seeing real life queer people be endlessly badass on screen is always a win in my book.

43. Harlan Coben’s Shelter (2023)

Starring: Abby Corrigan, Constance Zimmer, Missi Pyle, Alexa Mareka
Watch on Prime Video

At its core, this show is about some teens who are trying to solve the mystery of the disappearance of Ashley Kent. One of those teens, Ema, is indeed a queer little emo girl who has a crush on the popular girl Whitney, and all of these teens have mysteries of their own to unfold. However, this show also gave us a bonus queer storyline with the adults, as Hannah and Shira rekindle a high school romance. Sadly, this show was canceled after one season, but what a gift Constance Zimmer and Missy Pyle were while they lasted

42. She-Hulk: Attorney at Law (2022)

Starring: Tatiana Maslany, Jameela Jamil, Ginger Gonzaga, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Megan Thee Stallion
Watch on Disney+

If this show was being ranked on queer content alone, it would be a lot lower, but the truth is, even though the queer content is minimal, the show itself is a blast. Queer favorite Tatiana Maslany expertly plays Jennifer Walters (who is, of course, the titular She-Hulk), and her best friend and assistant Nikki being one of the first openly queer women in the Marvel cinematic universe. Granted, it’s a blink-and-you-miss it moment that reveals that fact, but Nikki remains a delight throughout the series. Plus, bisexual actress Jameela Jamil plays one of the season’s main villains with over-the-top, delightful exuberance.

41. Astrid & Lilly Save the World (2022)

Starring: Samantha Aucoin, Jana Morrison, Olivier Renaud, Julia Doyle, Christina Orjalo
Watch on Tubi

This campy sci-fi darling centers around two best friends who are bullied for being fat and weird, but who find out that actually they are really good at fighting aliens and saving the world. They reclaim an insult slung at them and become the Pudge Patrol, battling the monster of the week together, often having to save the very popular kids who once terrorized them, becoming an unlikely squad of superheroes. In a truly fanfic-ian turn of fate, Lilly ends up in a friends-to-enemies-to-lovers relationship with queen bee Candace. The show is equal parts hilarious practical effects, adorable antics, and touching moments of friendship, identity, and found family.

40. The Umbrella Academy (2019 – Present)

Starring: Elliot Page, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Mary J. Blige, Britne Oldford
Watch on Netflix

In the third season of The Umbrella Academy, Elliot Page’s character comes out as a trans man, telling his siblings that Viktor is who he’s always been. He says his relationship with Sissy in the second season opened his eyes to living outside the box and living his truth. His brothers accept him immediately, and his sister loves her “tiny badass brother.” It’s a relatively small part of a very complicated plot and that, in itself, is pretty sweet. They all have bigger things to worry about – like time travel, and reality folding in on itself, and their respective powers – than the gender or sexuality of their siblings. They have to find a way to work together to keep each other safe.

39. Killjoys (2015 – 2019)

Starring: Hannah John-Kamen, Aaron Ashmore, Luke Macfarlane, Mayko Nguyen, Kelly McCormack

Buy on Prime Video

Killjoys is a story about a found family of bounty hunters… in space! Dutch, played by Hannah John-Kamen, is a bounty hunter in space who goes on missions with her two best boys, Johnny and D’av. She sparks up a flirtation with Delle Seyah-Kendry, and when the writers saw those sparks, they created a whole separate character also played by Hannah John-Kamen just so they could put them together without breaking up Dutch and D’av. Okay fine so probably that’s not exactly how it played out but it worked out for the best because Aneela, an alternate timeline version of Dutch, (kind of, it’s complicated) and Kendry were perfect murder queens, both of them complicated almost-villains who did the right thing when it came down to it, and got their own happy ending.

38. Riverdale (2017 – 2023)

Starring: Lili Reinhart, Camila Mendes, Cole Sprouse, Madelaine Petsch, Vanessa Morgan
Watch on Netflix

Riverdale is a rare entry onto this list, because despite being in its 4th season the first time around, it didn’t qualify since it wasn’t a sci-fi or fantasy show. Just a regular teen drama! Okay fine, not regular but not supernatural. And while not yet supernatural, it was gay, with Cheryl and Toni falling in and out of love a few times. Now, between its sixth and seventh seasons, the show does qualify, because somewhere along the line we discovered Rivervale, a twisted reflection of Riverdale where magic is real and even more absurd storylines are possible. But no matter what dimension she’s in, lesbian icon Cheryl Blossom continues to reign supreme, eventually discovering her witchy bloodline and ascending to her final form. And in the end, Riverdale continued to double down on its queerness, a gift to anyone who watched all 7 seasons.

