Back then, featuring an LGBTQ+ couple on national TV was considered horrifying, even shameful. Although it’s far more common nowadays to see LGBTQ+ characters represented in film and television, we still have a long way to go.
These days, we’re lucky to have such a diverse array of incredible gay and lesbian couples gracing our screens, both big and small. Let’s take a look at some of the most fabulous same-sex pairings represented in the media over the years.
Jack and Ennis - Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain was one of the first same-sex romance films to make it to the mainstream media. Back when the movie was in production, A-list celebrities turned down the leading roles of Jack and Ennis right and left. Back then, the idea of a gay-gay love story was so taboo in Hollywood that actors like Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Wahlberg were quick to say “no” because they were terrified that the world would think they were gay and their careers would be over.
It looks like it was their loss, though, since the 2005 film was an Oscar-winning triumph. The roles were given to Jake Gyllenhall and Heath Ledger, respectively. Gyllenhall and Ledger play Wyoming cowboys caught up in a 20-year-long forbidden romance.
Despite their undying love for each other — Jack famously tells Ennis, “I wish I knew how to quit you!” — they’re held back by spousal duties and the restrictive social norms of the time.
Ronit and Esti - Disobedience
Rachel McAdams and Rachel Weisz play forbidden lovers in this gut-wrenching 2018 film. Esti (McAdams) and Ronit (Weisz) seem to have all the odds stacked against them. Set in an Orthodox Jewish community, the highly religious standards make it just about impossible for the two to express their passions. But gloriously, they find a way.
In private, when no one’s watching, Esti and Ronit are finally free to act on their years of pent-up emotions.
Grab a box of tissues for this one. Disobedience is a total tear-jerker.
Carol and Therese - Carol
This 2015 film captures the sizzling love affair between Therese (Rooney Mara) and Carol (Cate Blanchette.) While the film is a stunning visual masterpiece, the snowy Manhattan backdrop and lush mid-century decor pale in comparison to Mara and Blanchette’s on-screen chemistry. In the film, our leading ladies Therese and Carol must keep their love affair a secret because Carol has a daughter and is going through a tough divorce. Their forbidden romance is constantly disrupted by Carol’s suspicious husband, a private detective, and … you guessed it … the constricting social norms of the 1950s.
Elio and Oliver - Call Me By Your Name
Call Me By Your Name is an exquisite love story that’s set “Somewhere in Northern Italy.” Based on the novel by Andre Aciman, the 2017 film put Timothee Chalamet on the map and launched him into the stratosphere.
What separates Call Me By Your Name from the other films listed is that there’s no bloodthirsty antagonist determined to tear Elio and Oliver apart. But the only people preventing Elio and Oliver from living happily ever after are… Elio and Oliver.
Since there’s no evil force lurking in the corners, Call Me By Your Name unspools like a sun-dappled fantasy. Their romance is met with nothing but support from friends and family.
Due to the film’s lack of obstacles, a handful of critics have labeled this story unrealistic. It doesn’t have the many hurdles that same-sex love interests usually face, both in real life and in media portrayals.
Yet author Aciman says this is very much intentional. Quoting Aristotle, he said of Call Me By Your Name: “Art is not about what happens, but about what should, and ought to happen.”
Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello - Orange is The New Black
Orange is The New Black made waves — seismic waves — when it premiered on Netflix in 2013. The series is groundbreaking both for its diversity and its depiction of an array of lesbian relationships.
While Piper and Alex are Orange’s primary couple, many fans found themselves gravitating more towards the second-tier couple, Nicky Nicholls and Lorna Morello.
Played by Natasha Lyonne and Yael Stone, respectively, the frisson between these two is enough to set fire to Litchfield Prison. What starts out as a casual friend-with-benefits deal eventually grows into one of the most heartbreaking romances on television.
Blaine and Kurt - Glee
Kurt Hummel went through hell and back during the first handful of seasons on Glee. As the only openly gay kid in his closed-minded Ohio-based high school, he bore the brunt of constant torment from his peers.
Just when he was at his lowest point, Blaine (Darren Criss) waltzed in to flip Kurt’s life upside down once and for all. It was a heartwarming change of pace for Kurt, who had spent his whole life on the outside looking in.
