Remember when LGBTQIA+ characters were the sidekick? The stereotypical white cis gay who popped up in a recurring capacity for comedic effect? Or, if they were the central character, their sexuality would be downplayed and scenes of intimacy would be non-existent? Yeah, we’ll admit it: we don’t really miss those days. No shade to some of these characters, of course — a lot of them paved the way for the positive queer representation we see today.

As of 2026, however, representation for the LGBTQIA+ community on television has never been better, and it’s futile to deny Netflix’s role in this. Futile! Over the past few years, the streamer has built a reputation as one of the most inclusive sources of content, from originals such as Heartstopper, Young Royals and Glamorous to network classics like American Horror Story, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Schitt’s Creek. Netflix boasts a plethora of incredible LGBTQIA+ comedies, dramas and thrillers, so we’ve rounded up some of the best you can stream right now.

Atypical (2017-2021)

Cast: Jennifer Jason Leigh, Keir Gilchrist, Brigette Lundy-Paine, Amy Okunda, Michael Rapaport

Atypical was met with rave reviews for Keir Gilchrist’s leading performance as Sam Gardner, an Antarctica and penguin-obsessed teenager with autism spectrum disorder, as well as for the romance between his sister Casey (Brigette Lundy-Paine) and her classmate Izzie (Fivel Stewart). Although the series was initially criticised for its lack of autistic talent — both in front of and behind the camera — autistic writers and actors were hired from the second season onwards, through to its fourth and final season, to better reflect the experiences of the community.

AJ and the Queen (2020)

Cast: RuPaul, Izzy G., Michael-Leon Wooley, Josh Segarra, Katerina Tannenbaum, Tia Carrere, Matthew Wilkas

‘Blame It On The Edit’ singer RuPaul made her Netflix series debut on AJ and the Queen as Ruby Red, a “bigger-than-life but down-on-her-luck drag queen” who travels across America in a rundown RV, accompanied by a wise-cracking 10-year-old orphan named AJ. Each episode sees Ruby visit a drag club and perform a killer musical number, joined by some of the most legendary contestants in Drag Race herstory, such as Bianca Del Rio, Latrice Royale, Katya, Jinkx Monsoon and Mo Heart. The Emmy winner wrote and executive produced the show alongside Michael Patrick King, best known for directing, writing and producing Sex and the City and Lisa Kudrow’s satirical cult classic The Comeback.

Sadly, the show was – and you’ll hear this quite a lot in this article – cancelled after just one season.