37. Warehouse 13 (2009 – 2014)

Starring: Joanne Kelly, Jaime Murray, Allison Scagliotti, Genelle Williams, Saul Rubinek
Buy on Prime Video

A niche nerd fave, Warehouse 13 is a show that marches to the beat of its own drum. It mixes history and mythology with humor, mystery and shenanigans like it pulled themes from a nerd’s toybox. We enter into this wacky world by way of Myka Bering, assigned to protect this warehouse of artifacts, and eventually meet literary legend H.G. Wells, and in this universe, the H stands for Helena. Myka and H.G. enter a flirtationship that ultimately ends in my own personal heartbreak soundtracked by Ellie Goulding, but we all know the truth, and also H.G., at least, was explicitly and undeniably the queer hero we deserve.

36. Once Upon a Time (2011 – 2018)

Starring: Jennifer Morrison, Lana Parrilla, Meghan Ory, Jamie Chung, Rose Reynolds
Watch on Hulu

My very first gig for writing about queer TV was recapping Once Upon a Time, and I wrote about that show for so long with only subtext, shouting about Swan Queen, begging for them to just commit to Mulan and Aurora, finally throwing in the towel when we finally got a very special Ruby and Dorothy episode, assuming that was the best it was going to get (and believe me, it was great.) So imagine my surprise when a few seasons later, Robin and Alice embark on a very sweet fairytale romance. Like their ancestors before them, they find their way to each other in Storybrooke and in the fairytale realm where they were Margot and Tilly, because love is magic.

35. Motherland: Fort Salem (2020 – 2022)

Starring: Taylor Hickson, Amalia Holm, Demetria McKinney, Jessica Sutton, Ashley Nicole Williams
Buy on Prime Video

In an imagined world where witches are real and are drafted into the military, an unlikely trio is forced to learn to be a cohesive unit. One of those witches is Raelle Collar, a lesbian and healer, who eventually meets necromancy witch Scylla Ramshorn, and the two embark on a tumultuous adventure full of steamy moments, broken trust, daring rescues, and the quest for a happily drever after. There are other shippable characters along the way, like her unit-mate Tally and their general, Alder, as well as Tally and non-binary officer M, played by non-binary actor Ess Hödlmoser.

34. The Other Black Girl (2023)

Starring: Sinclair Daniel, Ashleigh Murray, Brittany Adebumola, Garcelle Beauvais, Bellamy Young
Watch on Hulu

An unusual entry I know, but you watch this whole season and come back here and tell me to my face there wasn’t something supernatural going on. Sinclair Daniel and Ashleigh Murray shine in this twisted tale, based on the novel by Zakiya Dalila Harris. This show has everything: humor, heart, mystery, thrills, chills, a queer best friend for the record books, Bellamy Young, and so much more, all while touching on the all-too-important topic of racism in corporate America.

33. Poker Face (2023 – present)

Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Hong Chau, Benjamin Bratt, Adrien Brody, Stephanie Hsu
Watch on Peacock

We have back-to-back shows I know will get an eyebrow raise but even though she’s the only one in this universe to have one (that we know of), Charlie Cale has a superpower. She is not just really good at reading people, she has the ability to automatically and always detect when people are lying. She doesn’t even have to be trying. Charlie gets caught up in some trouble and ends up traveling across the country to get out of it, solving crimes along the way. The crime-of-the-week style of storytelling gives the show a lot of opportunity to sprinkle in epic guest stars, like Clea Duvall, Chloë Sevigny, Judith Light, S. Epatha Merkerson, Jameela Jamil, Cherry Jones, Rowan Blanchard, and more.

32. Chilling Adventures of Sabrina (2018 – 2020)

Starring: Kiernan Shipka, Jaz Sinclair, Tati Gabrielle, Lachlan Watson, Lucy Davis
Watch on Netflix

Oh hey more queer witches, can you even believe it? This Riverdale-universe’s twisted take on Sabrina the Teenage Witch boasts queerness at every turn, including but not limited to Prudence Night and her coven of “sisters” who are definitely not related by blood which you can tell from all the orgies. Hail Satan. One of Sabrina’s best friends, Theo, also goes on a trans coming out journey of his own and is played by genderqueer and pansexual actor Lachlan Watson.

