6 LGBTQ+ Shows You Can Support Right Now in Wake of Recent Spree of Cancellations

The TV landscape is as crowded as ever with series across broadcast TV, streaming, webs series, and more, but the growing number of shows is lacking in one regard: LGBTQ+ representation. While LGBTQ+ representation on the small screen has improved in recent years, the 2023-24 TV season has had a devastating effect on representation, declining to a six-year low amid a wave of recent cancellations. This makes Pride Month this June the perfect time to support some LGBTQ+ shows featuring lesbian, gay, queer, bisexual, and transgender characters.

2023 proved to be a fateful year for queer entertainment. Shows like Fate: The Winx Saga, The L Word: Generation, Gossip Girl, and more were canceled, with GLAAD’s annual “Where We Are on TV” report released in April painting an even grimmer picture of queer entertainment. According to the report – which looked at primetime scripted series that premiered or are expected to premiere a new season between June 1, 2023 and May 31, 2024 – 36% of TV’s LGBTQ+ characters will not be returning next season, and “there is not a single series currently on broadcast TV that has an LGBTQ+ character as the sole protagonist.” In fact, broadcast TV recorded its lowest LGBTQ+ representation since the 2017-18 TV season, with just 8.6% of all series regular characters being LGBTQ+, a number that was down 2% year-over-year, while scripted streaming series had 327 total LGBTQ+ characters, down 0.8% YOY.

The report was released amid a wave of recent cancellations impacting LGBTQ+ shows. In August 2023, Amazon’s Prime Video canceled queer-leaning A League of Their Own, based on Penny Marshall’s 1992 film of the same name. In January of this year, Max canceled its hit series Our Flag Means Death, which put a heavy focus on queer relationships, after just two seasons. Showtime also recently reversed plans for Uncoupled Season 2 (which Netflix had initially canceled back in January 2023), while Peacock axed its reboot of Queer as Folk. Most recently, Amazon’s Freevee canceled the coming-of-age LGBTQ+ drama High School after just a single season.

With the current state of LGBTQ+ TV, no time is better than now to put your support behind the currently airing LGBTQ+ series across all platforms. Keep scrolling to see six LGBTQ+ shows you should check out.

‘Heartstopper’

When Netflix took subscribers to Truham Grammar School April 2022, they had an LGBTQ+ hit on their hands. An adaptation of Alice Oseman’s LGBTQ+ webcomic of the same name, Heartstopper tells the story of the relationship between two British teens, Charlie and Nick, as their friendship blossoms into romance and they “navigate the ever-relatable journey of self discovery and acceptance, supporting each other as they learn to find their most authentic selves.”

Currently sitting with a 98% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, Heartstopper has drawn plenty of praise for its LGBTQ representation, with Collider writing that “in a landscape of queer stories shadowed by suffering and sorrow, Heartstopper is a breath of fresh air with its depiction of the queer experience,” as the series “subverts all of these expectations while still providing a realistic depiction of the Queer experience.”

Thankfully, Netflix subscribers just can’t seem to get enough for Charlie and Nick’s story, because Heartstopper has already been picked up for a third season, which is set to premiere on Netflix on Oct. 3. In the meantime, fans can continue to support the show by watching the first two seasons on Netflix.

‘Hacks’

Released in 2021, Hacks follows the professional and personal relationship between bisexual Gen-Z writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) and legendary Las Vegas comedic Deborah Vance (Jean Smart).

The multi-Emmy Award-winning comedy quickly wove in queer storylines throughout the first season, with Season 2 being dubbed “gayer and ever” and praised for having “doubled down on its queerness.” The show has been praised for being a “queer-affirming series” and for featuring a majority queer cast, and in 2022, the series won a GLAAD Awardfor Outstanding New TV Series, a category it was again nominated for in 2023.

“We always wanted to make a show that reflects the world as we see it, and as we’d like it to be — which meant showcasing LGBTQ+ people getting to live full, rich lives, and not ones where they are defined by stereotypes or only their coming-out story. We wanted to show queer characters having the full breadth of nuanced experiences that heterosexual characters have gotten to for so long,” Hacks creators and co-showrunners Paul W. Downs, Lucia Aniello, and Jen Statsky told Out. “We are thrilled to be able to add positively to the depiction of LGBTQ+ people on screen, and we have to give a great deal of credit for us being able to do that through our wonderful writers and cast.”

Although Season 3 concluded on May 30, fans are already promised more episodes. On the same day as the Season 3 finale, Max announced that Hacks has been renewed for Season 4. The series is available to stream in full on Max.

