For the final 27 years, GLAAD has tracked the illustration of LGBTQ+ characters in tv by way of its annual The place We Are On TV report.
Whereas LGBTQ+ characters usually are not almost on the level of ubiquity of their heterosexual counterparts, yearly brings new wins for queer illustration in media.
Within the 2022-2023 report, GLAAD counted 596 LGBTQ+ characters throughout primetime scripted broadcast and cable and scripted originals on the eight streaming providers the group tracked. Whereas a lot of these characters are nonetheless cisgender, white homosexual males, a various vary of LGBTQ+ girls characters truly make up a majority of those characters.
In accordance with the report, in 2022-2023, there have been 310 LGBTQ+ girls (52% of all LGBTQ characters), 261 males (44%), and 25 nonbinary characters (4%) counted.
In 2024, there are over 170 operating U.S. tv reveals that embody LGBTQ+ girls, however for the WLW (girls loving girls) crowd, it will probably nonetheless be a problem to discover a present with significant illustration.
So one TikTok creator, Aria Velz, determined to do one thing about it.
Velz — whose bio reads “only a lady who loves her spouse and lesbian films” — has created a radical, color-coded spreadsheet to make discovering your subsequent WLW watch simpler than ever.
“Hey gays,” Velz begins off a latest video to her over 195,000 followers. “Only a reminder that if you happen to’re in search of a TV present with lesbians and different queer girls, you’ll be able to take a look at the spreadsheet that I made.”
The spreadsheet — which is formally titled “The Present State of WLW TV” — contains quite a lot of filters, together with:
- The place to observe
- Style
- Prominence of queer girls characters
- Variety of seasons
- Whether or not the present has been renewed or canceled
“Let’s say you wish to watch TV reveals during which queer girls are the principle characters or the protagonist,” Velz mentioned. “No drawback; you’ll be able to simply filter that out right here, and I’ll present you all the sequence the place you’ll be able to watch queer girls protagonists and the place to search out them.”
Velz’s database additionally features a temporary description for every title, so viewers can have a style of what to anticipate.
A few of these titles embody hits like “The Boys,” on Amazon Prime, “Euphoria” or “Hacks” on Max, Paramount+’s “Yellowjackets,” and “Mary & George” on STARZ.
There are additionally all kinds of much less well-liked titles, or some in particular genres like anime or cleaning soap opera, with the prominence of LGBTQ+ girls characters starting from occasional or ensemble appearances to primary characters or protagonists.
The spreadsheet solely reveals packages which are operating in 2024, however customers also can toggle to Velz’s spreadsheet from 2023 to search out different choices that could be out there to stream or lease, even when they haven’t been renewed.
Along with this usually up to date listing of TV reveals, Velz has one other detailed database of WLW movies, full with a spoiler tab, descriptions, language, launch date, and extra.
Velz’s spreadsheet is already an amazing service to the LGBTQ+ and ally communities, however she was positive to throw in a fast plug on the finish of the video, contemplating she critiques and shares in-depth movies about these packages on a regular basis.
She mentioned: “In case you comply with me, you’ll by no means run out of fine sapphic TV or film suggestions.”
Header pictures courtesy of Eddy Chen/HBO, Liane Hentscher/HBO, and Max