31. Charmed (2018 – 2022)

Starring: Melonie Diaz, Madeleine Mantock, Sarah Jeffery, Lucy Barrett, Poppy Drayton
Watch on Netflix

A lot of people, myself included, were originally unsure about the idea of completely rebooting a beloved franchise that went off-air frankly not all that long ago, but now that it’s happening, I can confidently say that while it is definitely a reboot, it is not a rip-off, and is well worth watching. It has elements of the original while still being totally and utterly unique, and so, so much gayer. Middle sister Mel is a lesbian witch who has a myriad of love interests over the course of the show, plus there’s Abigael, the saucy demon who prefers threesomes and once bedded two Susans at once, probably just because she could. The final season introduced trans witch Josefina Reyes played by trans actress Mareya Salazar, as well as a fourth sister, Kaela, who is a queer witch played by queer actress Lucy Barrett and is, frankly, a downright delight.

30. Stranger Things (2015 – Present)

Cast: Millie Bobby Brown, Winona Ryder, Natalia Dyer, Sadie Sink, Maya Hawke
Watch on Netflix

I’ve loved Stranger Things from the get-go, because superpowered kids are my jam, as are themes of friendship above all, which is really what the heart of this show is. Sure there is also a mysterious mirror realm called the Upside Down and horrible monsters and evil scientists, but at the end of the day, it’s about a little girl raised in captivity learning what it means to be a friend, and then doing everything in her power (and whew does she have a lot of it) to save those new friendships. The first season featured Barb, who maybe wasn’t canon queer but we sure did see a lot of ourselves in the way she felt about her best friend Nancy (I feel like Ingrid Michaelson’s song Best Friend on her album Stranger Songs makes it canon enough for me; plus the actress is bisexual.) The third season, however, had one of the sweetest coming out speeches I’ve seen in a while, where the snarky, brassy Robin tells teen dream Steve Harrington that their storyline wasn’t going where he thought it was, and she wasn’t actually into him; she was into the girls who are into him. It was a rare quiet moment in an action-packed show and it sure packed a punch to my heart. And the fourth season seamlessly incorporated Robin onto the team, and even gave her a little crush (besides Nancy, of course).

29. Battlestar Galactica (2004 – 2009)

Starring: Mary McDonnell, Katee Sackhoff, Tricia Helfer, Grace Park, Lucy Lawless
Buy on Prime Video

Despite all three of its resident queer characters being not long for this universe, it has risen to the Top 20 by being BELOVED by three members of the TV team, who all gave it a perfect 10 (plus there were other non-10 votes.) Maybe it’s part subconscious conditioning, since actors from The L Word were also on this show, or maybe it was just the mere fact that queer characters were part of this space opera at all. All I know is that we, as a people, seem to love us some Cylons and their love affairs.

28. Star Trek (Discovery, Deep Space Nine, Picard, Strange New Worlds) (1993 – Present)

Starring: Michelle Yeoh, Michelle Hurd, Jeri Ryan, Jess Bush, Tig Notaro
Watch on Paramount+

Instead of having the Star Trek universe take up multiple slots on this list, I merged them into one entry like I did with the American Horror Story anthology. I placed them all here in slot 28 because that’s the highest slot one of them (Discovery) landed, but all four of these Star Trek series (Discovery, Deep Space Nine, Picard, and Strange New Worlds) ended up in the Top 100 (in that order.) They all share a theme of what Riese and Kayla called Hot Women in Space. And includes Captain Philippa Georgiou’s mirror universe counterpart being bisexual; lesbian Starfleet officer Jett Reno, played by real life lesbian Tig Notaro; a heartbreaking forbidden love story for Jadzia Dax and Lenara Kahn, Jeri Ryan and Michelle Hurd as duo Seven of Nine and Raffi Musiker; bisexual Nurse Chapel, non-binary Doctor Aspen, and IRL queer Broadway superstar Celia Rose Gooding; and more!

27. Person of Interest (2011 – 2016)

Starring: Amy Acker, Sarah Shahi, Taraji P. Henson, Jim Caviezel, Michael Emerson
Watch on Prime Video

This futuristic crime drama features the legendary Root and Shaw, who have one of my favorite dynamics: peppy optimist and grumpy pessimist. They also have a dash of enemies-to-lovers, and maybe even tol/smol energy going on. Their pairing was a shining example of showrunners following the chemistry; they play off each other so well and balance each other’s demeanors and overall are a damn delight to watch, in part because they are expertly played by fan favorites Amy Acker and Sarah Shahi.

