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For decades, film and television presented a relatively narrow view of LGBTQ+ life. While shows like Will & Grace and movies like Brokeback Mountain set important precedents and made cultural ripples, we have waited a long time for our community to be more fully represented. Case in point: it took all the way until 2022’s Tom Swift for a network TV show to have a Black gay lead. But that slow pace of change has only made the last year of advances even more impressive.
Emboldened by the fight for queer and transgender rights, a new cohort of showrunners, writers, and directors are refusing to play it safe, presenting rawer, realer, and more honest stories about LGBTQ+ life. Whether in the form of documentaries like the intersex-themed feature Every Body or reality shows like The Ultimatum, we’re seeing more of ourselves on-screen than ever before. In this reading list, Them culture editor Samantha Allen looks at some of the most exciting new work on the cutting edge of representation.
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Samantha Allen
Samantha Allen is the senior culture editor for Them, Condé Nast’s LGBTQ+ publication. She is the author of Patricia Wants to Cuddle and the Lambda Literary Award finalist Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States. In 2018, she won the GLAAD Media Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism Article. Her writing has been published by The New York Times, Rolling Stone, CNN and more.