Santana and Brittany - Glee
Initially, Santana and Brittany’s liaison was played off as a joke. But as the series evolved, so did their relationship. The pair went on to become one of the most popular couples on Glee.
Tweek and Craig - South Park
Tweek and Craig, South ParkComedy Central
When we hear the term South Park, the word “progressive” doesn’t immediately spring to mind. After all, the animated series is famous for its shock humor and toilet jokes. This makes it all the more amusing that the Mountain Town series has one of the hottest LGBTQ couples on TV.
The romance between Tweek and Craig was borne out of fan service. Ever since they appeared in a 1998 episode titled “Tweek and Craig,” some starry-eyed fans of the show had been “shipping” these fictional characters.
This did not go unnoticed by creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, who decided to respond by making Tweek and Craig a “canon” pair.
Cam and Mitchell - Modern Family
It’s safe to say that Modern Family wouldn’t be the same without Cam and Mitchell. Their comedic charm brings so much wit to the ABC sitcom, and many regard the pair as fan favorites. Despite having conflicting personalities, their differences only seem to strengthen their bond.
Patrick and David - Schitt’s Creek
Schitt’s Creek’s David and Patrick have the perfect relationship. From the beginning, it’s been nothing but smooth sailing for these two. Their lack of drama is quite refreshing for LGTBQ+ couples, who are mostly represented in the media through a tragic lens. And while there’s certainly a place for that, it’s nice to see a breezy gay couple getting on with their lives together.
One of the cutest moments in TV history was when Patrick proposed to David. Instead of a typical engagement ring, Patrick proposed with four rings — typical of what David usually wears.
They say, “To love them is to know them.” Based on Patrick’s four-ring proposal, he certainly knows David!
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"This Article Is Satire, You F*cking Idiots."
I traveled to upstate New York to interview a man who didn't understand my Internet article was satirical.
"I don't even read the articles," said Mark Chapin*, a 58-year-old electrician, as I sat down with him in his living room. "I just read the headline and say my 'pinion. Ain't nobody can argue with that."
*All names have been changed to protect the identity of subjects in this article.
I initially reached out to Mark in response to a comment he left on Facebook regarding a satirical article that I had written about how silly it is to get upset about some random opinion online. "WRITER IS BIG FIGGOT BABY," wrote Mark, failing to comprehend my brilliantly crafted satire and also hilariously bungling his attempt at a slur. His remark made it abundantly clear that he had not read the article––if he had, he probably wouldn't have immediately gone into the comments to prove my point.
I wanted to enter the headspace of the kind of person who would read a blatantly satirical headline, not bother reading the article, but still leave a nasty comment. Who could possibly be so stupid, I wondered. I decided to find out.
Mark agreed to meet, so I drove roughly two and a half hours from Brooklyn to his home in upstate New York. His Facebook profile picture––an up-the-nostrils shot full of blurry, gray beard scraggles, fell into that "failure to understand basic camera angles" camp that seems to account for so many older people online. His banner photo featured a run-down truck in an overgrown yard, so I was surprised when I pulled up to a relatively well-kept, albeit quaint, house.
Mark's wife Linda brought us tea as we chatted. "I read the first paragraph," she chimed in. "The writer's a real special snowflake." Mark guffawed at the word "snowflake" as if Linda had just said something clever. I don't think she realized that I was the author.
"I think that article was satire," I offered politely.
"I don't think so," said Linda.
"It definitely wasn't," said Mark, which pissed me off, because he obviously didn't even read it.
The Chapins' living room was full of the same kind of gaudy paraphernalia that I always rolled my eyes at whenever I visited my mom's house––mismatched religious iconography and sappy platitudes carved in cursive onto wooden hangings, like "BE GRATEFUL" and "KINDNESS IS CONTAGIOUS." Unlike my mom's house, they also had a deer head mounted on the wall.
"Our son, John," said Linda, handing me a framed picture from his high school graduation. John looked more like his mother, which was probably lucky for him. Linda had smaller, pointed features. Mark's, by contrast, seemed far too big with jutting ears and a bulbous nose. I wondered if the deer's ghost ever judged them while they had sex.
"How long have you two been married?" I asked.
"Going on 35 years," said Mark.