26. True Blood (2008 – 2014)

Starring: Anna Paquin, Rutina Wesley, Jessica Tuck, Kristin Bauer van Straten, Lucy Griffiths
Watch on Hulu

Vampires are here on this list trying to give witches a run for their money re: queer representation, with True Blood boasting seven queer women over the course of their 80 episodes. Including but not limited to Vampire Queen Sophie-Anne Leclerq, played by Evan Rachel Wood Bisexual, and power couple Pam Swynford De Beaufort and Tara Thornton. Unfortunately some of aforementioned queer vampires ended up on the list of dead lesbians, but their legacy lives on, as does that of this very vampy show, which also had lesbian writer/director Angela Robinson in the writers room.

25. The Fall of the House of Usher (2023)

Starring: Kate Siegel, T’Nia Miller, Carla Gugino, Mary McDonnell, Willa Fitzgerald
Watch on Netflix

It’s no surprise to me that Mike Flanagan’s latest number got itself instantly into the top 25. In The Fall of the House of Usher, literally everyone is gay. Okay maybe not literally, but it sure felt that way. An amalgamation of dozens of Edgar Allen Poe poems and stories, the show details the story of the Usher family, which is made up of a bisexual matriarch, at least four queer children and their queer partners (and/or dalliances), all a mysterious queer woman played by Carla Gugino who has touched all of their lives in some way. It’s a hauntingly beautiful tale, with plenty of villains to root for.

24. Xena: Warrior Princess (1995 – 2001)

Starring: Lucy Lawless, Renee O’Connor, Hudson Leick, Adrienne Wilkinson, Alexandra Tydings
Watch on Prime Video

When I was talking to my dad on the phone about making this list, I told him I was worried people wouldn’t like that I included this show on this list. And despite the fact that we have never talked about this before, about the subtext of Xena and Gabrielle, really about the show much at all since we watched it together when I was young, he said he understood why I did. He said, “You could see it in the way they looked at and talked to each other. And the way Xena always went out of her way to make sure Gabrielle stayed alive.” He also mentioned the hot tub, but my point is, that if my dad can see it, it’s not just us spewing rainbows where there aren’t any. I always use the “Dad Test” to say that if your queer story is so subtle that my dad didn’t pick up on it, it doesn’t count, but I think the opposite is true too. If your subtext is so loud my dad thought it was canon, it’s canon. Sorry/not sorry. Xena and Gabrielle’s story is an epic love story, and if it was made in 2005 or 2015 instead of 1995, they would have kissed even more than they already did. And they kissed a lot.

23. First Kill (2022)

Starring: Sarah Catherine Hook, Imani Lewis, Elizabeth Mitchell, Aubin Wise, Gracie Dzienny
Watch on Netflix

If you like vampires, clandestine romance, cheesy special effects, and Elizabeth Mitchell, this is the show for you. Vampire teen Juliette Fairmont meets Monster Hunter Calliope Burns at a high school party, and sparks fly immediately. But, of course, when they find out about each other’s families, tensions rise and they have to choose between the life they were born into and their undeniable connection. With two blonde bombshells who have played multiple queer favorite characters Gracie Dzienny and Elizabeth Mitchell as Juliette’s sister and mother, respectively, and queer artist MK xyz as Cal’s ex, there really is something for everyone in this show’s too-short run.

22. The Haunting of Bly Manor (2020)

Starring: Victoria Pedretti, Amelia Eve, T’Nia Miller, Rahul Kohli, Kate Siegel
Watch on Netflix

And here we are, with yet another Mike Flanagan joint (though still not the last) and arguably the gayest one. The Haunting of Bly Manor is the story of an American woman, Dani, who is hired to nanny British children and falls in love with a snarky gardener named Jamie. Dani is haunted by her past, by heterosexuality, and by literal ghosts, but she leans on Dani as an escape from all of that in this (pardon the expression) hauntingly beautiful lesbian love story. Plus, in a very special flashback episode, we get a black-and-white appearance by noted bisexual Kate Siegel.

