For more than five decades, June has been designated as LGBTQ+ Pride Month, a chance to celebrate all that the community has accomplished while recognizing the many struggles that still lie ahead.
In that spirit, TVLine would like to take a moment to honor just a small handful of the characters who have fought the good fight on the small screen this past year, often simply by existing as their authentic selves for all the world to see.
For this list, we looked back at shows and characters from the previous calendar year (aka between June 1, 2021 and May 31, 2022).
And this is by no means a collection of every LGBTQ+ triumph that TV has given us in the past 365 days. In fact, we encourage you to drop a comment with the characters that inspired you this year. If a show deserves recognition for its positive representation, we want to know!
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Nathaniel, All American: Homecoming
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW PLAYED BY: Rhoyle Ivy King
THEIR IMPACT: As The CW’s first Black nonbinary character, Nathaniel has “this monumental task of breaking down gender stereotypes within the Black community,” King’s Homecoming co-star Netta Walker told reporters ahead of the show’s premiere in February. “It’s really exciting to think about 14-year-olds getting to see Rhoyle with the laid wigs and the pressed edges walking out and getting gender euphoria. … Rhoyle makes the entire process of talking about queer identity like a hug. It’s so easy and it’s very exciting that a kid will be able to see this and see themselves.”
Added King, “To play a character that I needed to see growing up is healing in ways I can’t begin to articulate.”
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Morenike, Bob Hearts Abishola
Image Credit: Courtesy of CBS PLAYED BY: Tori Danner
THEIR IMPACT: When Abishola’s niece came out as a lesbian in November 2021, the CBS comedy began a conversation about the pervasiveness of homophobia in Nigerian culture.
“Because I’m gay and my family is Nigerian, I know what it’s like,” series co-creator Gina Yashere told TVLine at the time. “I’m lucky I was born outside of Nigeria, so I haven’t had the same struggles that my gay brothers and sisters have had within Nigeria, and the problems that they’re having: being arrested all the time, being harassed when they go out [and] being thrown out of their families.”
Yashere added, “It has always been important to me to tell true stories that make people think. It’s great to be able to change hearts and minds, but not do it in a way where we’re beating you down. We’re not trying to force a point of view on you, we’re just telling our stories.”
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Spooner, DC's Legends of Tomorrow
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW PLAYED BY: Lisseth Chavez
THEIR IMPACT: Esperanza “Spooner” Cruz is officially TV’s first asexual superhero, a discovery she made on screen during a June 2021 episode of the cancelled-but-never-forgotten Arrowverse series. Spooner was certain there was something wrong with her, the only possible explanation (or so she thought) for her complete lack of physical attraction.
“It just means maybe you’re ace — asexual,” suggested Zari, one of Spooner’s fellow Legends. “People who identify as ace have little or no interest in sex, but many of them still want to be in relationships.”
The relief and joy on Spooner’s face was everything. And while we’re devastated that we won’t be spending more time with the Legends, this is one of many memories that we’ll cherish.
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Leo, Grey's Anatomy
Image Credit: ABC screenshot PLAYED BY: Avalon Gray
THEIR IMPACT: When Leo and Teddy’s older child began identifying as female in Season 18, the conversation that was sparked could serve as a blueprint for parents wondering how to do right by their gender-nonconforming kids. “I’m not telling Leo that there’s something wrong with Leo,” said Owen. Instead, he and Teddy retained a therapist — for them — and heeded the advice to let Leo decide his or her identity instead of the other way around.
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Nick and Charlie, Heartstopper
Image Credit: Courtesy of Netflix PLAYED BY: Kit Connor and Joe Locke
THEIR IMPACT: In this age of “Don’t Say Gay” bills and other forms of blatant homophobia, this Netflix series — and the romance between lead characters Nick (Connor) and Charlie (Locke) — wasn’t just endearing but vital in letting kids know that if they’re non-straight, it doesn’t mean they’re bad or wrong. Being LGBTQ+ can be more than just all right; it can be amazing and beautiful.
The show’s incredible success — it has already been renewed for two additional seasons on Netflix — is merely the cherry on top.
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Loki, Loki
Image Credit: Courtesy of Disney+ PLAYED BY: Tom Hiddleston
THEIR IMPACT: Loki made Marvel Cinematic Universe history in its third episode by revealing, or rather confirming, Hiddleston’s title character to be bisexual — and series director Kate Herron couldn’t have been more proud.
“From the moment I joined [Loki], it was very important to me, and my goal, to acknowledge Loki was bisexual,” Herron tweeted after the episode was released. “It is a part of who he is and who I am too. I know this is a small step, but I’m happy — and [my] heart is so full — to say that this is now canon in [the MCU].”
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Dave and Frank, Sesame Street
Image Credit: Courtesy of Sesame Workshop PLAYED BY: Chris Costa and Alex Weisman
THEIR IMPACT: “Family Day,” the episode which introduced Dave and Frank as Sesame Street‘s first same-sex parents, earned the show a GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Children’s Programming.
“I am beyond thrilled to be joining the Sesame Street family in this celebration of diversity, inclusion, and most importantly, love,” Costa said at the time. “Remember, it’s love that brings families together.”
Added Weisman, “As you can see, families come in all shapes and sizes. … Love is love is love.”
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Tom, Tom Swift
Image Credit: Courtesy of The CW PLAYED BY: Tian Richards
THEIR IMPACT: “I’m here, I’m queer and I’m going to get s–t done,” Richards told TVLine when his character was first introduced (via The CW’s Nancy Drew) in 2021. A year later, Tom has reentered the conversation with his own show, one in which he “gets to exist in all of his beauty and pride. He gets to grow up in a family with a legacy, to have endless possibilities in education and tech and inventing. He gets to realize himself for himself, and that’s beautiful for anyone to see.”
“There has, as far as I know, never been a network TV show where its lead — the title, the titular character, the No. 1 on the call sheet — is a Black gay man,” says series co-creator Cameron Johnson, who also acknowledges the rarity of being able to tell stories about a gay man who isn’t a TV show’s “additional character.” In that sense, he says, “I think it is historic.”