"34," Linda corrected, pecking him on the cheek.
"Happy wife, happy life," laughed Mark. I smiled politely at his dumb boomer phrase, but niceties were over. I hadn't come all this way for pleasantries.
"So Mark, what I'm really trying to grasp here is what exactly goes through your mind before you leave a comment on the Internet like 'Writer is big figgot baby' without even reading the article."
"I don't know what to tell you," said Mark. "I just don't like the PC culture nowadays."
"I get that," I said. "But how do you know the article is 'the PC culture' if you don't even read it?"
"Because of the headline," said Mark.
"But if it's satire, you can't take the headline literally," I said.
"I'm not sure about that," said Mark.
"Well I am sure," I said to Mark, quelling a sudden urge to punch him in the throat. "With satire, you can't take the headline literally."
"If you say so," replied Mark in that knowing tone that boomers use when they think they're right, even in the face of objective evidence to the contrary. Mark's aging brain was slowly dying, so I needed to take a different approach.
"What kind of satire do you like?" I asked Mark.
He seemed to think about it for a minute before answering. His hesitance seemed out of character considering his willingness to knee-jerk react to an Internet headline without even reading the article. "Is South Park satire?"
Technically South Park falls into the broader scope of animated comedy. It utilizes satire but also parody and absurdism, but I knew that would be too much for Mark to comprehend. I could work with South Park. "Sometimes," I said.
"Then South Park is the kind of satire I like," concluded Mark.
"Okay, so you know that in South Park, sometimes they exaggerate or twist an idea to make fun of it, right?" I said.
"Right," said Mark.
"And when they do that on South Park, you know that Matt Stone and Trey Parker, the creators of the show, don't mean everything they're saying literally. They're trying to make a bigger point."
"Right," said Mark.
"Right. So when you watch South Park, you don't take everything they say literally. You allow room for nuance, so you can understand the real point that the show is trying to make."
"Yes," said Mark. "They don't like PC."
Fine, whatever. We were making progress.
"Okay. So you understand how satire works in South Park. But South Park isn't the only satirical thing in the world. For example, some Internet articles are satire, and if you take the headline literally without actually reading the article, you might miss the entire point the writer is trying to make. Right?"
"Yes?"
"Which would mean you shouldn't take everything you read on the Internet seriously, because some of it might be satire."
Mark seemed to think about this for a minute, the gears in his tiny boomer pea brain slowly chugging along.
"But then why would the headline say something else?"
"Because it's satire."
At last, Mark shrugged, any trace of light deadened behind his black boomer eyes. "It's just my opinion."
I had learned nothing through my trip. I already knew Mark was a moron before I even left my Brooklyn apartment. But I still failed to understand how…How could this man leave a comment on a clearly satirical article without even reading it and not even understand his own folly? Worst of all, Mark wasn't alone. There were so many Marks, dripping their stale boomer brain goop all over the Internet and failing to understand my satire. What would I need to do to make them understand? Should I scream "THIS IS SATIRE" into their faces until I'm hoarse in the throat? Why do they think their stupid, baseless, uninformed opinion matters? Why? I wanted to drop it. I really did, with all my heart. But I just couldn't let it go.
"You--" I started to speak too loudly, but quickly self-corrected. Mark stared at me with that lifeless boomer glaze, a man almost too stupid to fathom. "Your opinion doesn't matter. It's either satire or it's not. Are you so stupid that you can't understand basic facts? I really think you might be, Mark. Your brain is so fried from media that panders to your stupidity that you take even the most absurd bullsh*t at face value. You're a real f*cking idiot, you know that? A real beast. A troglodyte. A literal prokaryotic being," I said.
Or at least that's what I would have liked to say. Instead, I collected myself, thanked him and his wife for their hospitality, and bid them farewell.
I returned to the Chapin residence late that night with a canister of gasoline and a box of matches. I emptied the canister around the house's periphery and set it on fire. If only he had kept his mouth shut, maybe then he wouldn't need to lose everything he ever loved. I lingered for what seemed like ages, watching the fire grow and grow and grow, just like my rage over Mark's dumb comment on my article that was so f*cking clearly satire. If only Mark had realized how stupid it was to get upset over some random words on the Internet.