21. 4400 (2021 – 2022)

Starring: Ireon Roach, TL Thompson, Brittany Adebumola, Joseph David-Jones, Autumn Best
Watch on Apple TV+

A reboot of the 2004 television series, The 4400, this sadly-short-lived show was a fresh new take on the original. The titular 4400 people who all appeared one day in modern-day Detroit were all people who had disappeared over the past century, and they all arrived not knowing how they got there, and with a dash of supernatural ability. A few of those 4400, and the people they meet, are queer, nonbinary, and/or trans, and people who had to be closeted in the past get to go to Pride parades in the present, all while trying to figure out why the heck they got beamed to the 2020s, and if their stay is a visit or a rehoming.

20. Jessica Jones (2015 – 2019)

Starring: Krysten Ritter, Rachael Taylor, Carrie-Anne Moss, David Tennant, Eka Darville
Watch on Disney+

Marvel’s movie universe queers are still just shy of bursting out of that closet door, but the Marvel TV universe is riddled with gays who are living, loving, laughing, breathing…etc. Jessica Jones, superstrong super-smartass with trauma for days but a big heart buried deep under that leather jacket, has an ally (most of the time) in lesbian lawyer Jeri Hogarth. While her story is not always happy, she is a compelling, complex character who survives til the bitter end of the series. In Season 3, trans actress Aneesh Sheth also plays Jessica’s no-nonsense, take-no-bullshit assistant Gillian.

19. Lost Girl (2010 – 2014)

Starring: Anna Silk, Zoie Palmer, Ksenia Solo, Rachel Skarsten, Kris Holden-Ried
Watch on The CW

Lost Girl‘s Bo Dennis was the bisexual succubus who encouraged us weekly to live the lives we choose. Sex was her gift and her curse, her weapon and her energy source, and yet somehow the show still wove deep, meaningful love stories into the show. With human doctor Lauren Lewis, queer Valkyrie Tamsin, and, in a platonic way, with her best friend Kenzie. And those weren’t even all the queer characters. It was a queer, queer world of light and dark fae, of life and death and afterlife, and of the kind family that isn’t born, but built.

18. Willow (2022 – 2023)

Starring: Erin Kellyman, Ruby Cruz, Warwick Davis, Ellie Bamber, Tony Revolori
Not Available to Stream or Buy or Ever Watch Again *cries forever*

Willow comes in hot with the queer stuff of dreams. These dreamy things include but are not limited to: a lady knight who has sworn to protect her princess, said princess being a sword-wielder herself, a grumpy traveler seeing through them pretending that they’re just best friends, and truth plums forcing them to finally confront those feelings. Aforementioned lesbian knight, Jade, is played by IRL lesbian Erin Kellyman, and her queer princess, Kit, is played by IRL queer actress Ruby Cruz. Unfortunately, the show was canceled after one season and removed from Disney+ so all we have are our memories of this magical tale.

17. Black Mirror (2015 – Present)

Starring: Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Mackenzie Davis, Georgina Campbell, Zazie Beetz, Kate Mara
Watch on Netflix

Every episode of Black Mirror is its own mini psychological thriller, often projecting into imagined futures a possibility for how advancing technology could go so, so horribly wrong in human hands. Most episodes end with something harrowing and dark, and when the Netflix screen goes dark and you see your own horrified expression staring back at you, you suddenly understand the title of the show. There are a rare few exceptions to this rule, one of which is the beloved San Junipero episode, where Yorkie and Kelly are two women who find each other in the most unlikely of (digital) places. The end of this episode is also a little harrowing, if I’m being honest, but it has more of a hopeful note to it than the episodes usually do, despite it being the gayest episode, which is honestly a blessing.

16. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)

Starring: Kate Siegel, Mckenna Grace, Victoria Pedretti, Violet McGraw, Carla Gugino, Elizabeth Reaser
Watch on Netflix

I’ve always loved horror movies and thrillers and ghost stories, but none so much as I love The Haunting of Hill House and spooky lesbian empath Theo Crain. Played by bisexual actress Kate Siegel, Theo is a whipsmart badass, a child psychologist as an adult and a quiet but bookish kid. She’s a loyal, loving sister to her four siblings, despite trying to give off the air that she doesn’t give a single fuck. The truth is, she cares so much it literally hurts her, despite the gloves she wears to try to keep her empath powers at bay.