‘Abbott Elementary’

Following a group of dedicated, passionate teachers at a Philadelphia public school, ABC’s mockumentary sitcom Abbott Elementary has received plenty of recognition for not only featuring what has been described as “one of sitcoms’ best LGBTQ+ characters” in Chris Perfetti’s Jacob Hill, but for also avoiding stereotypes. When Jacob was revealed as queer, viewers applauded the show for not making a massive deal out of his sexuality, but rather introducing his sexuality casually and treating his coming out as the revelation of any other relationship would be treated.

“I really didn’t want to not have a queer character on my show-I just don’t think that’s realistic… It’s important to me to make people more comfortable in this world. I just want my friends to live freely out here,” series creator Quinta Brunson told The Hollywood Reporter. “There are so many queer people in my life, and they never had to come out to me. I wanted the audience to feel that way.”

While Abbott Elementary is not currently airing, having recently wrapped its third season, the show has already been picked up for Season 4, and all previous episodes area available to stream on Hulu.

‘Dead Boy Detectives’

Netflix’s new Neil Gaiman adaptation Dead Boy Detectives is the latest must-watch show. Debuting on the platform back on April 25, the comedy-drama centers around two teenage ghosts, who work alongside a clairvoyant to solve mysteries for their supernatural clientele.

The series has embraced LGBTQ+ representation, not only featuring a goth lesbian butcher in Briana Cuoco’s Jenny and gay ghosts, but also featuring a queer lead in George Rexstrew’s Edwin Payne. Throughout the show’s debut season, Edwin realizes he is gay and comes to embrace his sexuality in a story arc that has been praised for threading “Edwin’s sexuality in interactions beyond just any romantic arcs; it informs his character and all of his relationships.”

Speaking about the show’s LGBTQ+ representation, co-showrunner Steve Yockey told RadioTimes that he is “certainly proud of the representation in the show, and the different storylines that it explores. I’m excited that we could have that much queerness in a show that still feels incredibly accessible to a mainstream audience. That’s something that I’m particularly proud of.”

Although Dead Boy Detectives has generated plenty of buzz and currently holds a 92% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, it hasn’t yet been picked up for a second season. The debut season is available to stream on Netflix.

‘The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy’

Described as a “gayer Grey’s Anatomy in space,” Amazon’s animated series The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy in some respects centers queerness as the most normal thing about the universe the show is set in. Hitting Prime Video in February 2024, this sci-fi series, created by Cirocco Dunlap, centers around queer, anxious surgeon Dr. Klak (Keke Palmer) and her best friend and fellow intergalactic surgeon Dr. Sleech (Stephanie Hsu) as they tackle anxiety-eating parasites, illegal time loops, and deep-space STIs. Although the show largely focuses on Dr. Klak’s mental health storyline, woven into the show are snippets of her love life, including a scene where she talks about the girl she is seeing. The show also features a genderless alien Dr. Azel, voiced by genderqueer singer Sam Smith, who uses they/them pronouns.

“I grew up in San Francisco, which was a promising start. My mom is bi, my dad was gay and my sister was in polyamorous, three-person, female relationships. For me, this was just the norm and the baseline from where my life began,” Dunlap said in February. “That is what I wanted to put in the show. I wanted inclusion, representation and I wanted it to feel normal for each individual, species, animal or planet. I was absolutely delighted to include everyone.”

Along with Palmer, Hsu, and Smith, the show’s cast also includes LGBTQ+ actors Bowen Yang and Abbi Smith. The Second Best Hospital in the Galaxy is available to stream on Prime Video.

‘Interview With the Vampire’

Based on Anne Rice’s original 1976 novel of the same name, and following the 1994 movie adaptation, the AMC series Interview With the Vampire doesn’t shy away from the queer subtext of Louis and Lestat’s story, putting the characters and their queerness in full focus as it centers around Louis as he recounts the story of his life or afterlife to renowned journalist Daniel Molloy. The series also presents a same-sex family unit between Lestat and Louis and Claudia, a young vampire s turned by Lestat after being rescued by Louis from a house fire.

Interview With the Vampire is currently in its second season, with new episodes airing Sundays on AMC.

Honorable Mentions

The Umbrella Academy (Netflix)
Young Royals (Netflix)
Ripley (Netflix)
Dead Boy Detectives (Netflix)
Heartbreak High (Netflix)
Girls5Eva (Netflix)
For the Love of Dilfs (OUTtv)
Hazbin Hotel (Prime Video)
Helluva Boss (Vivziepop YouTube)
Whisper Me A Love Song (HIDIVE)
RuPaul’s Drag Race (Hulu)
Doctor Who Season 14 (Disney+)
Ark: The Animated Series (Paramount+)
9-1-1 (ABC)
I Kissed A Girl (BBC iPlayer via VPN)