15. Black Lightning (2018 – 2021)

Starring: Nafessa Williams, China Anne McClain, Cress Williams, Christine Adams, Chantal Thuy
Watch on Netflix

Arriving just when we needed her most, Black lesbian superhero Anissa Pierce boomed her way onto the scene as Thunder, daughter of legendary Black Lightning. She navigates family dynamics and girlfriends (and one night stands) while also trying to navigate her powers, her activism, and the various mysteries afoot in Freeland. And while they never got quite as much screentime as we would have wanted, we loved every minute we did get with our hero Anissa and her shapeshifting girlfriend, Grace.

14. Station Eleven (2021 – 2022)

Starring: Mackenzie Davis, Himesh Patel, Matilda Lawler, Nabhaan Rizwan, Lori Petty
Watch on Max

This miniseries is a rare gem in a lot of ways, beginning with the fact that it’s an adaptation of a book that is as good as its source material. Starring Mackenzie Davis as our queer heroine, Kirsten Raymonde, a comic book nerd and thespian with a strong spirit and a kind heart. (PS. This officially qualifies Davis for the “Rule of Three” – she has played queer thrice now (Black Mirror, Happiest Season, and Station Eleven) which means she is officially assumed queer until she states otherwise. And I love this for us.) Davis gives a stunning performance in Station Eleven, which is a poignant post-apocalyptic tale that hits a little close to home in a mid-pandemic world and is a stunning exploration of human connection in disconnected times.

13. Legends of Tomorrow (2016 – 2022)

Starring: Caity Lotz, Jes Macallan, Maisie Richardson-Sellers, Tala Ashe, Lisseth Chavez
Watch on Netflix

In the first season of Legends of Tomorrow, most of us were there because we followed bisexual blonde bombshell and buttkicker Sara Lance over from Arrow. But instead there was a man we’d never met at the helm of the timeship, and despite Sara having the best storylines (including but not limited to the time she made out with Betty McRae), he still seemed to be the focal point. But then the show did the right thing. The risky thing, but the right thing. They pivoted. Seeing that Sara was the reason people were showing up week after week, they gave ol’ Rip Hunter the boot and put Sara in the Captain seat. They had her lead the Legends away from the dark grumbly undertones of its parent show and into uncharted wacky waters, and everyone was better for it. Sara Lance has the best character arcs and the most growth in the entire Arrowverse – eh hem, sorry, Beeboverse – and, after a few seasons of sleeping her way through the centuries, she now has one of the longest, most healthy relationships with Ava Sharpe. Plus, in the final season, we find out that one of the Legends, Spooner, is asexual! The show as a whole is a hard sell on paper, I know, but trust me when I say that this show is packed full of humor and heart, and will give you all of the big, gay, found family feels you could ask for.

12. Russian Doll (2019 – 2022)

Starring: Natasha Lyonne, Greta Lee, Elizabeth Ashley, Charlie Barnett, Chloë Sevigny
Watch on Netflix

Including this show might get a bit of an eyebrow raise, but it’s a frackin’ time loop, man! What’s more sci-fi than that? In fact, I’d guess that close to half of these shows have a time loop episode of their own, so of course I would include a show whose entire concept is a repeating birthday. Natasha Lyonne (already beloved in the queer canon for But I’m a Cheerleader and Orange is the New Black) somehow made hearing the same song every few minutes and the endless chorus of “Sweet birthday baby!” seem palatable as she rushed through her days and died a thousand times. It would have been easy to forget about us on a show that didn’t linger too long on all that many people, but Lizzy and Madonna were there to represent us again and again and again and again.

11. Paper Girls (2022)

Starring: Camryn Jones, Riley Lai Nelet, Sofia Rosinsky, Fina Strazza, Adina Porter
Watch on Prime Video

It’s bittersweet that Paper Girls held fast to their Top 10 spot, because it is only one season long, canceled too soon. But the one season we did get is an amazing story about four teenagers who accidentally time travel to the future and encounter their grown-up selves. One of the teenagers, KJ, is surprised (but also not surprised) to find her adult self happily canoodling with her college girlfriend, and has to wrestle with the fact that the big gay feelings she has been fighting off in her own lil gay body won’t go away with time, and also face the fact that there might be a world where she can be both gay…and happy.

10. Supergirl (2015 – 2021)

Starring: Melissa Benoist, Chyler Leigh, Nicole Maines, Azie Tesfai, Katie McGrath
Watch on Netflix

When Supergirl moved from CBS to The CW, one of the first things it did was give Alex Danvers a girlfriend. Whether that was always the plan or a mandate from what was, at the time, the queerest network is anyone’s guess, but either way we’re glad it happened. Alex met Maggie Sawyer, came out, had her heart shattered to nine billion pieces, and learned to love again by way of a brand new Guardian, Kelly Olsen, all while standing by the side of her sister with alien superpowers (aka Kara Danvers aka Kara Zor-El aka Supergirl). And if we’re being honest, as invested as I always am in Alex’s romantic storylines and general happiness as a lesbian, the truest love story for me will always be the sisterly love between Alex and Kara. Their bond has been their lighthouse in the storm more times than I could count, and I would watch Alex help Kara remember to pull the sunlight from the darkness for the rest of my life. And an extra special shout out to trans actress Nicole Maines and her amazing portrayal of trans superhero Nia Nal aka Dreamer; she is a darling and an amazing addition to the Superfriends.

9. Wynonna Earp (2016 – 2021)

Starring: Melanie Scrofano, Dominique Provost-Chalkley, Katherine Barrell, Tim Rozon, Varun Saranga
Watch on Netflix

With traces of Buffy and Lost Girl in its veins, but a truly unique show at its core, Wynonna Earp is about an unlikely hero and her unlikely crew. Wynonna’s sister Waverly is an optimist, sweet, genius bisexual angel, and the love of Waverly’s life Nicole is the loyal, strong, lesbian sheriff, with stories and relationships and mysteries of her own. The show has queer characters, queer actors, and queer writers, and even though a Canadian Western about the heir to Wyatt Earp’s demon-hunting curse who falls in and out of (and in) love with THE Doc Holliday isn’t going to be EVERYONE’S jam, it sure as hell is mine.

8. The Last of Us (2023 – present)

Starring: Bella Ramsey, Pedro Pascal, Anna Torv, Merle Dandridge, Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid
Watch on Max

The Last of Us is the highest of the new shows added this year, rocketing into the top ten right out of the gate. It’s no surprise really, with a queer teen girl protagonist from a long-beloved video game franchise. Ellie lives in a world where a fungal epidemic has left most humans infected and hungry for human flesh. She travels across the country with her reluctant protector Joel, and together they learn how to ensure and survive. Played by the charming non-binary actor Bella Ramsey, Ellie is positive representation in a subgenre not often riddled with queer people, and, if the games are anything to go by, her story will only get gayer in Season 2.

7. Sense8 (2015 – 2017)

Starring: Jamie Clayton, Freema Agyeman, Bae Doona, Tina Desai, Tuppence Middleton
Watch on Netflix

Groundbreaking for a billion reasons, and beloved for a billion more, it’s no surprise Sense8‘s Nomi and Amanita made it so high on this list. First, we have trans actress Jamie Clayton playing the trans character Nomi Marks, which should be a given but unfortunately it’s not, so it’s worth mentioning. On top of that, Nomi is a trans lesbian who has delightful and stunning sex scenes with her girlfriend Amanita, as well as the mental orgies she has with her cluster, aka the people she has a psychic connection with from all around the world. Amanita is an amazing girlfriend despite the very strange goings-on of the series, and the two all but ride off into the sunset together in the end.

6. Marvel’s Runaways (2017 – 2019)

Starring: Virginia Gardner, Lyrica Okano, Ariela Barer, Allegra Acosta, Rhenzy Feliz
Buy on Prime Video

In another instance of Marvel’s TV shows out-striding its cinematic universe re: queer representation, Runaways has featured one of the sweetest teenage romances on television since Season 1. Lesbian rainbow alien Karolina Dean and bisexual goth witch Nico Minoru have been trying to balance their light and dark for years, finding strength and hope and truth in each other.

5. The Good Place (2017 – 2020)

Starring: Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, D’Arcy Carden, Manny Jacinto
Watch on Netflix

The Good Place is not typically categorized as sci-fi and/or fantasy, but I want you to look me in the eye and tell me that a show that is set in the afterlife and features AIs and demons and butthole spiders doesn’t belong on this list! It’s a great show, and the protagonist, Eleanor, is undoubtedly a bisexual woman, so I think we deserve to claim this show as ours. Plus, Janet lives outside the gender binary and even though she is also not human, her giving language, importance, and precedent for correcting someone misnaming/labeling/gendering you to an audience that might not otherwise have been exposed to it is something unique.

4. Dickinson (2019 – 2021)

Starring: Hailee Steinfeld, Ella Hunt, Jane Krakowski, Anna Baryshnikov, Ayo Edebiri
Watch on Apple TV+

I once again ask you to hear me out. I know Dickinson is an unusual inclusion on this list, but tell me that it’s not a fantasy show when there are talking bees, visits from Death himself (who looks a lot like Wiz Khalifa), powers of invisibility, and even a dash of time travel. Even if you take all those things out of the equation, chalking them up to Emily’s overactive imagination, but the concept alone, with modernized vocabulary and music, and liberties taken with her story could be considered fantasy. It’s a stunning show that brings the queerness historians tried to bury back out into the spotlight, centering Emily and Sue’s love for one another that burned bright and true despite being a time that didn’t allow them to be properly together in the way that they wished. Still, we can fantasize about how it was, all while enjoying Emily Dickinson’s incredibly gay poetry.

3. Batwoman (2019 – 2022)

Starring: Javicia Leslie, Meagan Tandy, Rachel Skarsten, Nicole Kang, Camrus Johnson
Watch on Max

Batwoman flew onto the scene with a huge legacy to uphold but with the broad gay shoulders to do it. When a historically gay character makes their way to TV, you never know quite how it’s going to pan out, but Batwoman continued to defy expectations and double-down on its gayness over and over again. It’s so refreshing and exciting to have a lesbian in the titular role, and even though her queerness isn’t the only part of her story, it is a real, huge part of her, because that’s how it is for all of us. After publishing this list the first time in January 2020, a lot of changes befell Batwoman; including but not limiting the queerness factor getting cranked up. Ruby Rose’s Kate Kane left the scene, and Javicia Leslie took over the show as Ryan Wilder, kicking up a romance with Meagan Tandy’s Sophie Moore. Later seasons also vindicated Gotham’s Renee Montoya by casting Victoria Cartagena to reprise her role, but this time giving her a girlfriend in Bridget Regan’s Poison Ivy. It more than earned its Top 3 spot.

2. Orphan Black (2013 – 2017)

Starring: Tatiana Maslany, Tatiana Maslany, Tatiana Maslany, Jordan Gavaris, Evelyne Brochu
Watch on AMC Plus

It makes sense to me that Orphan Black has held tight to its runner-up position since 2022. Not everyone (on our TV Team or in the general population of queer TV lovers) is into sci-fi/fantasy, but despite being about a woman seeing someone with her face jump onto the train tracks only to discover there are LOTS of people with her face, Orphan Black was genre-bending and made it seem more like secret science than science fiction; it almost convinced you that there really could be human clones running around out there, giving it more universal appeal than some of the other shows on this list. It did dip a little into the hyper-surreal, with Kira’s healing abilities and all, but anything that seemed unbelievable as far as lore went was outshined by Tatiana Maslany’s brilliant performance as an endless number of Leda clones, including but not limited to queer, quirky, brilliant scientist Cosima Niehaus. Her girlfriend, Delphine Cormier, was a charming, bisexual French woman, and together they defied the people who sought to bring them down, the universe trying to keep them apart, and the Bury Your Gays trope. Plus, though not explored particularly deeply in the show, Sarah Manning is bisexual, so that’s amazing. Brilliantly feminist and endlessly brilliant, it warms my heart to its core that this show made its way so high on the list.

1. Buffy the Vampire Slayer (1997 – 2003)

Starring: Sarah Michelle Gellar, Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Amber Benson, Eliza Dushku
Watch on Hulu

It feels right that Buffy the Vampire Slayer remains on top of this list. Not too many shows have been at the top of mind or on the tip of tongues for over 20 years nonstop, but Buffy sure has. Even now, there are still new people coming to the show for the first time because of podcasts, comics, novels and conventions that are about or inspired by Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Though imperfect looking back, a lot of the humor, relationships, metaphors, and themes still hold up to this day; and even those that don’t hold up are fun to dissect and talk about. There’s subtext in Buffy and Faith, there are touching coming out stories in Willow, there is a hilarious love/hate relationship with Kennedy; plus a ton of guest stars over the years that are either queer in real life or went on to play queer later. Hell there’s even a whole song that’s an allegory for sapphic sex. Buffy the Vampire Slayer is an important touchstone in queer culture, and Willow and Tara will be held up as legends for decades to come.

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